A System Designed to Be Abused

Exploiting loopholes isn't fraud, but...

In the wake of the exposure of welfare fraud in Minnesota over the past few weeks, I raised questions yesterday about a couple of refugee-operated daycares here in Idaho. For example, the proprietor of Umoja Child Care, which operated from 2019 to 2023 or 2024, is listed on Transparent Idaho as having received more than $750,000 in welfare over a four-year period.

That’s a lot of money.

However, it appears that Umoja really did have children enrolled, which is more than can be said for some of the paper daycares in Minnesota. The now-infamous “Quality Learning Center” highlighted by YouTuber Nick Shirley seems to be par for the course. Following Shirley’s investigation, one official reportedly said the facility had been shut down, only for a busload of Somali children to arrive the next day—presumably to demonstrate that it was, in fact, open.

Mark Fitzpatrick of Old State Saloon followed up with a visit to Yetu Sote Daycare, which replaced Umoja around a year ago. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend trying to get answers directly from daycare operators—after all, they’re just following the path laid out by government policy and the NGOs positioned to exploit it.

The problem is not refugees taking advantage of the system. Those who broke the law and committed fraud should face consequences, of course, but the real issue is the government policy and the NGOs that surround it like parasites. Jannus alone took in more than $30 million in 2024, using it not only to settle refugees in Idaho but also to lobby our state government to divert more tax dollars their way and adopt policies favorable to its cause.

The NGO industrial complex has created a massive bureaucratic system to import refugees and other foreign nationals into our communities, providing them with countless streams of taxpayer money every step of the way. Democrats and Republicans alike are complicit in creating and maintaining this system. Consider the response of Congressman Tom Emmer, the House Majority Whip and representative of Minnesota’s 6th district, to news of the Somali welfare scandal:

I have three words regarding Somalis who have committed fraud against American taxpayers: Send them home. If they’re here illegally, deport them immediately; if they’re naturalized citizens, revoke their citizenship and deport them quickly thereafter. If we need to change the law to do that, I will. Our nation will not tolerate those who take advantage of our charity and refuse to assimilate into our culture. Additionally, if any naturalized Somalis had undisclosed ties to terrorist organizations like Al-Shabaab, I want to see their citizenship revoked and their asses sent back immediately. Same goes for anyone who is found to have committed marriage fraud during the immigration process.

This tough talk sounds great—until you realize that Emmer co-founded the House Somalia Caucus in 2015 with then-Congressman Keith Ellison, a radical left-wing Muslim who is now Minnesota’s attorney general. Apparently, Emmer supported enriching the growing Somali community until its behavior became too outrageous to defend.

Twitter anon Oilfield Rando, who has done a tremendous job exposing how federal tax dollars support DEI and refugee programs across America, reviewed the latest funding bill for the Department of Health and Human Services this week. It appears that the Senate version of the bill includes substantial funding for DEI initiatives and refugee resettlement—programs you might expect Republicans to oppose. Both chambers intend to continue funding refugee resettlement along with cash payments to foreigners, with the Senate calling for $5.6 billion and the House proposing $4.3 billion.

With Republicans like these, who needs Democrats?

Sending a few Somali scammers in Minnesota to jail will do nothing to fix the underlying problem. Our government has created numerous perverse incentives, not only for refugees and immigrants themselves but also for the NGOs that facilitate them. This goes far beyond a handful of obvious fraud cases or a Tanzanian refugee collecting nearly a million dollars, courtesy of you and me.

If Congress is unwilling to act, then our Legislature must. It’s time to shut off the money spigot that allows—or even encourages—the kind of fraud and exploitation that has been uncovered right before our eyes.