Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson said in a January interview that she has not requested any investigation into allegations of welfare fraud involving members of the city’s Somali community, comments that resurfaced Monday after circulating on social media.
The remarks, originally aired by Seattle-area television station KOMO on Jan. 7, were reposted on X by LibsofTikTok, drawing renewed attention at a time of broader national scrutiny of alleged welfare fraud schemes involving Somali communities in multiple states.
During the interview, a reporter asked Wilson whether she had asked any city agencies to follow up on the fraud claims, including the Department of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs or the Seattle Police Department.
“No,” Wilson responded.
When pressed on whether there was any reason to believe fraud had occurred, Wilson said she did not view the issue as one of criminal wrongdoing.
“This whole issue is not really about fraud, right? It’s about dividing and conquering,” Wilson said. “It’s about making an immigrant community a target. There’s no reason to assume, based on the identity of a day care operator, that their small business is doing anything wrong.”
The comments come during heightened attention to alleged large-scale fraud tied to daycare subsidy programs in Minnesota, where City Journal reported in November that fraudulent claims may have cost taxpayers billions of dollars. Federal officials later estimated the losses at at least $9 billion, describing the activity as “industrial-scale” fraud, according to CBS News Minnesota. The reports also alleged that some proceeds were funneled to al-Shabaab, a Somalia-based Islamist terrorist group.
Following those reports, President Donald Trump announced the termination of Temporary Protected Status for Somalis, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement surged hundreds of agents into the Minneapolis area with a focus on illegal immigrants from Somalia. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey subsequently said city police would not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
The controversy has also spread beyond Minnesota. Independent journalist Nick Shirley ignited online debate in late December after posting footage of Somali-run daycare centers in the Minneapolis area, prompting similar scrutiny of daycare operations in Washington state. In response, one Washington lawmaker introduced legislation to limit public access to information about daycare operators.
Separately, whistleblowers in Maine and Ohio have alleged that Somali-linked networks engaged in welfare fraud schemes in those states as well, though investigations remain ongoing.
Wilson’s comments reflect a broader divide among Democratic officials, with some arguing that fraud investigations unfairly stigmatize immigrant communities, while federal authorities and critics maintain that large-scale misuse of public funds warrants aggressive enforcement regardless of ethnicity or background.
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Surprised??? WHY????????????? She is probably getting her share!
This mayor shows signs of terminal delusion, or complicity.
She needs a little “learing”.