University of Minnesota professor, Sen. Ted Cruz argue during hearing about fraud in Washington, D.C.
A hearing in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday about fraud in Minnesota took a heated turn between University of Minnesota professor Eric Schwartz and Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
"We are already seeing statistics that the net benefit of Somali presence in the United States far outweighs the cost," Schwartz said.
"So you are testifying that this massive welfare usage is helping America, and the fraud is helping America," Cruz responded.
Schwartz told WCCO that Cruz kept cutting him off when he tried to show Somali Americans are not the burden on taxpayers Cruz made them out to be.
"The statistics about recent arrivals, using high percentages of welfare benefits, those statistics are not unusual, but what we find is over time those communities get off welfare and their children and their children's children, as we are seeing, become doctors, nurses, lawyers, professors," said Schwartz.
The fraud concerns are real. Dozens of Somali Americans have been convicted or charged in scandals like Feeding Our Future. But Schwartz says those represent just a small percentage of the population.
"The fraud is really important and has to be investigated and it has to be prosecuted, but the story in Minnesota, as most Minnesotans know, is a positive one," said Schwartz.
