Washington Post beats the drums for more Syrian refugee resettlement to US

12/28/2013 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

It wasn’t long after we first began writing Refugee Resettlement Watch (in 2007) that we saw the media, especially one reporter—Matthew Lee of the Associated Press—begin the drumbeat to bring large numbers of Iraqi refugees to the US. Here is our entire archive on Lee’s apparently personal mission.

USCCB’s Anastasia Brown: We want Obama to go over the 70,000 refugee cap to get more Syrians into your towns and cities.

Every month as only a “trickle” of Iraqis got in, Lee faithfully reported the number in the trickle and those in the refugee industry he quoted blamed that evil meany George Bush. It turns out though that the slow early arrival of Iraqis had a lot to do with security clearance issues (some terrorists did slip in with the huddled masses of supposedly poor people).

Now, Iraqis make up the largest number of any group getting into the US through the State Department’s Refugee program. 19,491 Iraqis came to the US in FY2013.

The drumbeat for Syrian resettlement had already begun, but when I saw these two companion stories at the Washington Post yesterday, I immediately figured — here we go again! There is a mention in these stories about concerns for security screening, but missing is any blame being heaped on Obama directly. Oh, there is mention of the Obama Administration, but not the man himself. Obama could, if he wanted to, expand the number of Syrians entering the US.

You can read the articles yourself, here and here.

From the article entitled, ‘U.S. says it hopes to offer asylum to 35,000, might include up to 2,000 Syrians,‘ there is nothing here we don’t already know.

The State Department said Thursday that the United States wants to bring in up to 35,000 permanent refugees from the Middle East and South Asia in fiscal 2014. The target would include vulnerable Iraqis, Afghans, Iranians and Pakistanis, as well as Syrians. [See Obama’s Presidential Determination for 2014, here—ed]

The U.N. refugee agency has set an ambitious goal of moving more than 30,000 Syrians into permanent or long-term homes abroad by next October. The United States might take as many as 2,000, although it is unlikely to meet its own target.

Catholics lobby for more Syrians, want to go above Obama’s 70,000 target for 2014

As we reported here earlier in the month, the federal contractors (leading the pack is the US Conference of Catholic Bishops) are lobbying to expand that number of Syrians and I suspect it is they who are behind getting stories like these planted in the Washington Post. And, if you are wondering, you should know the Catholic Bishops are not lobbying specifically for the Christian Syrians, they welcome and resettle the Muslim refugees as well.

Watch for more stories like these in the Washington Post critical of the Obama Administration’s apparent reluctance to open our doors to Syrians. Why they are so far reluctant is an interesting question.

Maine: Rule change could reduce welfare for some immigrants

12/27/2013 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update December 29th: Be sure to see Daniel Greenfield’s article on Somalis and welfare in Maine at Frontpage magazine.

In 2009 we wrote a post which has become one of our most-visited posts at RRW (Tenth most visited with 9,088 views). It is entitled, ‘Somali Migration to Maine: it’s the welfare magnet, stupid.’ I’ve wondered since then what Maine was doing with its giveaways that made it so attractive. This article in ‘The Portland Daily Sun’ gives us some hint.

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services is proposing a rule change to bring Maine’s welfare program in line with federal guidelines that require 5 years of residency before a legal immigrant (non-citizen) can access the program and of course a legal outfit is challenging the proposed rule. (Refugees get welfare right away, see our ‘fact sheet’ for more on how that works).

The Portland Daily Sun (emphasis mine):

A legal advocacy group has warned city and state officials that a proposed rule change at the Department of Health and Human Services could cut off benefits to members of Maine’s immigrant population.

Robin Merrill, a senior policy analyst with Maine Equal Justice Partners, met with members of the Portland City Council and the legislative delegation on Monday and talked about a proposed rule change that could cause some members of the immigrant community to lose general assistance.

“This would be devastating for Portland and for Lewiston,” Merrill said.

The rule being proposed by DHHS would block anyone from receiving general assistance if they do not qualify for federal assistance, like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the Maine Food Supplement program, because of citizenship status.

The rule change was proposed to align Maine’s public assistance programs with federal ones, according to DHHS, and the federal government does not provide coverage for legal non-citizens until five years after their arrival. The state will no longer fund general assistance for that population, DHHS said, though municipalities may still use their portion to assist them. [Newly resettled refugees get all the available federal government programs right away—ed]

DHHS will hold a public hearing on the rule change on Jan. 10 at its Augusta office, and written public comment will be accepted until Jan. 24.

Here is the website for the Maine DHHS. I did a quick search and didn’t find a reference to this meeting, but if you are a Mainer, and wish to comment, call them!

Related story: Earlier this month Gov. Paul LePage charged that there is extensive welfare fraud going on in Maine, and here a women’s group criticizes the governor for saying such a dreadful thing about poor innocent people in Maine. Just for fun I typed the words ‘Maine fraud’ into our search function and up popped pages of posts with Maine fraud stories—food stamp, medicaid, housing, etc.

