House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) railed against leaders who have cautioned against generalizing the Minnesota Somali population over a widespread social services fraud scheme.
As federal investigators continue to parse through the welfare fraud in the state, in which the majority of those charged were of Somali origin, immigrant rights advocates and Democratic leaders have cautioned against indiscriminately blaming the Somali community. Many of these voices, including Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), have criticized the administration’s illegal immigration crackdown and President Donald Trump’s move to terminate temporary protected status for Somalis living in Minnesota.
Emmer criticized those who caution against tying Somalis to the fraud, arguing Minnesotans should call it as it is. He made the comments in an appearance on Fox Business’s Mornings with Maria.
“Calling it for what it is is not racist. Not all Somalis are criminals on this thing, but you’ve got to look at over 90% of the people that are being charged with these crimes come from the Somali community. There’s nothing wrong with calling out crime,” Emmer said.
The Minnesota fraud storyline came into the national political spotlight in November when Trump first announced his move to terminate temporary protected status for Somalis in the state. Trump’s Truth Social announcement came after a City Journal report alleging millions of Minnesota taxpayer dollars were stolen in the fraud scheme and were funneled to the Somali-based al Shabaab terrorist group.
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Walz backed Minnesota’s Somali community at a political fundraiser in December, telling the crowd, “Instead of demonizing our Somali community, we’re going to do more to welcome more in.” Minnesota has the highest Somali population of any U.S. state.
Emmer said he was frustrated with the lack of prior media coverage surrounding the fraud scheme, given that the investigations have been occurring for years.