JCPA Reacts to Trump Admin’s New Fraud Bounty Program

“Two weeks before Election Day, the White House is now offering cash rewards to Americans who report their neighbors for ‘government fraud’ — starting by handing a check to an influencer who’s smeared Minnesota’s entire Somali community with dehumanizing, dangerous attacks. That alone tells us a lot about how this program will be used.

“Far too often, claims of defrauding the government are rooted in racialized tropes and conspiracy theories — intended to pit communities against one another. When the government pays people to report on their neighbors, we know that Black and brown Americans in particular will become targets for harassment and even violence — at work, when accessing government services, and at the polls. As Jewish Americans, we’re all too familiar with where scapegoating communities like this leads — and we have seen how such conspiracy theories have directly fueled deadly attacks against so many of our communities.

“It is entirely possible to protect taxpayer resources without resorting to such divisive, dehumanizing tactics. That is what our leaders should be doing.”