The welfare fraud investigation affecting Minnesota's Somali community has been described by Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff for policy under former President Donald Trump, as potentially the largest theft of taxpayer dollars through welfare fraud in U.S. history. Prosecutors have charged dozens of individuals in connection with fraudulent activities related to a program intended to provide food assistance to children during the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, 59 individuals have been convicted, with the total fraud amount estimated at approximately $1 billion, although some reports suggest the total could exceed $8 billion across various public assistance programs.

The Somali community in Minnesota, which consists of around 80,000 migrants from Somalia, has been implicated in a significant portion of the alleged fraud. Among the notable figures in this community is Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who has been linked to one of the alleged fraudsters, Abdul Dahir Ibrahim, a Somali national with a criminal history and a deportation order. Photographs showing Omar and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz with Ibrahim have intensified scrutiny over their associations, although neither has been formally accused of criminal conduct.

The fraud scheme was first uncovered in 2022, with prosecutors labeling it as the largest pandemic-related fraud in the United States. The nonprofit organization Feeding Our Future, which collaborated with state and federal agencies to provide meals to children, has been implicated for allegedly submitting false documentation to create the appearance of having delivered food aid. Former U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger stated that the primary objective of the fraudsters was to profit from the program while falsely claiming to support children during the pandemic.

In response to the situation, Small Business Secretary Kelly Loeffler has initiated an investigation into pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program loans in Minnesota, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is leading another inquiry into potential misappropriation of state funds that may have been diverted to al-Shabaab, a group designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.

Omar has suggested that the rapid implementation of COVID-related assistance programs may have contributed to oversight failures that allowed the fraud to proliferate. However, this explanation has not alleviated concerns regarding the depth of the issues at hand, raising questions about the effectiveness of oversight mechanisms in place to protect public funds and the broader implications for immigrant communities facing scrutiny amid heightened political tensions.