Recent reporting, first by Christopher Rufo and Ryan Thorpe at the Manhattan Institute, and later by The New York Times and other news organizations, revealed a number of schemes by some members of the Somali community in Minnesota to defraud the state and federal governments.
It was, according to the Times report, “staggering in its scale and brazenness.”
The fraud began during the COVID-19 pandemic, and went on to later expand to other abuses of government aid programs. In one case, Rufo and Thorpe found, the ringleaders recruited parents to enroll their children in autism therapy services. Many of these diagnoses were fraudulent, but parents received a cash kickback of between $300 to $1,500 per month if they enrolled a child.
As Rufo and Thorpe noted, “autism claims to Medicaid in Minnesota have skyrocketed in recent years — from $3 million in 2018 to $54 million in 2019, $77 million in 2020, $183 million in 2021, $279 million in 2022, and $399 million in 2023.” And now, “one in 16 Somali 4-year-olds in the state had reportedly been diagnosed with autism, a rate more than triple the state average.”
The fact that many of these ill-gotten gains may have been sent to terrorist organizations abroad created another layer of outrage.
This story has led many to wonder about whether our immigration policies, particularly those that prioritize family ties, need to be reformed, and also whether the insular nature of religious minority communities allow them to operate such schemes under the radar of authorities.
There have been other examples. In 2014, police arrested more than a dozen members of two extended Orthodox Jewish families in connection with alleged mortgage and welfare fraud in New York. They were accused of securing 20 mortgage loans totaling $20 million for properties. The leaders of the ring had also engaged in Medicaid and food stamp fraud.
And in 2017, Lyle Jeffs, one of the leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints — which is not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — was sentenced to 57 months in prison and ordered to pay $1 million in restitution for food-stamp fraud.
His defense attorney, Kathryn Nester, claimed that his followers were donating their SNAP benefits to him “the same way that people of other faiths might take a covered dish to a church potluck.”
But as federal prosecutor Rob Lund explained, Lyle Jeffs has “broken laws for years, including presiding over marriage ceremonies to underage brides, violating child-labor laws and other misdeeds ordered by his brother, FLDS President Warren Jeffs.” Warren Jeffs is serving a life sentence for sexually abusing two girls he illegally married.
When it comes to how the United States treats religious minorities, we are guided by two important principles that sometimes come into conflict with each other. The first is religious freedom. Every kind of religious sect has flourished in this country because we largely leave them alone. But this is also a nation of laws, in which every individual is entitled to equal protection and we do not have different standards for different groups.
Over the years we have had important court cases that have tested the limits of these principles. Should all public-school students have to say the Pledge of Allegiance? Should everyone have to go to school at all? Are there standards for what all schools must teach? If they are not using the schools or other public services, do they still owe the same taxes? Do all parents have to provide their children with medical treatment? What if the treatment violates the tenets of their faith? Should everyone follow state laws regarding marriage? What about disciplining children?
There are some uniform standards that we have arrived at for every American. But it is not uncommon — as in the case of the FLDS — for groups who flout some kinds of laws to also flout others. Polygamy is also quietly practiced in certain Muslim communities in America, for instance.
It used to be more acceptable to say that we want Americans (whether those who recently arrived here or those living here for generations) to assimilate, allowing them to maintain some distinct customs but also adhering to American laws and norms. Now, we are told that the melting pot is just white supremacy in disguise and that cultural sensitivity is what’s required. But whether lawbreakers are part of an insular religious sect in New Jersey or a Muslim community in Minneapolis, the members still must render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.
Even American tolerance has limits.