The Trump administration just ripped the lid off what might be the ugliest welfare fraud operation in American history, and the numbers are so staggering they almost sound fake. Vice President JD Vance, leading a national fraud task force, announced that the feds have uncovered massive, systemic abuse of Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP benefits, and even U.S. citizenship itself — and foreign governments are in on the scam.
But sure, tell me again how we can't afford to secure the border because of "budget constraints."
Let's start with the healthcare racket. Dr. Mehmet Oz, Director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, revealed that 447 fraudulent hospices and 23 home health agencies have been shut down in California alone, halting $1.4 billion in federal funding. That's billion, with a B. Oz dropped another bombshell: "We've got Russian government involvement, we believe, in Los Angeles. We've got the Chinese government involved in a big fraud ring in New York." Foreign governments — not just random grifters — are draining your Medicare dollars while you sit in a waiting room wondering why your co-pay went up again.
Then there's the Minneapolis COVID-era fraud scheme, where over 70 individuals were charged for exploiting food benefit programs. In Columbus, Ohio, 94 companies operating out of a single building billed $66 million. One building. Ninety-four companies. Sixty-six million dollars. If that doesn't make your blood boil, check your pulse.
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The citizenship fraud is just as ugly. USCIS Director Joseph Edlow announced Operation Twin Shield, a coordinated effort between USCIS, ICE, and the FBI in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. They flagged over 1,000 cases and found fraud evidence in 275 of them. Edlow didn't mince words: "We're going to get to a place where people are going to know that if they file, and they're going to file something fraudulently, or they're not giving us their full story, we're going to find that."
The Department of Justice also announced denaturalization proceedings against 12 naturalized Americans whose citizenships were obtained through fraud. These aren't paperwork mix-ups — the cases involve individuals from Colombia, Bolivia, China, India, Iraq, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Somalia, Uzbekistan, and Gambia, with allegations ranging from marriage fraud to support for terrorist organizations and firearms trafficking.
Meanwhile, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons identified over 10,000 foreign students gaming the Optional Practical Training program — a student visa loophole that's become a front door for fraud.
Vice President Vance summed it up perfectly when he announced that all 50 state Medicaid programs are getting letters demanding they prove they're actually prosecuting fraud: "We're a generous country. We're generous people. I love that about this country. But part of that generosity is that it extends to our fellow Americans." He added the kicker: "We cannot give Medicare and Medicaid benefits to everybody all over the world."
A Romanian national stole 36,000 EBT card numbers using skimming devices. Russians are running hospice scams in LA. The Chinese are defrauding New York. And we — the American taxpayers — have been picking up the tab for all of it.
DGE meets the welfare state, and the receipts are absolutely disgusting. As reported by Just The News, this is the largest coordinated fraud crackdown in recent memory. About time someone looked.