A former Minneapolis sheriff says an excessive helping of “Minnesota nice” enabled the egregious spread of immigration fraud uncovered by federal officials in the Twin Cities last month.

“Minnesota has always been a very welcoming place,” said Rich Stanek, who spent 12 years overseeing Minneapolis law enforcement as Hennepin County Sheriff.

“But when people say ‘Minnesota nice,’ they simply didn’t ask. Or they ignored it.” 3

It’s those midwestern manners that Stanek believes led directly to the immigration crisis US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) discovered across Minneapolis and St. Paul in September: of 1,000 immigrant households visited during a two-week period, nearly half were engaged in some form of immigration fraud.

“Officers encountered blatant marriage

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