How misreading Somali poverty led Minnesota into its largest welfare scandal

Source: Fox News
by Howard Husock

“The billion-dollar pandemic-era social service billing fraud perpetuated mainly by Somali immigrants in Minneapolis is shocking in its scale. That Minnesota public officials would have turned a blind eye to one of the largest state welfare scandals in American history, for fear of being viewed as racist, should surprise no one. For years, the state has wrongly convinced itself that its Black residents suffer from a deeply racist past. Progressives made a key error, confusing the situation of new immigrants who happen to be Black Africans with those who are the descendants of American slaves. But they were sure they had to correct the past with dramatic policy changes. This under-appreciated story began with what seemed to be an alarming 2019 investigation by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that labeled Minnesota ‘one of the most racially inequitable states’ — a conclusion based on a poverty rate four times higher for Blacks than Whites.” (12/10/25)

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/how-misreading-somali-poverty-led-minnesota-its-largest-welfare-scandal