Rerun

recurring claim

The recurring claim that Somali immigrants are living lavishly on public benefits

You're probably here because of the Oct 2026 rerun. This is the 9th time since 2016 (archive start) this story has run. The previous rerun was Apr 2026.

About this story

Since at least 2018, US politicians, media figures and viral posts have repeatedly claimed that Somali immigrants, mostly in Minnesota, take large amounts of public benefits or live in luxury on stolen public money. The claim draws on real federal fraud cases, such as the roughly $300 million Feeding Our Future meal-program case. In that case most defendants were of Somali descent, but its founder is not Somali. Fact-checkers and state officials have found that broader figures, such as "88% on welfare," "92% don't work" and "$19 billion" in fraud, are unsupported or far larger than anything prosecutors have alleged.

Sources: 1, 2

20162026

Rerun #9

Oct 2026 – ongoing "Fight back" post, Youngstown rally, and the Oval Office "98%" remark

At the Oct 12 Youngstown rally, Trump said Somalis in Minnesota "come in, they have nothing, and they're the number one buyers of Mercedes-Benz and BMWs in the state of Minnesota" (HuffPost via Yahoo). Somali Digest, citing a rally transcript, reported that he also said community members "looted tens of billions of dollars from Minnesota welfare programs." This is the same luxury-car-bought-with-public-money image as the earlier "Cadillacs" remarks. Four days earlier, on Oct 8, he posted on Truth Social that Minnesotans had "been robbed" and "must fight back." CAIR's Minnesota chapter called the post "an implicit call for violence against an entire community" (Star Tribune). On Oct 20 he told reporters Somalis have "like, a 98% unemployment rate… They don't work" (Mediaite). The record: The Hill notes the administration's focus follows a pandemic-era fraud scheme that stole hundreds of millions of dollars from a federally funded nutrition program. Mediaite, citing CBS News, reports that 82 people of Somali descent had been charged in major fraud cases as of February. CBS described them as a tiny fraction of Minnesota's more than 107,000 Somali residents.

  • startribune.com article
    President Trump is placing a target on the backs of Somali Americans
  • Yahoo News article
    They come in, they have nothing, and they're the number one buyers of Mercedes-Benz and BMWs in the state of Minnesota.
  • mediaite.com article
    Did you know they have, like, a 98% unemployment rate?
  • c-span.org video Watch
    come in, they have nothing, and they're the number one buyers of Mercedes-Benz and BMWs in the state of Minnesota.

Sources: CNN reliable · startribune.com reliable · The Hill reliable · mediaite.com needs a second source

Rerun #8

Apr 2026 – May 2026 Minneapolis daycare search warrants and renewed luxury-spending claims

On April 28, 2026, federal agents carried out search warrants at about 20 Minneapolis childcare centers in a fraud investigation, and no arrests were reported (CBS). An attorney for childcare centers told AP that the names of the targeted businesses showed they were run by Somali immigrants (PBS/AP). On May 2, Fox News reported that Brewer said on "Saturday in America" that he had seen Somali shoppers buying luxury goods, sightings the article placed in the late 2000s to early 2010s, and that "more than 50% of them are on welfare." The same article said Brewer "previously said he saw Somali alleged fraudsters buy luxury sports cars" and cited his January remarks to Fox News Digital about Bentley and Maserati dealerships (Fox News). What the record shows: defendants in the separate Feeding Our Future case used stolen meal-program money for luxury cars, property and travel, according to trial exhibits (CBS, Dec 2025). As of March 2026, 92 people had been charged in related schemes and 67 convicted (CBS). The April searches had led to no charges when MPR reported on them.

  • Public Broadcasting Service article
    Federal agents served multiple search warrants Tuesday in Minnesota in an ongoing fraud investigation by the Trump administration of publicly funded social programs for children
  • Fox News article
    You start seeing so many Somalians there purchasing these luxury goods. And I always wondered, how in the world did these folks get so much money?
  • Fox News video Watch
    more than 50% of them are on welfare

Sources: Public Broadcasting Service reliable · cbsnews.com reliable · mprnews.org reliable · cbsnews.com reliable

