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About
The Somali Daycare Fraud In Minnesota Allegations refers to accusations that several daycare centers run by Somalian immigrants in Minneapolis, Minnesota, are fraudulent and are not actually daycare centers, suggesting that the daycare centers are being used to steal millions of dollars in funding from the U.S. government. The allegations went viral in late December 2025 after YouTuber Nick Shirley posted a video investigating several of the alleged daycare centers, finding no children in them.
The video inspired mixed reactions online, with some supporting Shirley and others finding his claims unsupported. The FBI Director Kash Patel responded to Shirley's video, confirming that the FBI had already "surged personnel and investigative resources to Minnesota" regarding fraud. The video also inspired memes about running a Somali daycare as the story spread online.
Background
In late November and early December 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration began cracking down on Somali immigration in Minnesota. The justification for these crackdowns, which include an increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence in the state, relates to several alleged cases of fraud that involved some Somali and East African immigrants. These include the Feeding Our Future fraud, where between $250 million and $300 million in federal child‑nutrition funds were reportedly stolen, and instances of fraud relating to autism therapy billing, housing stabilization and disability services.
As part of the efforts by the Trump administration to crack down on Somali immigrants in the state, President Trump claimed that he would end Temporary Protected Status for Somalians in Minnesota, posting on Truth Social in November, "Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing."
The framing of this situation as being due to "Somali gang" operations and immigration has been criticized as disingenuous and incorrect by some.
Nick Shirley's "I Investigated Minnesota’s Billion Dollar Fraud Scandal" Video
On December 26th, 2025, YouTuber Nick Shirley posted a video titled, "I Investigated Minnesota’s Billion Dollar Fraud Scandal," garnering over 1.4 million views in three days. In the video, Shirley investigates several daycare centers in Minneapolis that are allegedly defrauding the government out of millions of dollars in funding by running fake daycare centers.
Shirley visits several of these daycare centers, some of which are said to have hundreds of children signed up for their services. He tries to inquire about enrolling his son in the daycare centers, but is refused. He also asks them where the children are, as no kids are seen at any of the centers, one of which misspells their business name "Quality Learning Center" as "Quality Learing Center."
Shirley is confronted by several people in the video, including an anti-ICE advocate who tries to warn one of the daycare owners about Shirley, claiming he is an ICE agent, and a democratic representative of the state, whom he asks about the alleged fraud. At the end of the video, Shirley estimates that he has uncovered over $111 million in fraud.
Developments
FBI Director Kash Patel's Response
On December 28th, 2025, FBI Director Kash Patel made a post on X responding to the increased discussions surrounding allegations of fraud by Minnesota's Somali population, brought on by Shirley's video. In the post, he writes in part:
The FBI is aware of recent social media reports in Minnesota. However, even before the public conversation escalated online, the FBI had surged personnel and investigative resources to Minnesota to dismantle large-scale fraud schemes exploiting federal programs. Fraud that steals from taxpayers and robs vulnerable children will remain a top FBI priority in Minnesota and nationwide.Online Presence
Nick Shirley's video went viral not only on YouTube but also on X. On December 26th, 2025, a section of the video was reposted by X user @EricLDaugh, garnering over 3.9 million views and 90,000 likes in three days. A repost of the same section by X user @bennyjohnson gained over 1.6 million views and 86,000 likes in the same span of time.
Later that day, Nick Shirley posted his full video on X, garnering over 555,000 likes and 114 million views in the same span of time.
🚨 JAW-DROPPING MOMENT: Somali "child care" in Minnesota…
"It says you have 102 children here, and you got $2.66 million dollars in funding?"
SOMALI: "THAT IS HARASSMENT!!" Door SLAMS shut 🤯
It's literally everywhere.
Police have a LOT more Somali buildings to raid.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 26, 2025
On December 27th, 2025, Redditor seaofthievesnutzz made a post to the /r/TrueUnpopularOpinion subreddit claiming that the alleged fraud is "not shocking," garnering over 593 upvotes in two days.
Later that day, X user @TiffanyFong posted a meme about the alleged fraud, garnering over 112,000 likes in two days.
Also on December 27th, X user @DrunkRepub posted a Disappointed Cricket Fan meme captioned, "Somali pirates watching Somali daycare owners make millions without ever firing a shot," garnering over 46,000 likes in two days.
On December 28th, 2025, Twitch streamer Hasan Piker made a post on X criticizing Shirley, writing, "idk what kind of fraud somalis in daycares are doing but i think it’s a separate crime to try and storm w a camera into a daycare w kids in it??" garnering over 11,000 likes in a day.
Later that day, Elon Musk made a post on X giving praise to Shirley, writing, "You are the media now," garnering over 115,000 likes in a day.
Also on December 28th, Shirley responded to Piker on X, writing, "People like this commie literally shock their dogs and complain about America 24/7 and when someone ACTUALLY leaves their room to do something, wait for it… They then defend the criminals," garnering over 45,000 likes in a day.
Piker then responded to the post later that day on X, further criticizing Shirley's method of trying to prove the fraud, garnering over 10,000 likes in a day.
On December 29th, 2025, Redditor DarkAlman posted a response to a now-deleted post on the /r/OutOfTheLoop subreddit asking about the fraud allegations. Their response, which is highly critical of Shirley, gained over 3,100 upvotes in under a day.
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