Minnesota Congressman Pete Stauber’s proposed legislation targeting child care fraud is drawing condemnation from Somali leaders who say the name of the bill is discriminatory and irresponsible.
The bill introduced in Congress Thursday, dubbed the “Stop Fraud by Strengthening Oversight and More Accountability for Lying and Illegal Activity (SOMALIA) Act,” would increase penalties for child care providers convicted of stealing government funds following recent claims of fraud perpetrated by Somali child care center owners. The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) condemned the bill’s name and its framing, calling it extremely discriminatory and irresponsible.
“This bill does not exist in a vacuum,” said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of CAIR-MN. “Over the past year we have seen a troubling pattern of political narratives from Washington that portray Somali Minnesotans as inherently suspect. That approach is harmful, inaccurate, and dangerous.”
The proposal would permanently ban any providers convicted of fraud from accessing any federally funded child care assistance programs, require the state to reimburse the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for any stolen funds, and automatically refer fraud cases to the U.S. Department of Justice for federal prosecution.
It also singles out immigrant providers convicted of fraud or “involved in terrorism-related activity,” laying out grounds for deportation and prohibition of asylum status.
In a statement issued Thursday announcing the legislation, Stauber, a Republican, said the proposal was inspired by “recent shocking revelations of widespread fraud occurring within Minnesota’s childcare assistance programs, which was primarily perpetrated by Somali fraudsters.”
“For too long, [Governor] Tim Walz and [Attorney General] Keith Ellison failed to act, and credible reports suggest their offices may have even enabled these criminals,” said Stauber’s statement. “When state leaders won’t do their jobs, the federal government must step in to provide commonsense reforms that protect our programs and hold violators accountable, and this bill does just that.”
Stauber did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
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Recent attention on Minnesota child care centers and allegations of fraud against them can be traced back to a series of videos by conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley, who visited several Somali-run child care centers in December and claimed the centers were fraudulently billing the state for children who weren’t present. The videos gained widespread attention, amplified on social media by several Republican politicians including President Donald Trump, and was cited by the president as a direct motivation for the deployment of 3,000 federal immigration agents to Minnesota for Operation Metro Surge.
The Minnesota Department of Human Services investigated the child care centers in question following Shirley’s videos and found no wrongdoing.
Suleiman Adan, CAIR-MN’s deputy executive director, told Sahan Journal that Stauber naming the bill with an acronym that spells out “Somalia” in the bill’s name sends a message to Somali Minnesotans that they are “inherently suspect.” He said it continues to fuel the stigma, harassment and discrimination that Somali Americans have been experiencing in recent months.
Adan likened the recent targeting of the Somali community in Minnesota to another federal enforcement campaign more than a decade ago, when President Barack Obama and his administration promoted the “Countering Violent Extremism” program, known as CVE.
The stated goal of the program was to prevent radicalization of young Muslim men after several had fled the United States to fight for various terror groups abroad. But the result was the stereotyping of young Somalis and surveillance of their community, he said.
“That program, at its core, designated Somali youth as being inherently violent or susceptible to terrorism, but now it’s that Somalis are inherently susceptible to being fraudsters,” Adan said.
Adan said he’s heard concerns from many Somali community members that include fears of being violently targeted, which was evident in Operation Metro Surge. And while several people who have been convicted of fraud in recent years have been members of the Somali community, putting the entire community on trial is ultimately unfair, he said.
“People feel like their entire community is being singled out and blamed for the alleged actions of individuals,” Adan said. “It’s not a few individuals, it’s almost 100 right? But compared to 150,000 [Somali community members], it’s incomparable.”
