Democratic Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson dismissed calls for scrutiny of alleged Somali welfare fraud, insisting the controversy is really about dividing and conquering and turning an immigrant community into a political target.
Her remarks, recorded in a January interview and resurfaced Monday by LibsofTikTok, were first aired by Seattle television outlet KOMO on Jan. 7, according to the Daily Caller. Wilson framed the growing scandal over alleged Somali scammers exploiting public-assistance programs as a narrative weaponized against immigrants rather than a legitimate concern about taxpayer abuse.
Have you asked anyone to follow up on the fraud claims, either to the Department of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs or SPD [Seattle Police Department]? a reporter asked, to which Wilson immediately replied, No. Pressed further So theres, as far as youre concerned right now, theres no reason to suggest theres any sort of fraud? Wilson responded, I dont. This whole issue is not really about fraud, right? Its about dividing and conquering. Its about making an immigrant community a target, right? Theres no reason to assume, based on the identity of a day care operator, that their small business is doing anything wrong.
The controversy intensified after independent journalist Nick Shirley posted a Dec. 26 photo on X of a Minneapolis-area day-care center advertising itself as the Quaility Learing Center, alongside a 42-minute viral video documenting his visits to other local facilities. His reporting spurred other citizen journalists to investigate Somali-run day-care operations in Washington state, prompting one lawmaker to push legislation that would conceal key information about those businesses from public view.
Concerns over systemic fraud were first thrust into the national spotlight by a November City Journal report alleging that proceeds from massive welfare scams in Minnesota were being funneled to the Somalia-based Islamist terrorist group al-Shabaab. Those revelations led President Donald Trump on Nov. 22 to terminate Temporary Protected Status for Somalis in Minnesota, while federal officials later estimated in December that the fraud had cost taxpayers at least $9 billion and described the schemes as industrial-scale fraud, according to CBS News Minnesota.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) responded by deploying hundreds of agents to the Minneapolis area to locate and remove illegal immigrants from Somalia, even as Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey publicly vowed that city police would not assist federal enforcement efforts during a December 7 interview with WCCO.
Whistleblowers in Maine and Ohio have since alleged similar Somali-led welfare fraud operations in their states, underscoring a widening pattern that many conservatives argue demands rigorous investigation not political deflection from officials like Wilson who are entrusted with safeguarding public funds.
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