Rerun #7

Feb 2026 "92% don't work" and the "$19 billion" claim

In a Feb 2, 2026 interview on Dan Bongino's podcast, Trump said of Somalis in Minnesota, "92% don't work." He described "an unbelievable system, cor- -- corrupt system of welfare" and said "many of them drive Mercedes-Benzes." PolitiFact rated the 92% figure "Pants on Fire!" It cited 2024 Census data showing about 72% of Minnesota Somalis 16 and older are working or looking for work, so about 28% are not, a lower share than Minnesotans overall (about 32%). In his Feb 24 State of the Union, Trump said "members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion dollars from the American taxpayer." NBC News rated that claim "lacks evidence," saying it "far exceeds estimates from the Justice Department, which has so far charged 98 people in Minnesota, 85 of whom are Somali, with $1 billion of fraud." A Star Tribune review of federal court cases put alleged fraud uncovered so far closer to $218 million.

  • rollcall.com broadcast
    You know, many of them drive Mercedes-Benzes. They had nothing when they came over.
  • startribune.com article
    “That’s a lie ... you’re lying,” Omar shouted back in response to Trump’s claim.

Sources: PolitiFact reliable · NBC News reliable · startribune.com reliable · fox9.com needs a second source

Rerun #6

Dec 2025 – Jan 2026 Daycare video, child care funding freeze, "Mercedes-Benz" remark

On January 13, 2026, in a passage of a Detroit Economic Club speech about the "Somali population" in "that area of Minnesota," President Trump said "they came from a place with nothing, and they come here, and they drive around in Mercedes-Benz." He added, "They get welfare payments, then they have Mercedes-Benzes." That is the claim about living lavishly on benefits, made directly. It followed a national story that began with YouTuber Nick Shirley's December 26 video. The video accused Somali-run Minneapolis daycare centers of taking public money without providing care, and HHS froze about $185 million in Minnesota child care funds in response. A CBS News review of state records, as reported by Al Jazeera, found that all but two of the centers had active licenses, and that state regulators had visited all the active ones within six months. It found safety and other citations but "no recorded evidence of fraud." Separately, there are real documented prosecutions. In a Minnesota child-nutrition case, NPR reported that more than 90 people have been charged since 2022 over about $250 million in COVID relief funds that prosecutors say was misappropriated; Al Jazeera put the figures at 98 charged and $300 million.

  • NPR article
    The pair claim to have exposed over $110 million in fraud.
  • Al Jazeera article
    We have turned off the money spigot and we are finding the fraud,
  • presidency.ucsb.edu statement
    You know, they came from a place with nothing, and they come here, and they drive around in Mercedes-Benz.
  • whitehouse.gov video Watch transcript
    They came from a place with nothing, and they come here and they drive around in Mercedes-Benz.

Sources: NPR reliable · Al Jazeera reliable · presidency.ucsb.edu reliable

Rerun #5

Nov 2025 – Dec 2025 Trump's Cabinet remarks on Somali Minnesotans: "ripped off" billions, "88%" welfare and "lavish lifestyles"

At the end of a Dec 2, 2025 Cabinet meeting, Trump said people of Somali heritage had "ripped off" Minnesota for "billions of dollars" every year. He said they "contribute nothing" and that "the welfare is like 88%." The White House gave FactCheck.org no evidence for either figure. A statement quoted by FactCheck.org said Somali refugees had used Minnesota fraud "to fund lavish lifestyles overseas at the expense of American taxpayers." What the record shows: Charges: The New York Times reported that 78 of the 86 people charged so far in Minnesota program-fraud cases are of Somali descent. Amounts: According to FactCheck.org, a Star Tribune review of court documents put alleged fraud found so far at about $152 million, not billions. Benefit use: Minnesota's state demographer reported that 84% of people with Somali ancestry received at least one of the listed benefits: 8% received public-assistance (cash) income, 60% received SNAP (food aid) and 78% had Medicaid. A separate report from the Center for Immigration Studies estimated 81% of Somali immigrant households. Citizenship: The demographer noted that 95% of Somalis in Minnesota are U.S. citizens. Peak attention: two spikes, Nov 21–22 after Trump's Truth Social post announcing the end of TPS (Friday, Nov 21), and a larger one Dec 2–4 after the Cabinet meeting (Tuesday, Dec 2); ABC's article ran Dec 3. FactCheck.org's fact-check carries Dec 9 and Dec 10 updates. A Nov 19 City Journal article had quoted a confidential source calling the Minnesota taxpayer the largest funder of Al-Shabaab; the Star Tribune later reported that the article's one named source said it overstated what he told them.

