Agents serve search warrants in federal fraud probe in Minnesota

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal agents served multiple search warrants Tuesday in Minnesota in an ongoing fraud investigation by the Trump administration of publicly funded social programs, authorities said.

Few details were released, though armed agents were seen outside child care centers in the Minneapolis area. KSTP-TV said one crew even had a battering ram.

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who has been on the defensive amid Trump administration claims that he hasn't done enough to root out fraud, welcomed the raids. The state child welfare agency said it shared key information with law enforcement.

“We catch criminals when state and federal agencies share information. Joint investigations work, and securing justice depends on it,” Walz said.

Tensions between Minnesota officials and the federal government were high during an extraordinary immigration crackdown that led to the deaths of two people before the operation was eased in February.

Before that crackdown, the government had brought fraud charges against dozens of people, many of them Somali Americans, who were accused of fleecing a federal program that was meant to provide food to children. The investigation began during the Biden administration. More than 60 people have been convicted.

“Homeland Security Investigations in cooperation with our law enforcement partners executed criminal search warrants in Minneapolis relating to the rampant fraud of U.S. taxpayers dollars,” the department said.

The department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to requests for more information Tuesday. Agents were seen outside various daycare centers.

In February, Vice President JD Vance said the Trump administration would temporarily halt $243 million in Medicaid funding to Minnesota over fraud concerns. Minnesota sued in response, warning it may have to cut healthcare for low-income families, but a judge on April 6 declined to grant a restraining order.

Walz told Congress in March that he wanted to work with the federal government to help with fraud investigations, but that the immigration surge was making it more difficult.

“The people of Minnesota have been singled out and targeted for political retribution at an unparalleled scale,” he said at the time.