Minnesota's fraud scandal keeps getting worse for the criminals who thought they'd never face consequences.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer just dropped the hammer with legislation that strips citizenship from fraudsters.
And Tom Emmer just handed Minnesota fraudsters their deportation papers.
Emmer's SCAM Act Would Strip Citizenship From Welfare Fraud Convicts
Emmer introduced the "Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation Act" — the SCAM Act — that creates a clear path to denaturalize anyone convicted of fraud against the government within 10 years of their naturalization.
"If you came to this country to harm and take advantage of the American people, I've got news for you: You're going home," Emmer told Fox News.
The legislation targets anyone who, within 10 years of naturalization, is convicted of fraud against the government, found to have ties to foreign terrorist organizations, or convicted of an aggravated felony.
All three prove the person never met the lawful requirements for citizenship in the first place.
"Anyone who commits fraud against American taxpayers, affiliates with a terrorist organization, or commits an aggravated felony after becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen never met the requirements for naturalization in the first place and should be denaturalized and deported," Emmer said.
His bill clarifies what evidence federal prosecutors can use when proving someone obtained citizenship through fraud.
That removes one of the biggest obstacles the government faces when trying to strip citizenship from criminals.
Minnesota Fraud Scandal Triggers GOP Denaturalization Bills
The SCAM Act comes as Minnesota faces the largest welfare fraud scandal in American history.
Federal prosecutors charged 78 people in connection with the Feeding Our Future scheme that stole an estimated $250 million in COVID-relief funds.
The fraud went far beyond one nonprofit.
YouTuber Nick Shirley exposed daycare centers across Minneapolis receiving millions in government funding despite showing zero signs of operation — no children, no staff, buildings that looked abandoned.
Those revelations triggered a cascade of investigations that uncovered fraud estimated between $9 billion and $18 billion across multiple programs under Governor Tim Walz's watch.
Senator John Cornyn introduced companion legislation — the Stop Fraud by SOMALIA Act — that would permanently bar convicted fraudsters from all federally funded childcare programs and force repayment of stolen funds.
Cornyn's bill also makes non-citizens convicted of fraud deportable and bars them from asylum.
"The Minnesota scandal has exposed a deep-rooted, morally bankrupt fraud empire, and it is clear more must be done to rid our nation of these heinous criminals," Cornyn said.
Senator Marsha Blackburn introduced the Fraud Accountability Act that explicitly adds fraud as a deportable offense under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
The Trump administration created a new Assistant Attorney General for Fraud position specifically to prosecute these cases.
Stripping Citizenship Has Legal Precedent Dating to 1906
The government has stripped citizenship from naturalized Americans since the Naturalization Act of 1906.
Emma Goldman was denaturalized and deported in 1919 after President Theodore Roosevelt's administration targeted anarchists.
During World War II, the government denaturalized hundreds of Nazi collaborators who concealed their pasts to enter the country.
The most famous case involved Feodor Fedorenko, a Treblinka guard who hid his wartime activities and gained citizenship in 1970.
The Supreme Court upheld his denaturalization in 1981, establishing that no amount of time shields fraud from prosecution.
But civil denaturalization cases remained rare — averaging only 11 per year from 1990 to 2017 — because the government must meet a high burden of proof.
The Trump administration expanded denaturalization efforts dramatically during the first term through Operation Janus.
That initiative used digitized fingerprint databases to identify people who obtained citizenship despite having prior deportation orders or criminal convictions.
USCIS referred approximately 1,600 cases to the Department of Justice for prosecution and created a dedicated denaturalization section.
The new SCAM Act would make these prosecutions easier by clarifying the evidence standard and explicitly linking certain crimes to citizenship fraud.
Emmer's legislation removes legal ambiguity about whether post-naturalization criminal conduct proves the person never qualified for citizenship.
"It's common sense and the SCAM Act will make it law," Emmer said.
"This legislation not only holds Somali fraudsters in Minnesota accountable, but it restores long-overdue integrity to America's entire naturalization process."
Trump's administration froze over $10 billion in federal grants to five states — California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York — over fraud concerns in childcare and family assistance programs.
The Department of Health and Human Services suspended payments until states can verify funds are being used lawfully.
Republicans in Congress see the Minnesota scandal as proof that Biden-era policies enabled massive fraud by removing basic verification requirements.
The Biden administration scrapped a rule in 2024 that required childcare centers to verify kids actually attended before receiving federal funding.
That opened the floodgates for phantom daycare operations to collect taxpayer money.
Emmer warned that anyone who obtained citizenship through marriage fraud — a clear reference to Representative Ilhan Omar — should also face denaturalization.
"Same goes for anyone who is found to have committed marriage fraud during the immigration process," Emmer said in a statement.
Republicans are making it clear: anyone who came to America to steal from taxpayers is going home.
No matter how long ago they naturalized.
Sources:
- Louis Casiano, "Emmer to introduce new bill to strip citizenship from fraudsters and terrorists: 'You're going home'," Fox News, January 16, 2026.
- "House Majority Whip: Fraudsters Should be 'Denaturalized,' Deported," The Post & Email, January 2, 2026.
- National Immigration Forum, "Denaturalization: Fact Sheet," July 14, 2025.
- Brennan Center for Justice, "Stripping Naturalized Americans of Citizenship Faces High Legal Hurdles," 2025.
- "GOP senator's Stop Fraud by SOMALIA Act would force Minnesota fraudsters to repay stolen taxpayer funds," Fox News, January 14, 2026.