Blackburn, Colleagues Introduce Stop Fraud by SOMALIA Act to Address Child Care Fraud

Blackburn, Colleagues Introduce Stop Fraud by SOMALIA Act to Address Child Care Fraud
January 22, 2026
NASHVILLE, Tenn. –
U.S. Senator
Marsha Blackburn
(R-Tenn.) joined Senator
John Cornyn
(R-Texas) and four of their Senate colleagues in introducing the
Stop Fraud by Strengthening Oversight and More Accountability for Lying and Illegal Activity (Stop Fraud by SOMALIA) Act,
which would strengthen penalties for child care providers who commit fraud and impose immigration consequences on fraudulent child care providers who are not U.S. citizens, making them inadmissible and deportable:
“Anyone who comes to the United States and steals from American taxpayers by committing fraud should be deported,”
said Senator Blackburn.
“The
Stop Fraud by SOMALIA Act
would protect American taxpayers from fraudsters and hold phony providers accountable for padding their pockets with stolen funds.”
“The Minnesota scandal has exposed a deep-rooted, morally bankrupt fraud empire, and it is clear more must be done to rid our nation of these heinous criminals,”
said Senator Cornyn.
“I applaud President Trump for his efforts to end this corruption, and I’m proud to take it a step further with the
Stop Fraud by SOMALIA Act
, which would ensure these consequences are enshrined into law before any more funds are misused or sent overseas to fund American-hating terrorist networks like we saw in now-disgraced Governor Walz’s state.”
This legislation is also co-sponsored by Senators
John Kennedy
(R-La.),
Rick Scott
(R-Fla.),
Tommy Tuberville
(R-Ala.), and
Ashley Moody
(R-Fla.).
BACKGROUND
The
Stop Fraud by Strengthening Oversight and More Accountability for Lying and Illegal Activity (Stop Fraud by SOMALIA) Act
would amend the
Child Care and Development Block Grant Act
to impose strict penalties on child care providers who commit fraud, including:
Mandatory permanent debarment from all federally funded child care assistance programs;
Repayment of misspent funds;
And required referral for federal criminal investigations.
The bill would also require states to enforce these bans and prevent providers from evading debarment through restructuring or name change.
Lastly, the
Stop Fraud by SOMALIA Act
would impose immigration consequences on child care providers who are not U.S. citizens and are involved in fraud or terrorism-related activity, making them inadmissible and deportable, barring them from asylum, adjustment of status, and subjecting them to mandatory detention and expedited removal.
RELATED
Blackburn Leads Colleagues in Introducing Bicameral Legislation to Deport and Denaturalize Fraudsters Following Minnesota Somali Schemes
VIDEO: Blackburn Calls for Deporting and Denaturalizing Scammers Amid Growing Fraud Crisis
Click
here
for bill text.
https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/index.php/2026/1/crime/blackburn-colleagues-introduce-stop-fraud-by-somalia-act-to-address-child-care-fraud