Federal agents are investigating fraud allegations targeting Somali child care providers in Minnesota

Nick Shiffrin:

The Trump administration this week sent federal officers to Minnesota amid renewed concerns about fraud. The publication comes after right-wing influencer Nick Shirley posted a video on YouTube last week claiming without evidence that day care centers run by Somali residents in Minneapolis have embezzled more than $100 million.

In response, FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X that his agency was already investigating, and that – quote – “this is just the tip of a very large iceberg.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted this video yesterday of agents on the ground in Minneapolis.

But state and city officials dispute Shirley’s claims, which come at a time when Minneapolis’ Somali community was already facing the administration’s anti-immigration crackdown.

To explain it all, I’m joined by Jeff Mitrodt of the Minnesota Star Tribune, who has been covering this story.

Jeff Mitrodt, thanks so much. Welcome to the News Hour.

Federal prosecutors said earlier this month they were investigating about $9 billion in fraud at more than a dozen Medicaid-funded programs in Minnesota. This is much broader, much bigger than anything they’ve announced previously. So explain, what’s new here?

Jeff Mitrodt, investigative reporter, Minnesota Star Tribune:

What’s new here is that a fraud problem that started with a real coronavirus-era relief program to help kids get meals when all the schools were closed has just escalated into this kind of giant monster that continues to spread from one program to the next.

There seems to be a playbook passed down there, and dozens, if not hundreds, of criminals are figuring out how to take over the state for — it’s certainly hundreds of millions of dollars. And I think that $9 billion, oh my gosh, is a huge boost.

I think it’s possible, but there was a bit of skepticism about that number as well.

Nick Shiffrin:

In the video, Nick Shirley visits several daycare centers. Some seem closed off and others reject him when he asks to see the children. He seems to take this as evidence that the positions are fraudulent. What does it claim and how does it match up with your reports?

Jeff Mitrodt:

Well, it’s not investigative journalism by any means.

I can’t imagine these daycare facilities letting a stranger in the door. This seems like a violation of all sorts of rules, state and federal, but it makes for good theater. It actually raises questions about the legitimacy of some of these sites.

Some of these locations don’t look like your typical daycare centers, have tinted windows, or are not family-friendly locations. And so it seems cursed. It is very likely that some of these sites do not take care of children. It appears that two of them have already been closed for some time.

So did he choose a menu for the kind of maximum visual impact that would ultimately turn out to be nothing? We don’t know yet. The state has not shared any of their findings from what they saw on the streets this week when they went and visited those day care centers.

Nick Shiffrin:

Did any of the sites respond themselves?

Jeff Mitrodt:

Yes, we heard from many of them. We visited some of them today and yesterday. They’re stepping back and saying, it’s business as usual here, we’re still open.

My colleague was in a school today with 50 kids, which is definitely not the narrative we saw in the video. And it doesn’t feel like an organized situation, as if they suddenly put together a bunch of cribs for the kids.

But nonetheless, we visited all of them. At least one of them had a long history of problems, including failing to report what appeared to be the death of a child or another type of very serious incident. So these look like some facilities that might have some issues. Whether they are committing fraud is a different question.

Nick Shiffrin:

As you know, Republicans blamed Minnesota’s Democratic Governor, Tim Walz.

Here’s what his office told us in part – quote – “Fraud is unacceptable and it is appropriate for the federal government to investigate problems in federal programs. The Governor has been fighting this for years, and before the viral video, the state had already referred these cases to law enforcement.”

What was the state and federal response even before the latest allegations?

Jeff Mitrodt:

Very strong at the federal level, somewhat lukewarm at the state level.

And so I think there are legitimate questions raised about whether the state did what it needed to do initially to shut this thing down. Now, there’s certainly been a lot of action at the state level recently to try to crack down, create new guardrails, create new processes that will detect fraud and prevent this kind of thing from happening again.

But many critics say this is too little, too late.

Nick Shiffrin:

Finally, the Somali community in Minneapolis was demonized by the President of the United States, who called them – I quote – “trash.” He said: We do not want them in our country.

Here is what Ahmed Samatar told Fred de Sam Lazaro about these new allegations. He’s a Somali professor at Macalester College in St. Paul. He has lived in Minnesota for over 30 years.

Ahmed Samatar, Macalester College:

The consequences can be frightening for many Somalis, especially young people who believe that they were born here, they live the life of an ordinary citizen, they go to school and get along with life, and therefore, they now have to be watched all the time because they are targeted as an unwanted foreign group of people.

This is the danger.

Nick Shiffrin:

How does this renewed interest impact Somali society?

Jeff Mitrodt:

definitely.

They’ve been under siege for weeks because of this crackdown by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And I think the last video, I mean, based on the hate mail that I’m getting because of the stories that we’ve done that have raised some questions about the two things that the state did, and the statements that the feds made, I can’t imagine what it’s like to be a Somali person in our community right now.

Minnesota is home to the largest Somali community in the United States. More than 100,000 people live here. They are police officers. They are teachers. A bunch of them are criminals. But it paints the entire community with a very broad brush.

Nick Shiffrin:

Jeff Mitrodt of the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Thank you very much.

Jeff Mitrodt:

Thank you.