Right-wing influencers are targeting Somali child care centers, leaving some fearing for safety

It all started after a viral video alleging fraud at Somali daycares in Minneapolis: strangers peering into windows, right-wing journalists showing up outside homes, influencers making false accusations.

In San Diego, babysitter Samsam Khalif was transporting children to her home center when she was startled by two men with cameras waiting in a car parked outside, prompting her to drive around the block several times before unloading the children.

“I’m scared. I don’t know what their intention is,” said Khalif, who decided to install additional security cameras outside his house.

Somali child care centers across the United States have become targets since the video caught the attention of the White House, amid the administration’s immigration crackdown. Child care providers worry about how they can maintain the safe learning environments they have created for impressionable young children who may be spending their first days away from their parents.

In the Minneapolis area, child care providers, many of whom are immigrants, say they are upset, exacerbating the stress they face because of the immigration enforcement activities that have engulfed the city.

A guard said she saw someone get out of a car driving around the building and defecate near the center’s entrance. The same day, a motorist passing by shouted that the center was a “fake daycare.” She had to create new lockdown procedures, budget for security and now keep the blinds closed to protect children from unwanted visitors and immigration enforcement.

“I can’t have peace of mind about whether the center will be safe today,” said the provider, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted. “It’s a tough pill to swallow.”

The day after Christmas, right-wing influencer Nick Shirley posted a lengthy video containing explosive allegations that members of Minneapolis’ large Somali community were running fake daycares so they could collect federal child care subsidies.

The United States has occasionally seen cases of fraud related to child care subsidies. But the Minneapolis video’s central claims — that business owners billed the government for children they didn’t care for — were refuted by inspectors. Nonetheless, the Trump administration attempted to freeze child care funding in Minnesota and five other Democratic-led states until a court orders the funding to be released.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly targeted Somali immigrants with dehumanizing rhetoric, calling them “trash” and “low IQs” and suggesting that Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Somali-born Democrat, should be expelled: “Throw her out!” In Minnesota, 87 percent of foreign-born Somalis are naturalized U.S. citizens.

Trump focused on a years-old case in which a sprawling network of fraudsters — many of them Somali Americans — bilked Minnesota out of an estimated $300 million that was supposed to help feed children and families. His rhetoric intensified after Shirley’s video was released.

In Federal Way, Washington, and Columbus, Ohio, both home to large Somali communities, right-wing journalists and influencers began showing up unannounced at child care addresses they had pulled from state websites.

In one video, a man arrives at a bungalow-style building in Columbus. He films through the glass front door, showing a lobby with cheerful posters reading “When We Learn, We Grow” and “Make Today Happy.”

“This doesn’t look like a daycare at all,” the man said.

Ohio sent an inspector to the address and discovered it was actually a daycare. His voicemail was hacked, so parents who called him heard a slur-laden message calling Somalis “sand rats” and saying they “worship a false religion of baby-raping terrorists,” according to WOSU-FM.

In Washington state, daycare workers called the police on right-wing journalists who continued to appear outside their homes.

Reporters from the right-wing Center Square newspaper in Washington filmed themselves asking a woman to prove she ran a day care center for which she collected federal grants. She refused to answer questions.

“Are you aware of the fraud in Somali daycare centers? We are just trying to verify if it is a real daycare center,” said one of the journalists. “Where are the children?”

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson released a statement on X saying she would not tolerate anyone attempting to “intimidate, harass, or film Somali child care providers.” Then Harmeet Dhillon, who heads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, issued his own warning: “Asking questions/citizen journalism are NOT HATE CRIMES in America – these are protected speech, and if Seattle tries to chill this speech, @CivilRights will step in to protect it and set it straight!” »

In Ohio, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine held a news conference to debunk a right-wing influencer’s allegations of fraud regarding a Columbus daycare and assured people that the state diligently monitors centers that receive public money. He said a child care provider refusing to let in a stranger should not be interpreted as a sign of fraud.

“It shouldn’t be a shock when someone sees something on social media and says, ‘I can’t get in this place, no one will let me in,'” DeWine said at a news conference in January. “Well, no! No one should let them in.”

Even after DeWine refuted those claims, Statehouse Republicans introduced legislation aimed at more closely monitoring child care centers, including a law that would require those who receive public money to provide live video feeds of their classrooms to state officials.

Child care advocates say fraud allegations distract from other, more pressing crises.

In many states, child care subsidy programs have long waitlists, making it difficult for parents to return to work. Programs that subsidize child care for families struggling to pay for it also face financial threats, including from the Trump administration.

Ruth Friedman, who led the Office of Child Care under President Joe Biden, accused Trump and Republicans of manufacturing a crisis for political purposes.

“They’re using it to try to discredit the movement to invest in child care,” said Friedman, who is now a senior fellow at the left-leaning Century Foundation.

Health and Human Services spokesman Andrew Nixon said in a statement that the department “rejects the assertion that concerns about the integrity of child care programs are fabricated.” He urged citizens to report any suspected fraud to the government.

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