The most recent controversy surrounding the state of Minnesota is the statewide fraud, where citizens maliciously took advantage of government-funded programs. These programs include Feeding Our Future, Housing Stabilization Services, and initiatives that provide funding for individuals with disabilities and child care services. The Feeding Our Future program was at the center of the fraud, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when individuals submitted false meal counts and misused the funds without actually providing meals to children. More recently, other government programs have been defrauded, especially in the child care industry. As of now, 98 people have been charged by the Department of Justice who are said to be involved with this scandal.

YouTuber and independent journalist Nick Shirley released a viral video highlighting potential fraud involved with child care programs, such as the Child Care Assistance Program, where the state provides funding for day cares based on the number of children they care for. Shirley visited many different day care centers receiving government subsidies in the Minneapolis metro area and found no children. Shirley and Minnesota resident David Hoch claimed that the absence of children at the day cares was evidence of fraud. However, day care owners, predominantly part of Minnesota’s robust Somali community, have claimed that they have children whom they serve and that Shirley and his team came at times when children weren’t at the day care. They also claimed that Shirley was harassing people involved with these day cares.

Shirley’s popularity, coupled with his credibility, has incited tension throughout the state of Minnesota and the country as a whole. There are people at Convent and Stuart Hall who have a lot of relatives in Minnesota and visit the state multiple times a year. Those people have been able to talk to people directly affected by the fraud. When talking to family and friends about the fraud, almost everybody felt that the state government had a huge lapse in judgment. Democrats and Republicans alike were infuriated to see that their tax money had been taken advantage of. Small day care owners felt overlooked by the state because their day care is independently run, while there have been larger public day care centers that receive state funding, seemingly without any children. They feel that the system in Minnesota needs to be drastically changed to adequately serve its citizens and not be defrauded again. Similarly, other citizens felt disappointed to learn that fraud had occurred in the state that they love and under a state administration that appealed to them. Being born on rural farms, many Minnesota residents felt like the state system had overlooked them once again. One grandpa of a kid at Stuart Hall said, “I feel like the government doesn’t look out enough for the citizens who work essential jobs like on the farms.” Many hard-working taxpayers in Minnesota were appalled to see that nearly $10 billion was taken from the state government through fraud. However, some people claim the situation is being blown out of proportion and have denigrated Shirley’s video, calling it an “act of hate meant to divide people.” They believe that Shirley is inherently biased and just looking to make a viral video by any means possible.

Although Shirley simply claimed to unveil fraud in the state and show his audience the truth, his video has encouraged some residents to resort to racism against the Somali community. With 85 out of the 98 charged defendants being of Somali descent and Shirley’s video exclusively visiting Somali-run day cares, the people of Minnesota have started to turn on this community. In addition to Minnesotan citizens, President Donald Trump has made unwarranted comments on the Somali community, calling them “garbage” and deploying ICE into the state. With this turmoil in the state, Gov. Tim Walz won’t be running for reelection as governor, despite denying involvement with the fraud.

With the death of George Floyd and the National Guard despotically enforcing pandemic curfews, Minnesota has unfortunately been in recent news headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent years. Despite Minnesota’s negative media coverage, it is a great state to live in, being ranked as the fourth-best state overall and the second-best state to raise a family, according to U.S. News and CNBC. Minnesota is also the land of 10,000 lakes and a beautiful destination for a summer vacation. It’s important to note that Minnesota is a great place to live, regardless of the negative spotlight set on it by the national news.