ICE Floods Minneapolis After America’s Biggest Welfare Scam – Trump Demands Justice

Paul Riverbank, 12/8/2025Federal ICE raids rock Minneapolis, spotlighting Somali welfare fraud, stoking fear and fierce political debate.

Tom Homan, the official now piloting the White House’s border enforcement strategy, defended the crackdown with unwavering conviction. “There’s a large illegal Somali community there. There’s an illegal alien community there. If you’re a US citizen, you know, you have nothing to fear,” Homan insisted to CNN. He seemed unbothered by the controversy trailing behind Minneapolis’s sanctuary city policies. According to him, it was precisely such stances that demanded “more resources…to flood the zone. Because it takes a whole team to find somebody in the community.”

His words, blunt to some, only fueled the debate. This round of enforcement landed just as memories of a sprawling $1 billion fraud scandal—centered on fake social service organizations—still hang heavy over the local Somali community. Prosecutors allege a web of shell firms set up primarily to funnel government funds illicitly. The fact that many accused are Somali immigrants isn’t lost on officials pushing for stronger measures.

White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, never one to mince words, went further than many anticipated: “We believe that the Somali fraud operation in Minnesota is the single greatest theft of taxpayer dollars, through welfare fraud, in American history,” he said during a Fox News interview, hinting that more revelations would “shock the American people.”

President Trump, always willing to use a crisis to underline his priorities, jumped into the fray—not with nuance, but with the familiarity of campaign rhetoric. Yet even as the administration cited public safety, some local voices called for restraint and a commitment to due process.

Meanwhile, Homan offered an added rationale: threats against ICE agents have ballooned, with doxxing, escalating intimidation, and, in some cases, outright violence now part of the daily risk. “Threats on ICE officers are up 1,200%,” he told CNN’s Dana Bash. “They’re being doxxed on social media. They’re getting death threats every day. They’ve been attacked. They’ve been shot at. And you know, these officers are out there looking for the worst of the worst.” Homan did concede that on occasion, even U.S. citizens are momentarily detained if suspicions arise, but asserted, “As soon as that questioning is over, if they’re a U.S. citizen, they will be released. It takes probable cause to arrest somebody and actually transport and take them into custody.”

A few videos surfacing online—some showing officers questioning citizens—have stoked further community concern. Despite this, Homan doubled down on the legal foundation of ICE operations: “Their appearance alone can’t raise reasonable suspicion... It’s articulable facts, a lot of different facts to take into consideration.”

The tension around fraud enforcement hasn’t been the only source of unease. Federal leaders have dovetailed these actions with renewed focus on child smuggling at the southern border. On Fox & Friends, Homan claimed, “over half a million children were smuggled into this country under Joe Biden.” Of these, more than 62,000, he said, have been extracted from trafficking or forced labor—a staggering statistic, if accurate.

In response, the Department of Homeland Security rolled out a new program: the UAC Safety Verification Initiative. This move, pairing federal agents with local police to check in on migrant children, is meant to patch gaps in vetting sponsors—an issue officials warn can leave kids exposed to abuse or exploitation. “We’ve jump-started our efforts to rescue children who were victims of sex and labor trafficking by working with our state and local law enforcement partners to locate these children,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin explained.

For the White House and its supporters, the message is uncompromising: public safety comes first, whether the threat is fraud, trafficking, or something else entirely. To critics, however, these raids and initiatives risk turning entire communities—many with deep ties to Minnesota—into suspects in their own neighborhoods.

What nobody disputes: the sense of fear is real, especially in places like Minneapolis. Whether Washington’s approach brings much-needed security or stokes new divisions—well, that’s a question likely to linger far beyond this most recent sweep.

Minnesota found itself abruptly at the center of a storm last week, as federal immigration agents descended upon its largest city. Within hours, politicians and local leaders were scrambling to address a spike in anxiety that swept through immigrant neighborhoods—especially among Somali residents, many of whom have already spent months under a sharp media microscope.Tom Homan, the official now piloting the White House’s border enforcement strategy, defended the crackdown with unwavering conviction. “There’s a large illegal Somali community there. There’s an illegal alien community there. If you’re a US citizen, you know, you have nothing to fear,” Homan insisted to CNN. He seemed unbothered by the controversy trailing behind Minneapolis’s sanctuary city policies. According to him, it was precisely such stances that demanded “more resources…to flood the zone. Because it takes a whole team to find somebody in the community.”His words, blunt to some, only fueled the debate. This round of enforcement landed just as memories of a sprawling $1 billion fraud scandal—centered on fake social service organizations—still hang heavy over the local Somali community. Prosecutors allege a web of shell firms set up primarily to funnel government funds illicitly. The fact that many accused are Somali immigrants isn’t lost on officials pushing for stronger measures.White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, never one to mince words, went further than many anticipated: “We believe that the Somali fraud operation in Minnesota is the single greatest theft of taxpayer dollars, through welfare fraud, in American history,” he said during a Fox News interview, hinting that more revelations would “shock the American people.”President Trump, always willing to use a crisis to underline his priorities, jumped into the fray—not with nuance, but with the familiarity of campaign rhetoric. Yet even as the administration cited public safety, some local voices called for restraint and a commitment to due process.Meanwhile, Homan offered an added rationale: threats against ICE agents have ballooned, with doxxing, escalating intimidation, and, in some cases, outright violence now part of the daily risk. “Threats on ICE officers are up 1,200%,” he told CNN’s Dana Bash. “They’re being doxxed on social media. They’re getting death threats every day. They’ve been attacked. They’ve been shot at. And you know, these officers are out there looking for the worst of the worst.” Homan did concede that on occasion, even U.S. citizens are momentarily detained if suspicions arise, but asserted, “As soon as that questioning is over, if they’re a U.S. citizen, they will be released. It takes probable cause to arrest somebody and actually transport and take them into custody.”A few videos surfacing online—some showing officers questioning citizens—have stoked further community concern. Despite this, Homan doubled down on the legal foundation of ICE operations: “Their appearance alone can’t raise reasonable suspicion... It’s articulable facts, a lot of different facts to take into consideration.”The tension around fraud enforcement hasn’t been the only source of unease. Federal leaders have dovetailed these actions with renewed focus on child smuggling at the southern border. On Fox & Friends, Homan claimed, “over half a million children were smuggled into this country under Joe Biden.” Of these, more than 62,000, he said, have been extracted from trafficking or forced labor—a staggering statistic, if accurate.In response, the Department of Homeland Security rolled out a new program: the UAC Safety Verification Initiative. This move, pairing federal agents with local police to check in on migrant children, is meant to patch gaps in vetting sponsors—an issue officials warn can leave kids exposed to abuse or exploitation. “We’ve jump-started our efforts to rescue children who were victims of sex and labor trafficking by working with our state and local law enforcement partners to locate these children,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin explained.For the White House and its supporters, the message is uncompromising: public safety comes first, whether the threat is fraud, trafficking, or something else entirely. To critics, however, these raids and initiatives risk turning entire communities—many with deep ties to Minnesota—into suspects in their own neighborhoods.What nobody disputes: the sense of fear is real, especially in places like Minneapolis. Whether Washington’s approach brings much-needed security or stokes new divisions—well, that’s a question likely to linger far beyond this most recent sweep.