Minnesota “Anti-ICE Relief Fund” SHUT DOWN Due to Widespread Fraud

A Minnesota relief fund for businesses hurt by ICE operations has been shut down after 200+ of roughly 300 applications were flagged for potential fraud.

Hennepin County had set aside $2 million for businesses affected by Operation Metro Surge, but only 82 applicants were… pic.twitter.com/Zep7csJrUu

— NewsForce (@Newsforce) September 19, 2026

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A Minnesota relief fund for businesses hurt by ICE operations has been shut down after 200+ of roughly 300 applications were flagged for potential fraud.

Hennepin County had set aside $2 million for businesses affected by Operation Metro Surge, but only 82 applicants were approved.

Officials say the suspicious applications were caught before the money was paid out.

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The board of Hennepin County in Minnesota, home to Minneapolis, approved $2 million in funding for local businesses impacted by Operation Metro Surge — a large-scale immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota launched in December 2025. The county received roughly 300 applications and ultimately distributed about $500,000 to 82 applicants, while more than 200 applications were flagged for potential fraud, according to local reports.

“The fact that people, after all this fraud, felt that they could apply and get away with it, I think it’s a problem because clearly there’s no fear out there,” Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Lunde said, according to Kare 11. “Until we get it where people fear things, then they’re gonna keep doing it.”

Much of President Donald Trump’s rhetoric surrounding illegal immigration in Minnesota has been targeted at the state’s Somali population amid reports of widespread fraud.

Members of Minnesota’s Somali community have been accused, and in some cases convicted, of using non-existent or inactive businesses and nonprofits to siphon money away from government programs intended to help the needy.

Similarly, Hennepin County officials reported that many businesses seeking relief funds drafted applications containing false information, seemingly fabricated by AI, that were copied, pasted, and submitted for multiple businesses. Other businesses submitting applications, meanwhile, were found not to exist when county officials made site visits.

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“We caught the fraud before we spent any money,” Hennepin County Commissioner Jeffrey Lunde said.

Lunde says it was an unfortunate win. In March 2026, Hennepin County Commissioners approved $2 million to help small businesses cover rent or mortgage payments as Operation Metro Surge kept customers away.

“We originally allocated $2 million,” said Lunde. “Part of that was administrative and then the rest was for grants, to put money into people’s hands.”

Eighty-two grants were sent out with the help of a nonprofit the county hired to oversee the program.

“It was short of $2 million that we ended up saying, ‘You know what? We’re getting diminishing results. We were finding more and more fraud.’ We just said, ‘OK, we’re just gonna stop,'” said Lunde.

When WCCO asked for an example, he said, people were “Applying all the information for that company except the phone number and name is not.”

WCCO spoke with one legitimate Bloomington, Minnesota, business owner who received $10,000 from the program.

“Rent doesn’t wait. Bills don’t wait,” Gilberto Diaz, who owns Luro Boots, said.

Diaz had a message for the scammers.

“It is sad. When I was hearing this, I was upset because they don’t know the damage they do to a small business,” he said.

“We need to prosecute some people. People need to be held accountable,” Lunde said.

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