Rep Brandon Gill grills attorney who says Somalis make Minnesota ‘stronger’

In the exchange, Gill highlighted a number of ways in which the Somali community of Minnesota is reliant on government programs.

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"Do you know what percentage of Somali-headed households in Minnesota are on food stamps? 54 percent," Gill said. "Do you know what that number is for native Minnesota-headed households?" Ballou started to respond, but was cut off by Gill asking more questions. "Well, to be clear, a majority of —" the US attorney started. Gill interjected, saying that “it’s 7 percent” of native Minnesota-headed households that use food stamps.

"You're using the phrase ‘native Minnesotans’ — the majority of Somali Minnesotans are as Minnesotan as any of us. They were born in the United States,” Ballou said in response, adding that there may be overlap between those who are Somali and native Minnesotans.

"What percentage of Somali-headed households are on welfare in general? It's 81 percent," Gill added. "After ten years of being in the United States, what percentage of Somali immigrant households continue to be on welfare? The number is 78 percent."

Gill’s comments in the hearing come as a massive fraud scandal has been highlighted in recent weeks after an explosive video report from Nick Shirley alleging that several Somali-run daycare centers in Minnesota have been defrauding the taxpayers in the state by setting up false daycare centers and collecting government subsidies. When Shirley visited the daycares in the report, nearly all of them did not appear to be operational.