Federal benefits fraud in Minnesota is so rampant that it is now a national story. Even left-wing national media are covering it, even though it undermines a narrative they are eager to believe.
The situation reveals some uncomfortable truths about random mass migration. One is the hidden budgetary costs of taking in millions of refugees and other low-skilled immigrants and giving them full access to a welfare state that neither their parents nor themselves will ultimately pay for.
Minnesota offers a generous array of public benefits to those who need them. Historically, the state had a reputation for low crime and high civic responsibility.
Enter thousands of Somalis who have come to the US over the last thirty years. Most came through the U.S. Refugee Assistance Program, asylum applications or related family migration. Many were settled in Minnesota through the Lutheran Church’s refugee resettlement charity. The result was a sudden meeting of societies with high and low trust.
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Somali illegal alien Abdul Dahir Ibrahim, who was convicted of fraud, is photographed with Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., (left) and Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz (right). (ICE)
Somalia is the second most corrupt country in the world, according to the Corruption Perceptions Index, with little central government or law enforcement. It is the ultimate ‘low-trust’ society. That means people may trust their family, and maybe their clan, but by the time we get to the state, there’s no credit left. If there is an opportunity to mislead authorities or foreign donors, it is almost a civic duty to do so.
Some Somali immigrants undoubtedly realize that their home system has led to poverty, crime and war and want to adopt America’s more successful ways. But others remain stuck in old ways. In COVID-19-era Black Lives Matter-tainted Minneapolis, the scammer element stumbled upon a goldmine of poorly guarded public money and profited from it.
There was the Fueling our future fraud scheme, where dozens of people – mostly ethnic Somalis – allegedly stole more than $250 million between 2020 and 2022 by running a fake child feeding scheme. Some of those arrested participated in public events, donated money or otherwise interacted with Minnesota politicians, including Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar; Democrat Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey; Omar Fateh, who tried and failed to unseat Frey in the Democratic primary for mayor; and Democrat Gov. Tim Walz. The thugs fended off the initial suspicions of state authorities by playing the race card, which works on white Democrats like a cross on a vampire.
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Then there was Housing Stabilization Services (HSS), which Minnesota created in 2020 to house seniors, addicts, the disabled and the mentally ill. The state created HSS under their version of Medicaid, with the idea that having a home makes them healthier. Quite a task, but what could go wrong with a measly budget of a few million dollars?
The program was easily accessible and relied on the honesty of the people. The state estimated it would cost less than $3 million a year, but in 2021 it cost ten times that, doubled again in 2022, and in 2024 the bill for HSS was $100 million. Costs were still rising when the state scrapped the program in 2025.
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Costs were still rising when the state scrapped the program in 2025.
You might shake your head and say, well, those “nice Minnesota losers” got their clocks cleaned – too bad for them. But it sucks for you, too, because the federal government puts in at least half of every dollar Minnesota spends on a Medicaid program.
Another state program, Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention, was an easy game. Asha Farhan Hassan was the first person charged in a massive scam in which parents declared their children autistic, and scammers created fake entities and programs to provide services to them while paying kickbacks to the parents. State payments for autism claims have exploded from $1 million in 2017 to more than $240 million in 2024.
In short, some unscrupulous Somalis, Somali Americans, and their local accomplices took advantage of the lavish benefits without any oversight. It was easy to co-opt other ethnic Somalis because even if they thought deposing the government was wrong, they would not betray the relatives of ‘the Man’.
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I have seen this attitude towards personal corruption in my career, from South Asia to West Africa and the South Pacific. It is endemic to – and a cause of – poor, poorly governed countries.
In the classic film “Casablanca,” Claude Rains’ character says, “I’m shocked, shocked!” to discover that gambling was going on at Rick’s Café. The joke, of course, is that he isn’t, because he’s the police chief in a French colonial city where corruption is endemic.
Anyone who has ever spent time in a “developing country” is not at all surprised to see that corruption does not magically disappear from a culture once their feet touch American soil.
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The Somalia-targeted benefit fraud reveals a truth the left refuses to admit, even to itself: not all immigrants come with the same baggage. Arriving in America will not magically erase generations of impoverishing forms of culture and tradition.
All kinds of people, from all places, can eventually assimilate. But for this to happen, it takes effort, time and good example. A neighborhood composed of one ethnic group and not exposed to the surrounding mores – such as ‘little Mogadishu’, Minneapolis – will change very slowly.
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Even if we ignore crime and fraud, mass migration is not free. Even if all immigrants were hardworking and honest, some immigrant groups do better on average than others. This means that the average lifetime costs of some groups of immigrants, especially refugees from extremely poor and dysfunctional societies, will be net budget negative.
A few hundred Somalis just cashed out early – and the rest of us were left holding the bag.
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