If the government can’t stop all of the welfare fraud, perhaps it can at least prevent the ill-gotten money from being sent overseas, according to two Republicans in Congress who announced new legislation Tuesday to block large remittances to foreign countries.
Reps. Michelle Fischbach and Pete Stauber, both of Minnesota, said they acted after seeing reports that scammers in their state’s migrant community siphoned billions of dollars out of welfare programs, then shipped the money abroad — including to terror group Al-Shabaab.
“Hard-earned Minnesota taxpayer dollars must help our own citizens, not foreign criminals,” Mr. Stauber said.
The new legislation would apply to noncitizens who take welfare and send more than $1,000 back to their home country annually. Their eligibility to collect welfare would be revoked.
Dollars sent back home by migrants are known as remittances. That money plays a large part in boosting economies in parts of the Western Hemisphere — particularly Central American nations.
Remittances also account for roughly 20% of Somalia’s gross domestic product, according to the World Bank. That comes from the larger Somali diaspora across the globe, though the U.S. is often cited as among the leading sources for the money.
Ms. Fishbach said Congress needs to ensure that taxpayer assistance remains in American communities.
“We are done watching our hard-earned money be sent overseas while the programs meant for our own citizens are gutted by fraud,” she said.
Minnesota has been under scrutiny since authorities revealed a massive scandal involving a pandemic-era food assistance program. Dozens of members of the Somali community in the Minneapolis area have been found guilty of taking money to provide meals, then never delivering the food.
The fraud is believed to total $300 million.
Then last year, scholars at the Manhattan Institute said money fraudulently obtained from welfare programs by members of the Somali community had flowed to Al-Shabaab, a designated terrorist organization under U.S. law.
That helped spark President Trump’s demand for immigration officers to surge into Minneapolis, and it prodded a crackdown on Minnesota’s handling of government assistance.
A federal judge on Monday let the Trump administration proceed with deferring more than $250 million in payments to Minnesota’s Medicaid program. Vice President J.D. Vance had announced the deferral in February, saying the state needed to get a better anti-fraud plan in place.
Mr. Vance said at the time the goal was to “turn the screws” on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
“You have people who are billing the government millions, tens of millions, billions of dollars in taxpayer dollars saying they’re providing a service, but there’s no follow-up to ensure they’re actually providing those services,” the vice president said.
Minnesota has since said it provided a fraud compliance plan to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The new legislation announced this week would apply to recipients of cash and in-kind welfare, including food stamps, Medicaid, housing assistance and unemployment insurance. Noncitizens who collect benefits would be required to certify that they are not sending more than the allowed $1,000 abroad.
A new database would provide verification.
