89% of Somali refugees in Minnesota are on some form of government assistance.
Posted by The Rob Carson Show, Checked
- Sources
- 4 contradict3 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 60%
The Rob Carson ShowOct 5, 2026
The claim's 89% figure matches CIS data only for Somali immigrant households with children; across all Somali-headed households the figure is about 81%, and across Minnesotans of Somali ancestry it is about 84% (mostly Medicaid), so the 89% figure depends on the measure used.
A detail. The sources confirm the gist; the verdict faults a detail such as a date, number or wording.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… But the Mong Chinese are a much more, I should say, industrious people, and didn't want to just scam the government for government largesse. 89% of the Somalis in Minnesota are on some sort of government largesse and have and have stolen billions of dollars through fake. Centers and pretending their children have autism and opening autism centers and getting paid. It is a despicable lot. A good share of them, not all of them, of course, not all of them. …
The Rob Carson Show · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. The 89% figure applies to households with children, not to all Somali refugees; CIS puts the share of all Somali-headed households on welfare at 81%, and the state demographer finds 84% of Minnesotans reporting Somali ancestry benefited from public assistance programs.[1][3][4][5]
Supports. CIS data reported by Fox News and the Washington Times finds 89% of Somali immigrant households with children use some kind of welfare, and PolitiFact reports about 9 in 10 Somalis in Minnesota receive some form of public assistance.[2][6][7]
Context. Estimates vary with the year of data, the programs counted, and whether the population is immigrants, refugees, households, or individuals; the 2024 ACS shows SNAP use among Minnesota Somalis at 35%, below the CIS 54% figure.[1][8]
Context. Extraction fidelity: the passage says 'Somalis in Minnesota' and does not mention refugees, so the claim narrows the population while keeping the 89% figure. Public assistance also mostly means Medicaid, and PolitiFact notes that these programs often cover low-wage working households.[1][2]
Sources
8 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 4 not rated, 2 rated low
- 1Probing Trump's Verbal Attack on Somalisfactcheck.org · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts, context
- 2Trump wrong that 92% of Minnesota Somalis don't workpolitifact.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports, context
- 3Report: 81% of Somali-Headed Households in Minnesota Receive ...insurgencynews.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 4Minnesota’s Welfare Whopper '81% of Somali Refugee Households ...iheart.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 5x.com · grok · statusGrok on X: "According to Minnesota state demographer analysis ...x.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 6Refugee flood isn't smart policy, it's the gift that keeps on ...foxnews.com · rated low for factual reporting by Iffy.news · cited for: supports
- 7How Minnesota became the center of the Somali community and fraud allegationswashingtontimes.com · rated low for factual reporting by Iffy.news · cited for: supports
- 8Demolishing Lies About Somali Americanscurrentaffairs.org · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post