(The Center Square) – While fraud investigations surrounding millions of taxpayer dollars and day cares in Minnesota continue, the Trump administration ended temporary protection status for Somalis.
The status change is expected to impact the nearly 2,500 Somalis living in the United States under TPS and another 1,400 with pending applications.
However, between 80,000 and 100,000 Somalis reportedly live in Minnesota.
“Temporary means temporary,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. “Country conditions in Somalia have improved to the point that it no longer meets the law’s requirement for Temporary Protected Status. Further, allowing Somali nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to our national interests. We are putting Americans first.”
The TPS designation for Somalia ends March 17. Somalis who do not have legal status in the country must report their departure from the U.S., according to Homeland Security. Additionally, U.S. taxpayers will cover the cost of the plane ticket for those leaving the country and provide a $1,000 exit bonus.
At least 98 people have been charged, including 85 Somalians, for their role in a scheme targeting 14 high-risk Medicaid-funded services through Minnesota Department of Human Services programs, Attorney General Pam Bondi said. Sixty have already been found guilty, with some pleading guilty this month.
In October, Gov. Tim Walz shut down all 14 programs and ordered a third-party audit of Medicaid billing at Human Services. Earlier this month, he appointed a new director to implement a statewide fraud prevention program.
Homeland Security and the FBI continue to investigate more fraud in Minneapolis.
The firestorm first broke about the Minneapolis fraud cases following the release of reports in late November saying millions of taxpayer dollars had been stolen from the Minnesota welfare system and then sent to the Somali-based terror group Al-Shabaab.
That was according to original reporting from Chris Rufo and Ryan Thorpe that was published in City Journal. It detailed how, throughout the fall, the then-acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, Joe Thompson, was investigating several different cases of fraud in the state. At that time, Thompson called it a “crisis.”
Much of that attention has been focused on reports of fraud among the city’s significant Somali population. Since then, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has opened an investigation into the accusations of fraud.
