Trump administration freezes child care payments to Minnesota amid federal investigation into alleged fraud

The US Department of Health and Human Services says it has frozen all child care payments to the state of Minnesota, as the FBI and Department of Homeland Security investigate allegations of fraud, including at child care centers, in the latest show of federal force in the state — home to the country's largest Somali population.

Deputy Secretary of HHS Jim O'Neill announced the funding freeze on X Tuesday, weeks after ICE launched operations in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area to specifically target undocumented Somali immigrants, precipitated by revelations about widespread fraud against the state as well as President Donald Trump's comments that he "doesn't want" Somalis in the country.