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A Stunning Price Tag — And A Bigger One They Won’t Mention
Mayor Frey claims Minneapolis alone suffered $203 million in economic losses during Operation Metro Surge. According to his breakdown, the costs include $47 million in lost wages from residents who were “too afraid” to leave home, $81 million in small business losses, and $4.7 million in hotel cancellations.
Governor Walz escalated the rhetoric further, insisting that Congress must reimburse the state for the federal government’s actions.
“You don’t get to break things and then just leave without doing something about it,” Walz told reporters. He added that Washington “needs to pay for what they broke here.”
But there is one figure neither man appears eager to spotlight: $18 billion.
That is the estimated value of social services fraud that investigators say flowed through Minnesota during their tenure — a staggering sum that dwarfs the reimbursement request now being pushed.
Federal prosecutors have described the scheme as the largest pandemic-era relief fraud operation in American history. Documented fraud alone reportedly exceeded $1 billion across 14 high-risk Medicaid programs administered by the state.
Even more troubling are reports that significant portions of those funds traveled overseas — including transfers to Mogadishu, Somalia. According to counterterrorism sources cited by the Manhattan Institute, some of that money may have ended up benefiting Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist organization responsible for attacks in Somalia — including the 1993 battle that killed 18 American servicemen.
“It Wasn’t Because of the Trump Administration”
Former ICE Director Tom Homan responded bluntly during an appearance on Fox & Friends Weekend.
“A lot of things were broken, but it wasn’t because of the Trump administration,” Homan said.
He posed a direct question that has reverberated in Minnesota political circles: “Did Governor Walz speak out against that – with the overdose deaths and sex trafficking and terrorists? No.”
Critics argue the silence was deafening.
During the Feeding Our Future scandal — where nonprofits allegedly billed the state for meals that were never served to children — Walz faced repeated warnings. State auditors later confirmed that officials within Minnesota’s Department of Human Services had backed off aggressive fraud investigations after nonprofit leaders accused them of racism.
More than 480 DHS employees reportedly signed statements claiming they raised concerns early on. They allege that instead of addressing the red flags, leadership retaliated against whistleblowers.
In the Feeding Our Future case alone, 78 defendants were charged. Authorities have noted that 89 percent of them are Somali American, a fact that became politically sensitive but central to the investigation.
4,000 Arrests And Counting
Operation Metro Surge ultimately resulted in approximately 4,000 arrests. Among those taken into custody were 14 illegal aliens previously convicted of homicide and 87 individuals facing sexual assault charges, many involving minors.
President Donald Trump publicly displayed wanted-style posters at the White House, describing the detainees as “the worst of the worst” and arguing that prior border policies allowed dangerous individuals into the country.
Walz, however, characterized the enforcement operation as causing “deep damage” and “generational trauma,” insisting federal authorities created chaos in Minnesota communities.
Meanwhile, the investigation into state leadership continues. Reports indicate that Walz and Frey are being scrutinized under a rarely invoked federal statute tied to obstruction of immigration enforcement — a charge that carries serious potential penalties.
FBI Director Kash Patel has warned that what investigators uncovered so far may be “just the tip of a very large iceberg.”
The political optics are stark. On one side: billions lost to fraud, potential international terror financing, and thousands of criminal arrests. On the other: elected officials demanding federal reimbursement for the discomfort caused by enforcement.
The leaders who presided over what prosecutors call the largest welfare fraud scandal in U.S. history are now asking taxpayers nationwide to fund the cleanup.
For many Americans, that request raises a simple — and explosive — question: Who should really be paying the bill?
