ICE Barbie Kristi Noem has established by now that she does not have any empathy when it comes to dealing with immigrants accused of crimes, even if their only crime has been to break some traffic laws. She, along with her boss, President Donald Trump, is also deeply concerned about fraudulent activities involving taxpayers’ money, especially in states that are run by Democrats.
Appearing on Fox News, Noem blasted Minnesota Governor Tim Walz over allegations of fraud discovered in the state. She said, “The amount of fraud in Minnesota is unprecedented. It’s incredible what we found and waited for surge operations there the last 48 hours, we sent 2000 more ICE. officers, HSI officers, individuals there to help get to the bottom of it.”
Noem then added, “What we are finding is not only people who have come into the country illegally, but they have perpetuated crimes on people, they’ve stolen the american citizens money and they put it in their own pockets.”
ICE Barbie @KristiNoem is on the ground in Minneapolis with her hair extensions doing Nazi propaganda videos pic.twitter.com/dxXHJOwhPG
— Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) January 7, 2026
She continued her allegations, saying, “Money that should have been used to help people who were really supposed to benefit from these programs. Medicaid, individuals that were supposed to get help for developmental services, that were handicapped individuals, people who have autism that needed services and they did not get it because these criminals were out there stealing the money.”
Noem then shifted her focus to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and claimed that he had not taken any action over these activities even though he had been requested to do the same for a while now. She added, “So many Minnesota state employees were saying Governor Walz, pay attention to this, people are stealing the money, these are not legitimate businesses, not legitimate nonprofits, and he ignored them. He told them to do their job and follow orders and exactly what he was telling them to do and overlook all of these criminals.”
According to Noem, these people, whom she called whistleblowers, were made to fall silent by Walz, something that a Governor should not have done. Noem then went on to list what they had achieved in the last 48 hours, saying, “We surged the last 48 hours, we’ve arrested hundreds and hundreds of dangerous criminals off the streets in Minnesota and people that are a part of this fraud scheme.”
She further added, “We arrested a murderer, someone who was extorting money in other countries and also sexual assault perpetrators, individuals who were attacking children. So we have gotten them off the streets and we did it with no help from governor Walz, no help from the democrats, those who are trying to cover it up.”
“BREAKING: Massive ICE raid hits a factory in Arden Hills, Minnesota with the first big one of 2026.
Agents didn’t even wait for the coffee to brew.
The year just started and they’re already in beast mode.
This is what winning looks like. pic.twitter.com/oZnrlN5EWr
— Kim “Katie” USA (@KimKatieUSA) January 2, 2026
Besides criticizing Walz and outlining what Noem’s team has achieved, she also challenged California Governor Gavin Newsom, who often makes headlines for his brutal online trolling of President Trump.
Noem said, “We think that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Minnesota is unbelievable, what we have seen, but it is leading us to networks all over the country and overseas, and we are going to follow every single one of them. We are going to come to you, Governor Newsom, and we are going to arrest every single individual who has ties to this kind of stealing of taxpayer dollars and we will hold them accountable. We will bring them to justice.”
With Noem directly threatening Newsom, it would be interesting to see the California Governor’s reaction to this and his overall comments about the fraudulent activities that Noem has been talking about.
