24 immigrant gang members arrested in Maine

Only a few days ago we heard from reader A.O. that Mainers loved their immigrants and everyone there welcomed them to the welfare capital of the Northeast.  Thanks to reader Meddidy, who disagreed with A.O. about the mood of Mainers on the topic of boosting Maine’s population with immigrants,*  here is the latest immigrant crime story from Portland.

From the Portland Press Herald:

PORTLAND — Twenty-four people have been arrested in Maine as part of a regional action against gangs led by federal immigration authorities.

The effort led to a total of 47 arrests in Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Homeland Security Investigations.

Twenty-eight known gang members were arrested, along with people who have ties to the gangs, such as buying drugs from them, according to the office.

Over the past three months, the effort in Maine led to 23 arrests in Portland and one in Westbrook, said Bruce M. Foucart, special agent in charge of the Boston office.

They are not the usual Hispanic gangs that law enforcement in other states are familiar with—gangs like MS-13—but actually Asian and African gangs so some of those arrested are likely legal immigrants.

In Maine, the people arrested were either members of the Asian Boyz and two splinter groups of the Bloods – True Somali Bloods and True Sudanese Bloods – or affiliated with those gangs.

Some were charged with criminal violations including narcotics trafficking, weapons possession, carrying concealed weapons, assault, and violating conditions of release. A few who were arrested for immigration issues will be processed for removal from the United States.

We’ve written about crimes involving Maine immigrants here, here, here, herehere, and here (for starters).  There are more posts, I just got tired of putting in links.

* A.O. said the population of Maine was declining and needed to be boosted with an influx of immigrants.  I am continually puzzled why Leftists, normally hollering about saving the environment, seem so anxious to populate a rural state with immigrants.  More immigrants means a greater demand on the land and water resources of the state.  The immigrants need homes, schools, cars, and stuff generally.  That means forests will be cut and open-space devoured.  It means parks and beaches will be crowded.  It means air and water quality will decline.  We posted on a comment by a Somali reader last spring in which he said they would  take over America and fill up our “empty” land.    Or, is a concern for the environment only expressed when it suits Leftwingers’ other goals?

Bloggers credited with moving the Ground Zero Mosque controversy to front pages

Check out Gateway Pundit, here, to see how bloggers Robert Spencer (Jihad Watch) and Pamela Geller (Atlas Shrugs) are being credited with bringing the Ground Zero Mosque controversy and by extension Sharia Law to the forefront of American political discourse this summer.

We have referenced their excellent work many times on these pages over the last three years.   See especially our category on the Stealth Jihad, here.

Comment worth noting: you don’t know Maine

This is the second angry ‘comment of the day,’ see previous one here.   The comment below came from a woman (A.O.) professing to speak for the state of Maine on the issue of immigrants and refugees flooding into the state.

She said the following in an e-mail to me:

I recently discovered your “refugee blog”.

I live in Maine. I am here every single day. This state is dying out, if you were to count native-born Mainers, and (the lack of) American citizens moving here. We are too rural and too far away to appeal to most people aside from vacationers.

The only population growth happening here is in the immigrant and refugee communities.

Ann Cocoran, while you sit there and type your little words in Maryland, I am here living in Maine and I will tell you flat out that the majority of us are perfectly FINE with immigrants and refugees moving here. I’d wager to guess you haven’t been here, or don’t know any of the immigrants and refugees who you SLANDER on a daily basis on your little blog. Well, I DO.  M.O. (initials substituted at the request of the author), a naturalized American citizen born and raised in Somalia who recently ran for state legislature. A brilliant person who is well versed in American and Maine history and LOVES the WHOLE community here. I know he wouldn’t fit into your slanderous, bigoted diatribes, and other selected tales….. You don’t know and don’t talk about the refugee farmers growing food for their neighborhoods and for local food pantries, or any of the other immigrants and refugees contributing to our state. No, that wouldn’t fit in well with your victimhood hand-wringing cowardly anti-American blog posts.

I know my state, you don’t; your lies and fear mongering are ridiculous and transparent.

As I mentioned in my previous ‘comment worth noting’ the rage seems to be building among those who are promoting open borders.  What gives?  The only thing I can point to is that the Far Left is coming to the realization that their one great hope—the Presidency of Barack Obama—is not bringing their dreams of multicultural nirvana to fruition.

Ms. O.  please indicate specifically in which posts I am lying.   And, any folks from Maine out there who disagree with Ms O’ s assessment of the mood in Maine?

Comment worth noting: just to give you an idea of who is coming to the US

For some reason, things are getting pretty mean out there these days.   I’ve not written much at RRW lately because I’ve been busy elsewhere.  But, here is one of several comments I’m posting today and I need to mention that although not much new is being posted, our numbers of readers are on the rise.   I wonder if the rage is building in certain quarters over Obama’s failures to deliver and so certain segments of our country are fuming.

So here is lovely Somali immigrant Mina this morning (those two foul words were spelled correctly in the original, the editing is mine):

ur illegall acorcorn were da f*** did u get sumthin stupid like dat go back to dat person who told u dat s*** dat they need to shut up. ok somali ppl came here for a better future for dey kids n dem selfs ok. we leave our country because we dont have a choice its only getting worser as it is. bet u would have left yo country if der was a war n wasnt gettin better so plz ppl leave all immigrants alone dey came here for better opportunities n better lives for dem n der childrens

I assume Mina is talking about the warnings that Khadra (another Somali) has given us, here and here, where Khadra warns us about Somali intentions in North America.

Refugee employment placement and follow-up services are FREE!

Your tax dollars:

This morning I came across this typical glossy discussion of the Refugee Resettlement Program at Commonwealth (VA) Catholic Charities.  Nothing earth-shattering here, it just really gets me steamed!   Did you know as an employer you can benefit from refugee labor because so much is already taken care of for you by the good folks at Catholic Charities—and it is all free!

Hire a Refugee!

Refugees make good employees; they are friendly, resilient, and provide outstanding customer service. They are loyal, strongly motivated to work hard and determined to do well, having lost their homes, belongings and careers. Employment candidates are fully work-authorized and documented by the US Department of Justice.

Contacting our Refugee Resettlement program will strengthen your business, simplify your recruitment and increase your retention. Our employment specialists provide screening, placement and support services at no cost, including:

*Documentation support – ensuring that all employment documents are verified and available
*Pre-screening of applications to match job openings
*Pre-employment work preparation and on the job orientation and interpretation
*Transportation planning and support
*Assuring employees have all required clothing and supplies
*Work-related English instruction
*Ongoing follow-up and support

Free my foot!   Check out the most recent Commonwealth Catholic Charities Form 990.   They received $5,800,114 in grants and contributions and $4,483,504* of it is from you—the taxpayer—in the form of government grants.  There is nothing free about any of this!  And, I would like to know does the average unemployed American get this kind of employment support?

Catholic Charities previously made the news in Virginia here (kidnaping case), here (abortion case) and here (overloading a city with refugees case).  And, it was all FREE!  Your tax dollars at work with no oversight!

* Incidentally, do you know what the little sneaks in the government have done?  It used to be that the government grants were right there in plain view on page 1 of the Form 990,  not so now!  I had to actually consult an accountant to find where they hide the figure for government grants on page 9 in the more recent Form 990’s!  And, then its just the gross amount, not which agencies are supplying your money to Catholic Charities.

To new readers!  Posting has been light here at RRW because I’m working on a political campaign in MD, I look forward to a full time focus on refugees after the election season is over.  I’m grateful that Judy has been picking up my slack of late.