The FBI has deployed additional personnel and investigative resources to Minnesota to “dismantle large-scale fraud schemes exploiting federal programs”, director Kash Patel said on social media on Sunday.
Patel said the FBI believes “this is just the tip of a very large iceberg”.
Some of those involved in the alleged scheme are being “referred to immigrations officials for possible further denaturalization and deportation proceedings where eligible”.
Patel said the FBI had surged personnel and resources into the state before the video and attendant conversation escalated online.
The Trump administration has portrayed Minnesota’s Somali immigrant community as a locus of widespread fraud, much of it allegedly perpetrated during the Covid pandemic.
Somali Americans, Trump has said, “come from hell”, “contribute nothing” and should “go back to where they came from”.
Omar has not been accused of wrongdoing, but reports say that three people accused of defrauding the state have alleged ties to the congresswoman. »