Massive Fraud Makes a Moratorium Necessary

Insane immigration policies have taken down another politician, as Minnesota Governor Tim Walz dropped his race for a third term to spend more time with his attorneys. This comes only days before the House Oversight Committee holds its first hearing on the massive welfare fraud scandal unfolding in his state. 

Governor Walz threw in the towel after his dereliction of duty created a November New York Times headline: “How Fraud Swamped Minnesota’s Social Services System on Tim Walz’s Watch.” But the fall of Tim Walz is a mere footnote to this story. 

The United States has laws and agencies dedicated to deterring and detecting fraud, but they all failed. A primary reason for this failure is that Congress has flooded the United States with unprecedented numbers of legal immigrants, a large share of whom apply for state and federal welfare benefits. Congress must slam the brakes and pause immigration until anti-fraud integrity measures can be established and perpetrators of welfare fraud prosecuted to prevent American tax dollars from being stolen. 

An immigration moratorium, like the PAUSE Act proposed by Representative Chip Roy (R-TX), is best understood as a bridge to a better, more sustainable policy future. And make no mistake, it is Congress that needs to act to prevent future fraud scandals. President Trump has already moved aggressively to follow the law and restrict alien access to Federal benefits. Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has stepped up enforcement actions in Minnesota, including through Operation Twin Shield:

“USCIS officers focused on more than 1,000 cases that had fraud or ineligibility indicators, conducted over 900 site visits and in-person interviews, and found evidence of fraud, non-compliance, or public safety or national security concerns in 275 cases—44 percent of cases interviewed.”

Fraud is endemic and systematic within the U.S. immigration system because the number of applicants overwhelms the adjudication process. Until recently, the Federal government has consciously made efficiency (i.e., rubber stamping) the priority over vetting and fraud prevention. We have discussed this issue previously, outlining countless examples of fraud documented in Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Inspector General investigations.

Mass immigration is also the root cause of the welfare fraud in Minnesota (and likely across the country). If the immigration system rewards fraud, why wouldn’t the same aliens who defrauded the government to gain entry also rob the Federal coffers through fraudulent welfare payments? 

Most of the immigrants implicated in these welfare fraud schemes come from countries where the government (to the degree government even exists) is not benevolent and does not give hand outs. When they come to the United States and see that government hand outs are widely available and fraud is easy and carries no consequences, it shouldn’t be surprising that they take advantage of our generosity.

There will undoubtedly be endless discussions about the best policy path forward to install sustainable and reliable fraud detection and deterrence methods across the government. In a free society, we should expect nothing less than honest and robust debate. It makes no sense to pretend that the government has the tools or capability to prevent fraud, as long as mass immigration continues. 

By perpetuating mass immigration, Congress became a co-conspirator to the fraud we’ve already seen. Even if bad government actors are using government programs as a modern spoils system, that only bolsters the case for an immigration moratorium until that reality changes. We need Rep. Roy’s immigration moratorium to stop the bleeding and provide breathing room for a much-needed debate on reforming the system and restoring transparency, integrity, and rationality to our government.