Schmitt Told Hirono Exactly What Happens to Criminals Who Defraud American Taxpayers in Fiery Senate Exchange

Fraudsters stole $250 million from a Minnesota program meant to feed hungry children.

Sen. Mazie Hirono walked into a Senate hearing room and defended them.

Sen. Eric Schmitt told her – to her face – exactly where those people are going.

Hirono Used the Senate Judiciary Hearing to Defend Convicted Criminals

The fireworks erupted Wednesday during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation Act – the SCAM Act – legislation that would strip citizenship and deport naturalized citizens convicted of welfare fraud, terrorism, or aggravated felonies within ten years of naturalization.

Hirono (D-HI), a naturalized citizen herself, didn't engage the bill's merits.

She made it personal.

"I am horrified by the implication that naturalized citizens basically get second-class citizenship," she told the committee. "I can't think of a more undemocratic, un-American thing to do to someone who chooses to become a U.S. citizen than to hold this over their heads."

Let that framing sit for a second.

Welfare fraudsters stealing food money meant for children – second-class citizens.

A man who recited an Islamic oath and cursed non-Muslims at his own naturalization ceremony, then joined ISIS – second-class citizen.

A naturalized citizen convicted of providing material support to ISIS who then shot and killed someone at Old Dominion University – second-class citizen.

That's what Hirono went on record defending.

Schmitt Said the Three Words She Didn't Want to Hear

Schmitt (R-MO) didn't reach for a procedural rebuttal.

He named names.

Mirsad Ramic cursed non-Muslims at his own citizenship ceremony – then joined ISIS.

Mohamed Bailor Jalloh was convicted of ISIS material support – then killed someone at Old Dominion University.

Then Schmitt told Hirono exactly what the bill does to people like that.

"What I'm saying in this bill is if you do those things to the American people, if you take advantage of taxpayers… if you commit a terrorist act, if you commit wholesale welfare fraud, within 10 years, you're damn right we're deporting you."

He saw through her framing immediately: "You have nothing but fear-mongering here."

And when she pushed back, he made clear he'd take that debate anywhere: "If you want to have that debate in public, we can do it."

The Feeding Our Future Fraud Is Why Schmitt Wrote the SCAM Act

The SCAM Act didn't come from nowhere.

It came from Minnesota – where the Feeding Our Future scandal produced what FBI Director Kash Patel called "just the tip of a very large iceberg."

Prosecutors have secured more than 60 convictions in a scheme where naturalized citizens looted hundreds of millions from federal food programs designed to feed children during the COVID pandemic.

Rings of co-conspirators fabricated food distribution sites, billed the federal government for millions of meals that never existed, and funneled the money through shell companies and kickback arrangements.

One network alone drained $14.6 million from the federal Child Nutrition Program.

The ringleader is now facing nearly 42 years in prison – and federal prosecutors called it the largest pandemic-era fraud in United States history.

While all of this was happening, Tim Walz was running Minnesota.

The warning signs were there early.

State regulators flagged Feeding Our Future's filings and pumped the brakes on reimbursements – then reversed course after the nonprofit threatened a racial discrimination lawsuit.

The state auditor later confirmed that the threat of legal consequences and negative media attention drove Minnesota's decision to stand down.

Walz didn't just miss it.

His administration had a chance to stop it and blinked.

Federal investigators now believe the fraud reached far beyond food programs – across 14 Minnesota-linked programs including Medicaid housing services and autism therapy for children, with preliminary estimates suggesting more than half of $18 billion spent since 2018 may have been fraudulent.

Stephen Miller, White House Deputy Chief of Staff, backed the SCAM Act from the start: "The Somali fraud scandal is one of the greatest financial scandals in American history. All Somali refugees, or any other immigrants, who have committed fraud against the United States must be immediately denaturalized and deported."

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Denaturalization and Deportation Are Exactly What These Criminals Deserve

Hirono's argument rests on a deliberate logical trick – treating the bill as a threat to every naturalized citizen when it targets only those who proved through their actions that they never met the moral character requirements citizenship demands.

Citizenship requires a sworn commitment to the Constitution, good moral character, and allegiance to the United States.

Stealing $14 million from programs meant to feed children is not good moral character.

Joining ISIS is not allegiance to the United States.

Schmitt made the economic case too, connecting deportation directly to the affordability crisis hammering working Americans.

"Biden's mass migration flooded the housing market, flooded the labor market, crushed wages, drove up rents, and then acted confused when young Americans couldn't afford a home. Deportations can reverse it."

Democrats want to call that fear-mongering.

Schmitt has three words for them.

Damn right, deported.

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Sources:

• Amy Furr, "WATCH: Schmitt Lambasts 'Fear-Mongering' Hirono over SCAM Act Comments," Breitbart, June 6, 2026.
• "Eric Schmitt rips Hirono over denaturalization bill: 'You're damn right we're deporting' criminals," Fox News, June 6, 2026.
• "Senator Schmitt Introduces Bill to Expand Denaturalization Process," Senator Schmitt Press Release, January 19, 2026.
• "Five More Plead Guilty in Minnesota Feeding Our Future Fraud Scheme," U.S. Department of Justice, March 20, 2026.
• "Whip Emmer Introduces SCAM Act to Denaturalize Fraudsters, Terrorists, Felons," Congressman Tom Emmer Press Release, January 23, 2026.