The White House claims that the administration is considering plans to revoke citizenship for those found guilty of fraud, adding that this time, US President Donald Trump has launched yet another attack on Somali Americans.
The Trump administration suspended $ 85 million in federal subsidies for low-income children a day after making the statements on Wednesday in response to allegations of fraud at daycares run by Somali Americans in Minneapolis, the state’s largest city.
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Trump claimed in a Truth Social post that “a large portion of Minnesota fraud, up to 90%, is brought on by people who entered our country from Somalia illegally.”
Ilhan Omar, a member of the Somali American Congress, was repeatedly attacked by him as one of the “many scammers.”
According to Trump, “Send them back from where they came, Somalia, which is undoubtedly the worst and most corrupt country on earth.”
Meanwhile, White House spokesman Karoline Leavitt claimed in an interview with Fox News that the administration was “looking at” possibly robbing Somali Americans of their citizenship after being found guilty of fraud.
Denaturalization remained “a tool at the president’s and secretary of state’s disposal,” she claimed.
Trump and his allies have repeatedly threatened to revoke citizenship for a wide range of naturalized citizens, including those who were born outside the US but who obtained citizenship through the immigration process.
Legal experts have noted that foreign-born citizens can be denied citizenship, but this practice frequently requires significant burden of proof when demonstrating that a person was naturalized under false pretenses.
increased scrutiny
Throughout his political career, Trump has frequently demonized immigrants.
His first successful presidential campaign in 2016 was marred by that rhetoric. He made the claim that Mexico was inciting outrage by bringing “rapists” and criminals into the US while campaigning in 2015.
Later, he made contradictory accusations against Haitians who lived in Illinois, including that they killed and kept pets during his presidential campaign in 2024.
Trump has criticized the legal pathways that allowed them into the country and compared them to “garbage” in recent weeks. He added that they were “destroying America.”
Trump’s statements were decried as being blatantly racist by politicians, community leaders, and political figures.
Trump has, however, engaged in action in addition to his rhetoric. His administration has increased immigration enforcement agents to Minnesota over the past month, conducted a comprehensive audit of legal Somali immigrants, and prioritized state-related fraud claims.
His actions have sparked a scandal that has recently shook the state’s midwestern region.
Criminals have allegedly defrauded the state of nearly $ 9 billion in COVID funding and $ 300 million in improper social assistance funding, according to the prosecution.
In connection with its extensive fraud investigation, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Monday that the Justice Department had charged 98 people in Minnesota with “Somali descent.” 85 of those charged were also of “Somali descent.”
Many of those accusations date before Trump’s second term, though.
Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz rebuffed the governor’s claim that local and state authorities have spent years preventing fraud in the state.
Walz claimed in a post on the social media platform X on Wednesday that Trump is “using an issue he doesn’t give a damn about as an justification for harming working Minnesotans.”
Following a viral video posted by conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley, who claimed Minneapolis-based Somali American-run daycare centers had committed up to $100 million in fraud, the Trump administration has taken some of its actions.
Officials from the administration, including Bondi, have repeatedly cited Shirley’s claims, with 127 million views of his video.
For instance, FBI Director Kash Patel stated in a social media post on Tuesday that his organization was aware of recent reports from Minnesota.
He continued, noting that the bureau “surged personnel and investigative resources to Minnesota to stop large-scale fraud schemes that use federal programs.”
However, questions have remained regarding Shirley’s video’s accuracy.
According to a CBS News investigation this week, “all but two” of the daycares featured in the video had active licenses and “were visited by state regulators within the last six months.”
Source: Aljazeera
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