A partisan fight over fraud has become a showcase in asymmetric warfare. Republicans are working aggressively to expose misspent federal aid and benefits. By contrast, many Democrats aren’t sure whether to admit that there’s a problem at all.
Republicans’ crusade against fraud has ramped up since YouTuber Nick Shirley’s videos alleging widespread abuse of federal funds in Minnesota’s Somali-run childcare centers went viral in December. Democrats are still figuring out how to coherently respond. Many appear to be torn between scrambling to solve the problem and condemning anyone who dares to point it out.
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California has become the fiercest battleground in the war over fraud. On Tuesday, Democrats in the state assembly passed AB-2624, entitled “Privacy for immigration support services providers.” Republicans have a different name for the bill: the “Stop Nick Shirley Act.” It was introduced by Democrats after the YouTuber followed up his Minnesota video with another one alleging over $170 million in fraud in the state’s publicly funded hospice and daycare centers. AB-2624 targets those who seek to emulate Shirley’s visits to purportedly fraudulent businesses by criminalizing certain disclosures of identifiable information for businesses and nonprofits that serve immigrants.
The bill resembles much of Democrats’ public response to Republicans’ accusations of tolerating fraud—deny, deflect, and act only under pressure. Yet for all the bluster, Democratic administrations in Minnesota, California, and Maine are quietly executing the very purges and investigations they once denounced as “racially charged” or “contrived.”
