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A bombshell City Journal investigation by Ryan Thorpe and Christopher F. Rufo lays out how a web of fraud in Minnesota’s social programs allegedly siphoned off vast sums and sent millions in remittances to Somalia, where some of the funds reportedly reached the al-Qaida-linked group Al-Shabaab. The piece reads like a nightmare scenario: taxpayer dollars meant for children, seniors and the vulnerable instead wound up funding malign actors abroad, and Americans deserve to know how that happened.
The scams spanned Feeding Our Future’s pandemic-era nutrition contracts, the Medicaid Housing Stabilization Services program, and even autism-service funding, with prosecutors saying sham providers, fake diagnoses, and padded invoices were all part of the operation. Dozens have been charged and multiple indictments have followed, exposing a pattern of organized, large-scale theft that should have been stopped by common-sense oversight long before it reached these levels.
Investigators trace much of the money through informal hawala networks and cash routes that can move enormous sums out of U.S. banks and onto commercial flights bound for Somalia, with one hawala reportedly sending $20 million in a single year. That method of moving money — outside mainstream banking scrutiny — transforms what looks like local welfare fraud into a national-security problem, and it should terrify anyone who cares about both fiscal responsibility and safety.
This isn’t an isolated crime wave; it’s a showcase of policy failure and political cowardice. Minnesota’s liberal leadership and the sympathetic media culture helped create an environment where generous programs operated with minimal controls, allowing bad actors to exploit the system while honest taxpayers picked up the tab.
President Trump responded by moving to strip Temporary Protected Status for Somali migrants in Minnesota, signaling that the federal government will no longer tolerate selective pockets of lawlessness that undermine the rule of law and drain public coffers. Conservatives should applaud decisive action when evidence points to systemic abuse, because defending citizens and protecting taxpayers must come before political correctness.
Washington is finally paying attention: the Treasury has opened probes into allegations some stolen funds reached terrorist networks, and federal prosecutors have been clear that these fraud schemes are sprawling and serious. If DOJ and the Treasury follow the facts rather than bowing to partisan pressure, we may finally see the full scope of the corruption unveiled and those responsible held accountable.
Americans should demand real consequences: immediate, independent audits of every suspect program, criminal penalties for organizers and profiteers, tighter controls on remittances and hawala-style transfers, and legislative fixes that remove perverse incentives. If elected leaders refuse to act, conservative policymakers must use oversight, spending power, and litigation to put taxpayers first, secure public programs, and restore the trust that corrupt grifters have shredded.
