Federal agents again target Minnesota amid alleged fraud crackdown at daycares

Federal agents under the command of the Trump administration have descended on Minnesota’s Twin Cities again to primarily target alleged fraud at daycares after the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s so-called “Operation Metro Surge” all but wound down earlier in the year.

“Today the FBI with federal, state and local law enforcement is involved in court-authorized law enforcement activity as part of an ongoing fraud investigation,” the US justice department told the Guardian in a statement on Tuesday.

The justice department added that 22 federal search warrants were executed on Tuesday in Minnesota and that the latest federal raids were not part of an immigration enforcement operation.

That activity unfolded amid ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and Minnesota officials after an immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities region led to the shooting deaths of two US citizens before that operation was eased.

Minnesota news outlet KARE11 reported that the warrants on Tuesday were mostly served at Medicare providers, primarily targeting child and daycare providers.

In response to a tweet about the latest federal raids,JD Vance said on X: “The task force and the [justice department] will be relentless in exposing these fraudsters wherever they may be hiding.”

Earlier, Donald Trump appointed the vice-president as “fraud czar” as part of the president’s broader push to crack down on alleged fraud in Democratic-led states – claims that he asserted, without evidence, could “literally be able to balance our American budget” if resolved.

Tom Emmer, the US House majority whip , a Republican ally of Trump and representative from Minnesota, also weighed in, saying the president “and his administration have made it crystal clear – our country will not tolerate waste, fraud, and abuse, and we are not going to allow people to take advantage of Americans’ generosity”.