The scandal over Somali immigrants defrauding the state of Minnesota will not go away until someone in power has been fired, a political strategist has warned.
‘Until somebody in a position of power … who was in charge of administering this or having some oversight over it, goes to jail, it’s honestly never going to stop,’ former Bush adviser Scott Jennings told CNN host Abby Phillip.
Republican firebrand Rep. Anna Paulina Luna has gone further, calling for a total immigration moratorium when Congress returns.
The childcare fraud stems from longstanding vulnerabilities in federally funded programs like the Child Care Assistance Program, predominantly involving members of the state’s large Somali community who are accused of billing for nonexistent services.
The scheme builds on the infamous $250 million Feeding Our Future meal fraud from the COVID era, where dozens were convicted.
A federal prosecutor alleged earlier in December that roughly $9 billion in federal funds that supported 14 programs in Minnesota since 2018 may have been stolen.
The furor exploded on Friday after a viral YouTube video by independent journalist Nick Shirley documented empty Somali-run daycares that were receiving taxpayer funds, prompting a federal surge in investigations and renewed political outrage.
Jennings clashed on Monday night with Phillip after she asserted that ‘the idea that nothing is being done that no one is being held accountable … is completely false.’
The Republican strategist fired back: ‘Well, some people have been held accountable. But I think in the opinion of most Republicans, not nearly enough.’
Scott Jennings dropped what social media described as a ‘truth nuke’ when he clashed with CNN host Abby Phillip over the lack of accountability by elected officials for the childcare fraud
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., speaks during Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2025, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Phoenix
Then he warned, in what MAGA commentators described as a ‘knockout line’ and a ‘truth nuke’, that the scandal was just the tip of the iceberg, where Democrat-run states and cities across the country were not being held accountable.
‘Look what’s going on in blue states across the country: nine billion in Minnesota, 70 billion in fraud in California, cooking the crime stats in Washington, D.C,’ Jennings said.
‘When is someone in a position of power going to go to jail for the rampant fraud? You can put all the low-level people in jail you want, but until somebody in charge goes to jail, it won’t stop.’
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said earlier this month that fraud will not be tolerated and that his administration ‘will continue to work with federal partners to ensure fraud is stopped and fraudsters are caught.’
However, Republicans on Capitol Hill are pushing for severe new measures.
Among them is Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who has called for a total end to immigration amid the scandal.
She wrote on X last night: ‘Our immigration system is incredibly broken, and, as you were seeing, there are many people who have come to this country and seriously abused it. The entire system needs an overhaul.
‘I will be introducing an immigration moratorium as soon as we get back to Washington and the floor reopens. This is a necessary move in order to flush the system.’
The furor exploded on Friday after a viral YouTube video by independent journalist Nick Shirley documented empty Somali-run daycares that were receiving taxpayer funds, prompting a federal surge in investigations and renewed political outrage
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz gives an interview with Star Tribune journalists in the governor’s office at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Dec. 12, 2024
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar at Boom Island Park, Minneapolis, USA – 03 Sep 2021
The publication of Shirley’s video, which has now racked up more than 125 million views, sparked an immediate crackdown by the Trump administration.
JD Vance reposted the footage on X, writing: ‘This dude has done far more useful journalism than any of the winners of the 2024 Pulitzer prizes.’
The vice president added: ‘What’s happening in Minnesota is a microcosm of the immigration fraud in our system. Politicians like it because they get power. Welfare cheats like it because they get rich.
‘But it’s a zero sum game, and they’re stealing both money and political power from Minnesotans.’
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Monday that officials had opened a fraud investigation in Minneapolis, while FBI Director Kash Patel on Sunday said that the agency was ‘surging’ resources to Minnesota.
Patel said that previous fraud arrests in Minnesota were ‘just the tip of a very large iceberg.’
President Donald Trump has criticized Walz’s administration over the fraud cases to date.
In recent weeks, tensions have been high between state and federal enforcement in the area as the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown focused on the Somali community in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, which is the largest in the country.
Among those running schemes to get funds for child nutrition, housing services and autism programs, 82 of the 92 defendants are Somali Americans, according to the US Attorney’s Office for Minnesota.
Walz spokesperson Claire Lancaster said that the governor has worked for years to ‘crack down on fraud’ and was seeking more authority from the Legislature to take aggressive action.
Walz has supported criminal prosecutions and taken a number of other steps, including strengthening oversight and hiring an outside firm to audit payments to high-risk programs, Lancaster said.