Minnesota anti-ICE relief fund shut down after 2/3 of applicants flagged over fraud

A program that was designed to help businesses that were impacted by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota has been shut down after hundreds of applications were flagged for potential fraud.

Hennepin County, Minnesota, approved $2 million in funding to local businesses in response to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operation, Operation Metro Surge. The county received over 300 applications and ended up distributing $500,000 to 82 applicants. However, over 200 applications were flagged for potential fraud, according to KARE 11.

"The fact that people, after all this fraud, felt that they could apply and get away with it, I think it's a problem because clearly there's no fear out there," said county commissioner Jeff Lunde. "Until we get it where people fear things, then they're gonna keep doing it."

Lunde said that NextStage, the nonprofit that reviews applications for the county, discovered applications that appeared to have been fabricated using artificial intelligence, as well as applications copied across multiple businesses.

"Then at a certain point we're like, 'OK, we're getting declining results on that.' And so we said it's time to stop the program. So we just stopped processing at that point," Lunde added.

Minnesota had received national attention for anti-ICE protests following Operation Metro Surge, which began in December of 2025. Minneapolis, in particular, broke out in unrest following the fatal shootings by federal agents of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in January.

The relief fund’s shutdown comes amid a broader federal investigation into alleged fraud involving Minnesota’s public benefit programs, particularly among members of the Somali community. In May, the US Department of Justice announced criminal charges against 15 individuals for fraud totaling over $90 million, including criminals who allegedly stole from “children with autism, the disabled, and the homeless.”

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has acknowledged the fraud in his state, admitting that it is his "responsibility to fix it." However, he pushed back on criticisms of the Somali community, writing in a December op-ed that it is “not helpful is the president of the United States demonizing an entire community.”