President Donald Trump’s deputies are freezing federal payments to child care businesses in Minnesota amid growing evidence of mass fraud by Somali-owned daycare centers.
“We’re committed to holding bad actors accountable, regardless of rank or office,” said a X video from Jim O’Neil, deputy secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). “Anyone who is involved in perpetrating this fraud against the American people should expect to be prosecuted.”
The Minnesota freeze is also intended to pressure other states to check for fraud in their federally funded services — especially within the ethnic enclaves created by long-standing federal policy of mass migration.
The freeze is politically powerful because it will force the state’s legitimate operators to demand state investigations into the apparently massive fraud by Somali operators. The fraud is evidently hidden by the imported, self-serving, clannish Somali culture of “amoral familism,” which is very different from U.S.-style citizenship, which emphasizes reciprocal rights and duties in a shared society.
The fraud has been quietly described in many news outlets over the last few years. However, Democrats suppressed public recognition of the mass fraud by their political allies until last week, when independent journalist Nick Shirley posted a series of man-on-the-street videos showing empty child care centers.
O’Neil said:
Intrepid journalists have made shocking and credible allegations of extensive fraud in Minnesota’s child care programs. We believe the state of Minnesota has allowed scammers and fake daycares to siphon millions of taxpayer dollars over the past decade.
Alex Abrams, the assistant secretary at the Administration for Children and Families, chimed in:
My office, ACF, provides Minnesota $185 million in child care funds each year. That money should be helping 19,000 American children, including toddlers and infants. Any dollars stolen by fraudsters is stolen from those children. Yesterday, I spoke directly with the director of the Minnesota Child Care Services office. She could not tell me with confidence whether those allegations of fraud are isolated or whether there’s fraud stretching statewide.
O’Neil continued:
Today, we have taken three direct actions against the blatant fraud that seems to be rampant in Minnesota. First, I’ve activated our Defend the Spend [accounting] system for all ACF child-care payments across America. Starting today, we require a justification receipt for photo evidence before we make a payment. Second, I just signed and sent a demand letter to Governor [Tim] Walz. I required a full 360 [degree] review of these centers. This includes attendance records, licenses, complaints, investigations, and inspections.
“ACF expects every state to uphold the highest standards of oversight, monitoring, and accountability for federal dollars — Minnesota is no exception,” Abrams added.
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