By Brian Freeman | Wednesday, 31 December 2025 11:04 AM EST
The Trump administration has indicated its intent to revoke citizenship from any Somali American convicted of fraud in Minnesota’s large-scale welfare scandal, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State are currently evaluating actions that could result in citizenship revocation,” Leavitt said on Wednesday.
Newsweek reports that 90 individuals in Minnesota have been charged with defrauding state and federal programs providing nutrition, healthcare, and housing assistance. Most defendants are of East African descent and are believed to be part of Minnesota’s Somali community—the largest such population in the United States.
In one program alone—the “Feeding Our Future” scheme, named after a Minnesota nonprofit that billed the government for hundreds of millions of meals never served—57 individuals have already pleaded guilty or been convicted. The estimated cost to taxpayers from this fraud ranges between $250 million and $1 billion.
