(MENAFN) A senior Trump administration official alleged Tuesday that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is to blame for what she described as large-scale visa fraud, amid indications that federal authorities may soon conduct a major immigration sweep in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area. According to reports, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made the accusation during a nationally broadcast Cabinet meeting.

"You told me to look into Minnesota and their fraud on visas and their programs, 50% of them are fraudulent, which means that wacko Gov. Walz either is an idiot or he did it on purpose. And I think he's both, sir," Noem told President Donald Trump. She went on to claim that migrants had entered the US using falsified identities and relationships, saying: "He brought people in there illegally that never should have been in this country, said they were somebody that they're not. They said they were married to somebody who was their brother or somebody else.
Fraudulent visa applications, signed up for government programs, took hundreds of billions of dollars from the taxpayers, and we're going to remove them, and we're going to get our money back."

Walz’s office did not immediately address the accusations, though reports pointed out that states do not oversee visa processing — that responsibility lies with federal authorities. The governor later posted a response on social media to coverage indicating that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to begin a broad operation targeting undocumented Somali nationals in Minnesota’s twin cities.

"We welcome support in investigating and prosecuting crime. But pulling a PR stunt and indiscriminately targeting immigrants is not a real solution to a problem," Walz said.

According to general reporting, the ICE operation is expected to begin this week and aims to detain hundreds of undocumented Somali migrants. The push comes as Trump intensifies his rhetoric toward Somali communities following last month’s shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, DC — an attack carried out by an Afghan citizen, not a Somali national.

During the Cabinet meeting, Trump also delivered sharp criticism of Somalis in the US.
"Somalians ripped off that state for billions of dollars, billions every year, billions of dollars. And they contribute nothing," he said.

"I don't want them in our country. Their country is no good for a reason. Their country stinks, and we don't want them in our country. I could say that about other countries too. I can say it about other countries too. We don't want them," he added.

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