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Back in December, when a social media influencer started alleging fraud in Minnesota's child care programs, Republican state lawmakers took credit for helping him. Now, after weeks of a federal immigration enforcement surge that led to two deaths, major disruptions and thousands of arrests, Minnesota Democrats are blaming their Republican colleagues for the ordeal. Minnesota Public Radio's Dana Ferguson reports.
DANA FERGUSON, BYLINE: It was in December when a YouTube content creator with his phone in hand knocked on the doors of Minneapolis day care centers. Nick Shirley was looking for children, trying to prove that Somali American-run day cares were inflating enrollment to get more money from the state.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
NICK SHIRLEY: Answer the question.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: You're not talking to the right person.
SHIRLEY: Are there children?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Leave.
SHIRLEY: There's no children inside this building.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Leave. You don't know who you...
SHIRLEY: Potentially...
FERGUSON: The claims, some false, some already under investigation, got a lot of attention. And some Minnesota Republicans said they helped bring it about, including Harry Niska, the party's floor leader in the state House.
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HARRY NISKA: This has been something that we have been ready and willing to provide information to anyone who wants to pursue this, including some of the information that ended up in that video.
FERGUSON: Fraud has been a problem in some state-funded programs. Scores of people had already been convicted in a years-long investigation. But Shirley's video went from Minnesota to the White House. Within days, Democratic Governor Tim Walz dropped his bid for reelection to focus on the problem, pleasing Republicans who had called for his resignation. It was just the start of a traumatic ordeal for the state. Thousands of federal agents arrived, detained immigrants and some citizens. One of them killed Renee Macklin Good. Protests rippled across the city.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: Say her name.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: Renee Good.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: Say her name.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: Renee Good.
FERGUSON: The Trump administration announced a federal surge, including immigration agents, and pointed to fraud. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
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KAROLINE LEAVITT: The Trump administration has activated thousands of federal agents, doubled the number of U.S. attorneys in the DOJ office in Minneapolis and surged resources to hold fraudsters accountable and demand justice...
FERGUSON: Minnesota Democrats blame their Republican colleagues for what followed.
ERIN MURPHY: The pretext was caused by the action of the Republicans.
FERGUSON: That's state Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy last week.
MURPHY: I think the fraud issue is a pretext for this president to do what have - we have seen now as fairly lawless, violent and, in cases, reckless actions against the people of Minnesota.
FERGUSON: Now, the spotlight has shifted.
KATHRYN PEARSON: Immigration definitely overshadows fraud.
FERGUSON: Kathryn Pearson is a political science professor at the University of Minnesota.
PEARSON: It has backfired on Minnesota Republicans, I think, in several ways, in terms of sort of voters' attitude in terms of which party is better able to handle immigration.
FERGUSON: House Democratic Leader Zack Stephenson says antifraud efforts have actually been undermined as some of the federal prosecutors working on it have resigned in the wake of the ICE surge.
ZACK STEPHENSON: This has crippled our fraud response, and Minnesotans should be outraged by that.
FERGUSON: But Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, a Republican who's running for governor, says the fraud issue and immigration are not connected.
LISA DEMUTH: So if it took a YouTuber, an independent YouTuber, to get the word out and get Minnesotans to know what was actually going on and then the national attention, that is good for Minnesota because it was our tax dollars that were stolen.
FERGUSON: While they're still disputing who's to blame for the last two months, state lawmakers are starting a legislative session this week where fraud and immigration will top the agenda. For NPR News, I'm Dana Ferguson in St. Paul, Minnesota. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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