Vice President Vance says migrant communities show 'clear pattern' in federal fraud as investigations widen
Certain migrant communities are helping to drive widespread fraud that has cost taxpayers billions of dollars, Vice President JD Vance told Fox News Digital.
In an interview in his office in the West Wing of the White House last week, Vance discussed his work leading the fraud task force under President Trump. Vance said his team has found a clear pattern of collaboration involving migrant communities.
"You definitely see patterns where certain communities," Vance said. "It'll start as maybe one Somali person takes advantage of the system, or realizes you don't even have to have children to get money from these programs. You could just claim that you have children, there's no verification. Then, word spreads like wildfire, and that program gets tapped into by the same members of that community."
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Vance, who is also leading ongoing negotiations with Iran and recently welcomed a new addition to his family, has a robust portfolio. He was tapped to tackle fraud after the issue exploded in Minneapolis earlier this year and is now working with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and other agencies.
In recent months, hundreds of hospice and home health agencies suspected of fraud in Minnesota and California have had federal payments suspended, and a number of other states are also under the watch of the task force. Vance said the fraud his team has uncovered has many victims.
"The first and the most obvious victim is the American taxpayer," Vance said. "You give your money to the federal government, and you expect the federal government, even if you disagree with the policy behind it, you expect that money to go to the people that it's supposed to go to."
"When a new mom goes to apply for help for herself and her baby, the money isn't there anymore," said Vance, whose office is adorned with artwork by his kids, a rosary, a photo of him and Usha kissing on Mount Rushmore and a glass replica of a diet Mountain Dew can.
"Or, you have autistic kids who benefit from services that are meant to go to the families of children with autism, and you have fraudsters who get rich off these programs," he added. "Sometimes they don't even have children, much less autistic children enrolled."
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Vance revealed that roughly $230 billion in fraud has been uncovered since Trump took office and that $55 billion in federal payments to suspected fraudsters has been halted.
Last week, federal and state law enforcement charged 19 defendants accused of participating in schemes involving more than $4 million in claims submitted to Medicare and Medicaid, according to the Department of Justice.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday also announced a plea agreement involving the final defendant in a previously charged 21-defendant case tied to more than $1.7 million in claims in the Keystone State.
Prosecuting fraudsters is one thing, but Vance said that recouping the money presents yet another challenge, since much of it has already been spent.
"Getting money back is very hard," Vance said. "Once it's gone out the door, it's very hard to get it back."
"What we've done most effectively is actually just stop the money from going out the door in the first place, because that's the only real way to ensure the American people don't lose it."
At the end of last year, reports and social media coverage from independent journalist Nick Shirley exposed a network of daycare centers, like the "Quality Learing (sic) Center," that were allegedly fraudulent and operated mostly by Somali immigrants.
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The reports sparked swift action from the administration, and former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem deployed DHS and ICE agents to the streets of Minneapolis to catch and deport Somali immigrants in the country illegally. The deployment sparked a clash between local residents and federal agents that exploded into violent riots across the Twin Cities.
While the duties of a vice president vary from one administration to another, Trump has leaned heavily on his No. 2. Vance has traveled abroad twice to meet directly with Iranian leaders and regularly provides updates on the negotiations to the press. That role came after Trump appointed Vance as the head of the White House’s anti-fraud task force in May, dubbing him the "Fraud Czar."
Despite his array of assignments, Vance, who recently turned 42, and his wife, first lady Usha Vance, had their fourth child last month, making him the first sitting vice president to have a child in more than 150 years.
"Kids have a way of forcing you to focus on them, even when things are crazy at work," Vance said. "[I was] with my six-year-old this morning, who was making like zoo animal noises, and I was like, 'Buddy, what are you doing?' And he said, 'I just want you to get off the stupid phone.' And I said, 'Alright, this can wait.'"
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Whether in his current role or possibly as Trump's would-be successor, Vance believes his family values make him better at his job.
"Kids are so, they're so in their own little world that they sort of force you to go into their world, and that's a very, very good thing," he said. "It's good for my psychology. I think it's good for my soul, but it's a very good thing. The job obviously has its demands and the schedule can get kind of crazy."
Vance, who at 44 would be just a year older in 2028 than John F. Kennedy was when he was elected president, has always demurred when asked about running for president. But although Trump recently told reporters it is "way too early" for him to endorse a successor, he has sent mixed signals.
"At the end of the day, we need to elect JD," Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with donors last month, a source with knowledge of the comments confirmed to Fox News Digital on Thursday. The Washington Post was the first to report the president’s comments.