In an interview with KOMO News, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson made a statement that is sure to anger Americans not only in her state of Washington, but across the country, as she told the outlet the extremely liberal city has no plans to investigate claims of fraud involving taxpayer-funded social programs. During the discussion, Wilson said that such concerns are an effort to target immigrant communities, not take down fraud.
Wilson was asked during the interview if she had given the Seattle Police Department or the city’s Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs any authorization to to look into fraud charges concerning daycare providers, especially those in Somali and other immigrant communities. The mayor wasted no time saying no.
“This whole issue is not really about fraud,” Wilson told KOMO News. “It’s about dividing and conquering. It’s about making an immigrant community a target. There’s no reason to assume based on the identity of a daycare operator that their small business is doing anything wrong.” She then said that “it’s problematic to have random people showing up to daycares.”
Wilson stated that “the fear in immigrant communities are real,” noting that her administration is “taking that very seriously.” The liberal mayor’s comments come as a massive crackdown on fraud in taxpayer-funded programs is happening across the country, spearheaded by a task force overseen by Vice President JD Vance.
Fraud became a top priority for President Donald Trump and his administration after millions of dollars of fraud was uncovered in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, particularly among the Somali community. In December 2025, a video was posted on social media by independent journalist Nick Shirley, showing him visiting various daycare centers in the city, discovering that many of them were not operational or had no students present. The video sparked investigations that discovered the fraud and led to the current crackdown.
According to a report from The Post Millennial, similar investigations arose in Washington state. Independent journalists also found earmarks of fraud in a number of Seattle-area immigrant-run daycares, again, specifically within the Somali immigrant community. In January 2026, Wilson slammed the investigations, claiming they were an attack on immigrants.
“I stand with the Somali childcare providers who have experienced targeted harassment and condemn the surveillance campaign promoted by extremist influencers,” she stated at the time. The mayor then revealed she was planning to charge the investigators with “hate crimes” for looking into potential cases of fraud, despite evidence supporting the fraud allegations.
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Reports that were released earlier this year uncovered that there was at least one Somali-run daycare that received $200,000 of taxpayer funds, yet the childcare business did not exist. Users on social media platform X commented on the mayor’s statement, with one individual saying, “No, it’s about the f***ing fraud. We The People want our money back and the fraudsters punished. If they’re of one nationality, so be it.”
Another wrote, “How do we live with people who won’t prosecute crime because it’s ‘racist’? I don’t understand why these people, who are completely insane, get into office? God help us.” A third said, “She’s an imbecile. I am in shock that this moron was elected to be mayor of such a large city. What the f**k is wrong with the people of Seattle?!!!”
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video