The Trump administration has announced the creation of a new division at the U.S. Department of Justice to combat what it described as “rampant” fraud across the country, amid criticism from rights advocates who say fraud allegations have been used to target immigrants and political opponents.
In a statement on Thursday, the White House said the DOJ’s new division for national fraud enforcement would pursue criminal and civil cases involving fraud against federal programs, federally funded benefits, businesses, nonprofits and private citizens nationwide.
“To combat the rampant and pervasive problem of fraud in the United States, the DOJ’s new division for national fraud enforcement will enforce the federal criminal and civil laws against fraud,” the statement said, adding that the assistant attorney general heading the unit would advise the attorney general on “significant, high-impact fraud investigations and prosecutions.”
The move comes as the administration has frozen or threatened to freeze billions of dollars in federal funds to several states over alleged fraud, actions that have drawn lawsuits and accusations of federal overreach, particularly following claims of welfare fraud involving immigrant communities in Minnesota.