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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has launched a fraud investigation into refugee settlement in Minnesota.
The investigation will be lead by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and will involve re-examining refugee cases that led to immigrants settling in the state.
Operation Parris (Post-Admission Refugee Reverification and Integrity Strengthening) will begin by looking at Minnesota’s 5,600 refugees who have not yet been given lawful status.
USCIS will conduct thorough background checks, reinterview applicants for green cards, and decide the merits of each individual case.
“Minnesota is ground zero for the war on fraud,” said a DHS spokesperson.
“This operation in Minnesota demonstrates that the Trump administration will not stand idly by as the U.S. immigration system is weaponized by those seeking to defraud the American people. American citizens and the rule of law come first, always.”
Massive fraud in Minnesota has become a national issue in recent weeks, with President Trump dubbing the state, under Governor Tim Walz, a “hub of money laundering activity.”
A federal prosecutor has suggested more than $9 billion in federal funding sent to the state for health and welfare programs may have been stolen.
The Epoch Times notes, “A majority of the programs named as defendants were involved in child nutrition, housing, and autism services run by Somali Americans.”
In response to the controversy, Walz announced he would not be run for re-election as governor this year.
On Thursday, Vice President JD Vance announced the creation of a new federal position to investigate mass fraud.
“We are creating a new assistant attorney general position who will have nationwide jurisdiction over the issue of fraud,” Vance said during a White House press briefing.
“Now, of course that person’s efforts will start and focus primarily in Minnesota, but it is going to be a nationwide effort because unfortunately the American people have been defrauded in a very nationwide way.”
