Trump Administration Freezes Minnesota Childcare Funds Over Fraud Allegations

US Government Freezes Childcare Payments to Minnesota, Launches Immigration Audits

The US Department of Health and Human Services has announced that it is freezing childcare payments to the state of Minnesota. The move comes after allegations by conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley that daycare centres operated by Somali Americans in Minneapolis had committed up to $100m in fraud.

According to Shirley’s video, which garnered 127 million views on X, the alleged fraud occurred over the past decade. In response to these claims, Jim O’Neill, deputy secretary of health and human services, stated that the freeze addresses “serious allegations” about the state of Minnesota funneling taxpayer dollars to fraudulent daycare centres.

The frozen funds, valued at $185m, subsidise childcare for low-income families across the state. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has denounced the freeze as politically motivated, stating that it is part of President Trump’s long-term plan to defund programmes that help Minnesotans.

Separately, the Department of Homeland Security announced audits of immigration cases involving Somali Americans to detect fraud. These audits may lead to denaturalisation or revocation of citizenship for individuals found guilty of procuring citizenship on a fraudulent basis.

Federal prosecutors allege that $9bn in funding for Minnesota social assistance programmes may have been stolen since 2018, including $300m misappropriated from funds set aside for a state children’s nutrition programme during the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal charges have been filed against 98 people, with 85 of them being of Somali descent.

The FBI is also investigating fraud allegations in Minnesota, and has surged personnel and investigative resources to the state to dismantle large-scale fraud schemes exploiting federal programmes. However, some US media outlets have raised questions about the claims made by Shirley, citing an investigation that found most daycare centres had active licences and were visited by state regulators within the last six months.

Source: Al Jazeera