Overview
- Health and Human Services halted roughly $185 million intended for about 19,000 children in Minnesota and demanded a comprehensive audit of cited centers.
- HHS said future Administration for Children and Families payments will require justification with receipts or photo evidence and launched a fraud‑reporting hotline and email.
- The FBI and Department of Homeland Security increased operations in Minnesota, with DHS posting door‑to‑door visits, and the department announced audits of Somali American immigration cases that could trigger denaturalization where fraud is proven.
- Governor Tim Walz called the freeze political, while Minnesota’s child care commissioner said inspections found no recorded evidence of fraud at the centers shown in the video, though some had safety and training violations or had recently closed.
- Federal prosecutors have already charged 98 people in Minnesota social‑services cases, more than 60 have been convicted, and community groups report backlash against Somali Americans in places like Seattle as the investigations widen.