Almost 200 House Dems vote against deporting people who commit welfare fraud

Rep.Dave Taylor, R-Ohio, sponsored the Deporting Fraudsters Act, which narrowly passed the House Wednesday.(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

WALZ’S MINNESOTA MESS COULD SPARK THE TOUGHEST FRAUD REFORMS IN DECADES

Democratic lawmakers largely opposed the GOP-authored bill, arguing that noncitizens convicted of fraud are already eligible for deportation.

“Another week, another redundant and completely unnecessary immigration crime bill,” Rep.Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said during debate on the measure. 

Read More → Common vitamin could bring relief from long COVID symptoms, study suggests

Democrats also sharply criticized the measure for eroding legal immigrants’ due process rights by permitting noncitizens to be deported prior to prosecutors securing a conviction.

“By bypassing the conviction requirement, this legislation would hand a liberal get-out-of-jail free card to immigrants who commit fraud by deporting them without going through the criminal justice system and giving their victims a day in court,” Raskin said.

GOP lawmakerscountered that there is no language in the bill that prevents noncitizens from being prosecuted for alleged fraud prior to removal from the country.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks to the media during a news conference at the U.S.Capitol March 1, 2023, in Washington, D.C.(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

HAWLEY TARGETS MINNESOTA FRAUD, CCP-LINKED MONEY AT SENATE HEARING: ‘TAXPAYERS ROBBED BLIND’

The bill is likely dead on arrival in the Senate given widespread opposition from Democrats.Under Senate rules, most legislation must overcome a 60-vote threshold to advance to a vote on final passage.

Read More → Speech to US baseball team by Navy SEAL who killed Osama bin Laden prompts liberal backlash

The vote follows heightened scrutiny from House Republicans on welfare fraud nationwide.

The House Oversight Committee in Decemberlaunched a probe into massive welfare fraudinvolving Minnesota’s social services programs.Federal prosecutors say as much as $9 billion in taxpayer money may have been stolen in various fraud schemes and have charged nearly 100 individuals, including many of Somali descent.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep.James Comer, R-Ky., speaks to the media on July 24, 2025, in Washington, D.C.(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Read More → Trump rates Macron ‘an 8’as France and US split over Middle East strategy

onelink.me/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.

Read More → Las Vegas poker rooms fold as casino tourism plummets to record lows

House Republicans have also spotlighted reporting from independent journalist Nick Shirley, who has probed alleged daycare fraud in Minnesota and California.

“We have already seen why action is needed,” Rep.Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., said Tuesday during a House GOP leadership news conference.“Independent journalist Nick Shirley helped expose a massive fraud scheme, showing how organized and widespread these scams can become even when oversight fails.”