MINNESOTA — Federal agents executed 22 court-authorized search warrants across daycares, businesses and residences in Minnesota's Twin Cities region on Tuesday as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged fraud in publicly funded social programs for children. The Department of Justice said the operation was not part of immigration enforcement.

"Today the FBI with federal, state and local law enforcement is involved in court-authorized law enforcement activity as part of an ongoing fraud investigation," a spokesperson said. The searches primarily targeted Medicaid providers, with a focus on child and daycare operators, and armed agents were seen at childcare centers in the Minneapolis area. KSTP-TV said one search crew used a battering ram, and officers from Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension were observed removing boxes at some locations.

State and federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, participated in the searches. "The American people deserve to know how their taxpayer money was abused. No stone will be left unturned," DHS said, noting cooperation with local and state authorities.

The fraud investigation began during the Biden administration. The federal government has brought charges against dozens of people, many of them Somali Americans, accused of defrauding a federal program meant to provide food to children, and at least 65 people have been convicted. In December, a federal prosecutor said up to $9 billion in federal funds that supported 14 Minnesota-run programs since 2018 may have been stolen. That same month, President Donald Trump froze Minnesota's childcare funding over alleged fraud within the state's social services program, particularly in Minneapolis's Somali American childcare centers. Trump has also asserted that resolving alleged fraud could "literally be able to balance our American budget."

Democratic Governor Tim Walz welcomed the raids on Tuesday, and Minnesota's child welfare agency said it shared key information with law enforcement to hold bad actors accountable. FBI Director Kash Patel, on social media, mocked Walz for taking credit for the raids, saying the agency would smoke out the fraud plaguing Minnesota under his governorship.

Walz has previously accused the Trump administration of targeting the state. "The people of Minnesota have been singled out and targeted for political retribution at an unparalleled scale," he said. In March, the governor told Congress he wanted to work with the federal government on fraud investigations but said an earlier immigration surge was making it more difficult.