  • city-journal.org article
    This is a third-rail conversation, but the largest funder of Al-Shabaab is the Minnesota taxpayer.
  • ABC News article
    We could go one way or the other, and we're going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country.
  • youtube.com video

Sources: factcheck.org reliable · ABC News reliable · Time reliable · startribune.com reliable

Rerun #4

Sep 2022 Feeding Our Future charges announced

On September 20, 2022, the U.S. Attorney's Office for Minnesota announced charges against 47 people in an alleged $250 million scheme against the Federal Child Nutrition Program, run through the nonprofit Feeding Our Future. U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger called it "the largest pandemic fraud in the United States" (CBS). Prosecutors said the money paid for luxury vehicles, real estate in Minnesota, Ohio, Kentucky, Kenya and Turkey, and international travel. Sahan Journal's list of defendants later reached 79, and its conviction tracker shows 61 guilty pleas and seven more found guilty. In later coverage from December 2025 (published by WRAL), PolitiFact reported that most defendants were of Somali descent and that founder Aimee Bock, who is not Somali, was convicted at trial. It also reported that Trump wrote about the case in a November 21, 2025 Truth Social post and cited the scandal as a reason to end Temporary Protected Status (a deportation protection) for Somalis in Minnesota.

  • justice.gov statement
    to purchase luxury cars, houses, jewelry, and coastal resort property abroad
  • cbsnews.com article
    Prosecutors said just a fraction of the money went toward feeding kids, with the rest laundered through shell companies and spent on property, luxury cars and travel.
  • startribune.com article
    Heather Mueller should resign because she did not do her job
  • youtube.com video

Sources: NPR reliable · sahanjournal.com needs a second source · sahanjournal.com needs a second source · wral.com needs a second source

Rerun #3

Oct 2019 Trump's Minneapolis rally remarks on Somali refugee resettlement

At an Oct. 10, 2019 campaign rally in Minneapolis, Trump said Washington leaders had brought "large numbers of refugees to your state from Somalia without considering the impact on schools and communities and taxpayers." He also called Rep. Ilhan Omar a "disgrace to our country" (AP via PBS; Star Tribune). The next day CAIR called the remarks a "racist rant" (CAIR; AP). Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka backed letting cities and states have a say on refugees. He said some cities "might decide they cannot accept more refugees because they already have a large percentage of their population that needs help from the welfare system" (Star Tribune). This rerun is about the cost of refugees to taxpayers, not a claim of lavish living on benefits.

  • Public Broadcasting Service article
    large numbers of refugees to your state from Somalia without considering the impact on schools and communities and taxpayers.
  • cair.com statement
    Last night's racist rant targeting Somali-Americans is just the latest example of Donald Trump's use of white supremacist and anti-immigrant rhetoric
  • startribune.com article
    might decide they cannot accept more refugees because they already have a large percentage of their population that needs help from the welfare system.
  • c-span.org video Watch
    large numbers of refugees to your state from Somalia without considering the impact on schools and communities and taxpayers

Sources: Public Broadcasting Service reliable · startribune.com reliable · cair.com needs a second source

Rerun #2

Mar 2019 State auditor's report on the child care fraud claims

Lawmakers ordered the review after a 2018 Fox 9 report, which included claims by former Human Services employee Scott Stillman. The report said as much as $100 million a year was lost to fraud in the Child Care Assistance Program, with money possibly ending up with terrorist groups. MPR reported that the terrorism claim "was specific to Somali-American child care providers sending money back to Somalia." The auditor found no evidence for either the $100 million figure or the terrorism link. It also said fraud was probably higher than the $5–6 million prosecutors had proven, but gave no estimate of its own. Republicans called for the Human Services inspector general to resign. Democrats called the earlier terrorism claims unsupported and Islamophobic, and a local Somali child care group demanded an apology.

  • auditor.leg.state.mn.us statement
    We did not find evidence to substantiate the allegation that the level of CCAP fraud in Minnesota is $100 million annually.
  • mprnews.org article
    we couldn't find evidence to substantiate that there is $100 million in fraud in CCAP every year,
  • startribune.com article
    relieved to hear that there are no suitcases of cash going to Somalia.

Sources: mprnews.org reliable · startribune.com reliable · inforum.com needs a second source · auditor.leg.state.mn.us needs a second source