The White House has alleged that Kenya is among the countries using funds from a large-scale fraud scheme involving Somali migrants in the United States, intensifying criticism of US refugee and asylum policies under the Trump administration.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Somali immigrants linked to non-profit organizations in Minnesota of defrauding US taxpayers of nearly $1 billion in what prosecutors have called one of the largest pandemic-related fraud cases in the country. Leavitt described the fraud as systemic abuse of US asylum and social support systems.

Prosecutors say the U.S. government reimbursed the organizations, and the funds were used to purchase “houses, luxury cars, and real estate in Turkey and Kenya”. Kenyan authorities have not yet responded to the allegations.

The claims emerged as President William Ruto departed Nairobi for Washington, D.C., to join leaders from Rwanda and the DR Congo for the signing of a landmark peace agreement aimed at stabilizing eastern DR Congo, alongside high-level discussions on trade, investment, health, and security for Kenya.