Democrat witness Brendan Ballou claimed during a Wednesday hearing that the influx of Somali immigrants made his home state of Minnesota “stronger” – but Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) brought data that said the exact opposite.
During the hearing — which was scheduled as part of an investigation into widespread fraud in Minnesota that has been linked to the Somali immigrant community — Gill posed a direct question to the former federal prosecutor, asking whether Somalis made the state weaker or stronger.
WATCH:
This Democrat witness claims large-scale Somali immigration makes Minnesota stronger.
The numbers tell a different story. pic.twitter.com/ufxlVgwqLa
— Congressman Brandon Gill (@RepBrandonGill) January 7, 2026
“Does large-scale Somali immigration make Minnesota stronger or weaker?” Gill asked.
“Certainly stronger,” Ballou said.
“Certainly stronger,” Gill repeated. “Do you know what percentage of Somali-headed households in Minnesota are on food stamps?”
Ballou did not.
“Fifty-four percent,” Gill replied. “Do you know what that number is for native Minnesota-headed households?”
Ballou protested, “Well, to be clear, a majority of the —”
“It’s seven percent,” Gill continued. “There’s a big difference between fifty-four percent and seven percent, is there not?”
“Excuse me, sir, could I answer the question?” Ballou asked.
“Let me move on, we’ve got a lot of questions here,” Gill said, asking, “What percentage of Somali-headed households are on Medicaid?”
Ballou did not know.
“It’s seventy-three percent,” Gill said. “Do you know what that number is for Minnesota native households?”
Ballou once again objected to the terminology, but did not answer the question.
“The number is eighteen percent,” Gill replied. “That’s quite an astounding difference, I think we would agree.”
Ballou continued to protest about Gill’s use of the term “native Minnesotan,” but made no move to supply answers to Gill’s questions.
“Let me ask you one more, and then we can go into that,” Gill said. “What percentage of Somali-headed households are on welfare in general?”
“I don’t know,” Ballou conceded.
“It’s eighty-one percent. What about — let me just ask you, after ten years of being in the United States, what percentage of Somali immigrant households are on — continue to be on welfare?” Gill pressed again, and again Ballou did not know the answer until Gill provided it: “The number is seventy-eight percent. So even after ten years, seventy-eight percent of Somali immigrant households continue to be on welfare. Do you know what that number is for native Minnesota-headed households? Non-Somali immigrant-headed households.”
Ballou protested again, claiming, “You’re using the phrase ‘native Minnesotans,’ the majority of Somali Minnesotans are as Minnesotan as any of us, they were born in the United States —”
“Nevertheless, the welfare usage is astoundingly different,” Gill declared.
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