MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal agents served multiple search warrants Tuesday in Minnesota in an ongoing fraud investigation by the Trump administration of publicly funded social programs for children, authorities said.

Few details were released, though armed agents were seen at childcare centers in the Minneapolis area. KSTP-TV said one crew even had a battering ram.

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who has been on the defensive amid Trump administration claims that he hasn't done enough to root out fraud, welcomed the raids. The state child welfare agency said it shared key information with law enforcement.

"We catch criminals when state and federal agencies share information. Joint investigations work, and securing justice depends on it," Walz said.

Tensions between Minnesota officials and the federal government were high during an extraordinary immigration crackdown that led to the deaths of two people before the operation was eased in February.

Before that crackdown, the government had brought fraud charges against dozens of people, many of them Somali Americans, who were accused of fleecing a federal program that was meant to provide food to children. The investigation began during the Biden administration. More than 60 people have been convicted.

Investigators from various state and federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, were seen removing records during searches Tuesday.

"The American people deserve to know how their taxpayer money was abused. ... No stone will be left unturned," Homeland Security said.

Jason Steck, an attorney who represents childcare centers, said the names of targeted businesses that were shared with him show they're operated by Somali immigrants.

"A few childcare centers, a few autism centers, a few healthcare agencies of some type," Steck said, adding that it appeared to be a "particular sweep for fraud."

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Right-wing influencer Nick Shirley posted a video in December that caught the attention of the Trump administration. He alleged that members of Minnesota's Somali community were running fake child care centers so they could collect federal subsidies, fueling suspicions on top of the food aid scandal. The claims were disproven by inspectors.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has used dehumanizing rhetoric, calling Somali immigrants "garbage" and "low IQ."

In February, Vice President JD Vance said the government would temporarily halt $243 million in Medicaid funding to Minnesota over fraud concerns. Minnesota sued in response, warning it may have to cut healthcare for low-income families, but a judge on April 6 declined to grant a restraining order.

Walz told Congress in March that he wanted to work with the federal government in fraud investigations, but that the immigration surge had made it more difficult.

"The people of Minnesota have been singled out and targeted for political retribution at an unparalleled scale," he said at the time.

AP reporters Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis and Corey Williams and Ed White in Detroit contributed to this story.