Huntsville, Alabama: Mohammed, Mohammed, Sharif, Mohammad, Hosein arrested for buying stolen property to resell in their stores

12/27/2013 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Mohammad Reza Moradi (Huntsville Police Department)

Reader ‘pungentpeppers’ alerted us to this new twist on the immigrant-run convenience store fraud we discussed here yesterday. (For new readers, this is a side-interest here at RRW).

I wouldn’t be surprised if these perps are also into the food stamp fraud business. In fact, a few times I’ve seen mentioned that if convenience store shelves are not well-stocked it’s a tip-off to authorities that some other nefarious business (including selling drugs or guns) is being transacted there. So, they gotta keep stuff on the shelves!

These guys were arrested for buying stolen property from large grocery chains to resell in their Mom & Pop stores—in Alabama of all places!

From AL.com:

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama–Huntsville police arrested five local convenience store employees and charged them with reselling items stolen from Kroger and Publix.

Investigators partnered with Kroger and Publix grocery stores for several months, investigating convenience stores that police say bought merchandise stolen from Kroger and Publix. According to police, this detail, combined with previous operations, resulted in a reduction of retail thefts for the two grocery stores.

The police are still looking for the sixth man—Fatah—alleged to be involved in the fencing ring. We may learn later that they were into more than stolen property.

Of course, as always there is no mention of nationalities or immigration status of those arrested. Is there no real investigative reporter curious enough to uncover how all these American convenience stores are being bought up by a large percentage of Middle Easterners?

For more than you ever wanted to know about food stamp fraud at convenience stores, click here for our extensive archives. Go here to see how you can report suspected SNAP fraud near you.

See more photos of those charged, here.

Eric Hoffer on the Jews and refugees

12/26/2013 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I just came across this 1968 quote by Eric Hoffer, a formerly leading social thinker known as the Longshoreman Philosopher:

The Jews are a peculiar people. Things permitted to other nations are forbidden to the Jews. Other nations drive out thousands, even millions of people and there is no refugee problem. Russia did it, Poland and Czechoslovakia did it. Turkey threw out a million Greeks, and Algeria a million Frenchman.

Indonesia threw out heaven knows how many Chinese and no one says a word about refugees. But in the case of Israel , the displaced Arabs have become eternal refugees. Everyone insists that Israel must take back every single one.

Arnold Toynbee calls the displacement of the Arabs an atrocity greater than any committed by the Nazis. Other nations when victorious on the battlefield dictate peace terms. But when Israel is victorious, it must sue for peace.

Everyone expects the Jews to be the only real Christians in this world. We Since Hoffer wrote this millions more people have been driven out of their homelands. And Israel is still the world’s favorite villain.

I don’t know why Eric Hoffer has fallen off the public radar. When I was in college 50 years ago everybody read him and his insights are still pertinent today. He had little formal education but had a thirst for knowledge. He was a wide reader and a profound thinker — a rare kind of self-made man in his time, a type even rarer today. Wikipedia says of him:

He was the author of ten books and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February 1983. His first book, The True Believer, published in 1951, was widely recognized as a classic, receiving critical acclaim from both scholars and laymen, although Hoffer believed that his book The Ordeal of Change was his finest work.

I think I’ll improve myself by rereading a couple of his books. As I recall, he’s an enjoyable read. He wrote so that ordinary people would understand him — that is, clearly. In fact, many of his statements turn up as short quotes here and there. Here’s a website full of them for your entertainment and enlightenment.

Mofaddal, Ahmed, Faisal, and Ibrahim charged with food stamp fraud in Hudson, NY

12/26/2013 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

They are charged with collecting $340,000 in illegal profits from the US taxpayer.

D & D’s Grocery in Hudson, NY. If you notice immigrants getting rich with a store like this one, suspect food stamp fraud!

Here is the first story I saw in the Albany Times-Union:

HUDSON — Four grocery store employees face federal charges for collecting more than $300,000 in profits from a food stamp scheme.

Federal and county officials said the employees of the D&D’s Grocery & Deli were indicted Monday on charges they allegedly purchased Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) coupons from customers and resold or used them at a profit, according to a release from Federal Judge Randolph F. Treece and U.S. Attorney Richard S. Hartunian.

Charged with fraud and conspiracy were Mofaddal M. Murshed, 36; Ahmed A. Algahaim, 54; Faisal Q. Morshed, 34; and Ibrahim Q. Murshed, 24. They were arraigned on the charges Monday. Their jail or bail status was not immediately available.

The defendants allegedly collected $340,000 in illegal profits, officials said.

After I began posting, I found this more detailed story in the Register-Star (including the photo of their convenience store). Seems that Mofaddal is the owner and the three others of unknown nationality and unknown immigration status are the employees.

For new readers, food stamp fraud is a side-interest here at RRW until some enterprising blogger wannabe comes along to begin blogging exclusively on immigrant-run convenience store rip-offs of the US taxpayer—it could be a full time job!

Click here for our archive of previous food stamp fraud cases spanning six years! Go here for information on how to report suspected food stamp fraud in your town.