Federal Agents Return to Minneapolis Daycares in Renewed Fraud Crackdown Months After Controversial Metro Surge

Federal agents swarmed Minneapolis early Tuesday morning, executing search warrants at roughly 20 childcare centers suspected of involvement in billion-dollar COVID-era fraud schemes, multiple officials confirmed to CBS News. Unlike last winter's Operation Metro Surge—when thousands of immigrants were arrested in a heavy-handed immigration crackdown that ended with two fatal shootings—no arrests were reported during these latest raids.

The Justice Department described the activity as part of an "ongoing fraud investigation," signaling a renewed federal focus on rooting out financial crimes tied to pandemic relief programs in Minnesota. Since 2021, authorities have charged 92 people and secured 67 convictions related to these fraud schemes, including recent guilty pleas in the Feeding Our Future scandal, which exploited a federal nutrition program.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, praised the coordinated effort, stating, "If you commit fraud in Minnesota you're going to get caught." Walz has faced intense pressure over the past year due to the state's fraught handling of fraud allegations predominantly involving Somali-owned daycares and businesses.

The Mini Childcare Center in South Minneapolis, one of the sites raided Tuesday, gained national attention after a viral social media video last December targeted Somali-owned daycares and clinics, a narrative amplified by high-profile figures including Elon Musk, Vice President J.D. Vance, and then-Attorney General Pam Bondi. Their focus on Minnesota's Somali community sparked widespread condemnation from local officials, who labeled the rhetoric as racist and inflammatory.

Operation Metro Surge, launched shortly after the viral video, deployed over 2,000 federal agents from Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the Twin Cities. The aggressive immigration crackdown led to violent confrontations with protesters and the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, further deepening community tensions. Most of the roughly 3,700 immigrants arrested during the surge were neither Somali nor linked to any fraud allegations.

Governor Walz ultimately ended his reelection campaign amid the fallout and appointed a "fraud czar" to oversee protections for taxpayer-funded social programs. The current raids signal a pivot to financial investigations while the scars of last winter's immigration enforcement linger.

This latest federal action underscores the ongoing challenges Minnesota faces in balancing legitimate fraud enforcement with protecting immigrant communities from racialized policing and overreach. As the investigation unfolds, the question remains whether authorities will pursue justice without repeating the mistakes of Operation Metro Surge.