You know, when you hear about welfare fraud, you think of some small-time scam artists skimming a few bucks— but in Minnesota, it’s a whole different beast. An explosive investigative report by Ryan Thorpe and Chris Rufo in City Journal lays it bare: Somali immigrants are allegedly exploiting the state’s generous Medicaid system, faking diagnoses and services to siphon billions, then wiring the cash back to Somalia where it ends up funding Al-Shabaab, the al-Qaida-linked terror group. And get this—it’s your tax dollars making it happen, with one source bluntly stating, “The largest funder of Al-Shabaab is the Minnesota taxpayer.”
The schemes are brazen. Take the Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) program, meant for seniors and the disabled—costs exploded from $2.6 million projected annually to $1.2 billion by 2023, with fake companies billing for nonexistent care. Indictments hit eight fraudsters, six Somali, for fictitious setups that stole millions. Autism claims to Medicaid? Skyrocketed from $3 million in 2018 to $399 million in 2023—a 13,200% jump—fueled by “culturally appropriate” providers in the Somali community diagnosing kids at triple the state average (1 in 16 Somali four-year-olds). Federal counterterrorism sources confirm millions flowed to Somalia, landing with terrorists.
Thorpe and Rufo detail how Feeding Our Future, a Somali-run nonprofit, scammed $250 million in child nutrition funds for fake meals, with ties to Rep. Ilhan Omar’s aides. It’s not isolated—Somalis, resettled en masse since the 1990s, built a network of clinics and services ripe for abuse, low barriers and minimal oversight making it easy. The result? Billions vanished under Tim Walz, funding jihad while Minnesotans foot the bill.
This isn’t “cultural sensitivity”—it’s theft, betraying the trust of a welfare system meant for the needy. Minnesotans deserve answers: why the explosion, and why no audits? The left cries “bigotry” at scrutiny, but facts don’t lie—it’s time to close the loopholes and protect taxpayers from funding terror.
