House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, one of Washington’s top-ranking Republicans, called for the denaturalization and deportation of Somalis in Minnesota who defrauded taxpayers.
“I have three words regarding Somalis who have committed fraud against American taxpayers: Send them home,” Emmer, R-Minn., wrote in a fiery statement released Monday night on X.
“If they’re here illegally, deport them immediately; if they’re naturalized citizens, revoke their citizenship and deport them quickly thereafter,” he added.
Emmer’s remarks follow the viral release of a video from YouTube content creator Nick Shirley, which alleges that several Minnesota state-funded daycare and learning centers, largely operated by immigrants from Somalia, do not provide legitimate services.
Federal prosecutors have charged more than 90 people so far with defrauding public assistance programs of hundreds of millions of dollars in Minnesota, according to CBS News. Assistant United States Attorney Joe Thompson has estimated the amount of fraudulent billing in Minnesota’s Medicaid programs to be as high as $9 billion.
FBI Director Kash Patel announced this week that the agency was already sending additional resources to Minnesota to investigate fraud allegations.
Emmer added that he would “change the law,” if necessary, to revoke the citizenship of Somalis convicted of fraud.
“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,” he stated.
Emmer represents a district which hugs the northern and western suburbs of Minneapolis and stretches north to the city of St. Cloud.
Emmer recently defended Republican rhetoric on fraud within Minnesota’s Somali community, telling a reporter in the Capitol, “Not all Somalis are bad. 90 percent… of the crimes that have been charged are from the Somali community. And there’s nothing wrong and nothing racist about calling out crime.”
Emmer has been in Congress for a decade, and during that time, has engaged with issues concerning both Somalia and Minnesota’s Somali immigrant community.
He co-founded the informal, bipartisan Somalia Caucus in the House of Representatives, the stated goal of which was to “advocate for peace and stability in Somalia by ensuring the United States is providing sufficient and meaningful assistance so that democracy, good governance, and prosperity prevail over terrorism in Somalia.”
In 2015, National Public Radio (NPR) covered a discussion he held with constituents in St. Cloud, Minnesota, in which several residents called for a pause on the influx of Somalis into their community.
He pushed back on some of their remarks, telling them “you don’t get to slam the gate behind you and tell nobody else that they’re welcome.”
Emmer addressed the issue of daycare fraud since before the release of Shirley’s viral video.
In Feb. 2025, he signed onto a letter with three other members of the Republican Minnesota congressional delegation urging Democrat Gov. Tim Walz to support congressional oversight of the Minnesota Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) amid reports of “fraud at the expense of children.”
The letter requested that Walz provide documentation regarding the state’s 62 active investigations of childcare centers.
