Month: November 2016

Illinois: pro-refugee op-ed is worth mentioning, state taxpayers on the hook

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Every time a federal resettlement contractor arrives in a new site and attempts to convince local taxpayers that the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program is a federal program that won’t cost local and state taxpayers anything, beware.
Editor’s note:  I was in Washington, DC yesterday for business and  pleasure so only just now posted good comments from readers to my posts of Thursday.  Sorry for the delay.
This op-ed at Chicago Monitor by Megan Waden has a few interesting nuggets I want you to see, and this final line sums up exactly why I do what I do and thus I agree whole-heartedly with its author:

When engaging in policy discussions to address the refugee admissions process, presenting a more comprehensive picture of the security clearance process and the resources provided throughout resettlement is critical.

My role at RRW for the last nearly 10 years has been to present a “more comprehensive picture” of how resettlement works and who is paying for it.
The writer begins by giving the refugee industry’s talking points about security screening, but you need to know that for the Syrian resettlement, the Obama Administration has reduced screening time down to 3 months.

megan-wadin
Megan is a graduate of the University of St Andrews, UK where she studied Human Geography. She volunteers with Heartland Alliance and the Pan African Association’s refugee resettlement programs in Chicago. In the future she hopes to pursue a Graduate Degree in Refugee Studies.

Then in this next section, I was stunned, flabbergasted, to see how much Illinois taxpayers have been ponying-up for refugee and immigrant “services.” You need to find out how much your state is spending.  And, this below doesn’t even mention the cost of welfare payments and the cost of educating the kids!
(Editor: I split this paragraph in to segments for easier reading):

Agencies funded at the state level remain particularly vulnerable to the budget impasse in Illinois. The impasse has led to cuts for several services including the Immigrant Family Resource Program, which “assists immigrants in determining whether they are eligible for public benefits and enables the state to meet federally mandated language-access obligations***”. [They have a whole agency which determines if refugees/immigrants are eligible for welfare!—ed]

Funding was also cut for The New Americans Initiative, ending the program’s ‘citizenship application assistance and outreach’. Over 200 employees were laid off in the Refugee and Immigrant Services sector, as an additional 100 positions remain severely at risk. [Illinois had 300 employees doing this!—ed]

The Director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Breandan Magee, has quoted over 102,000 clients this year as going without services as a result of these funding cuts. Non-state funded groups like the Syrian Community Network in Chicago, who provide resettlement services for Syrian refugees, try to fill that gap in state funding. But they have to rely on community donations to fund their training and other programs.

More here.
The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights is an activist group promoting open borders which we have mentioned often over the years. Click here to see those posts.
***This reference to “federally mandated language-access obligations” is about a Clinton era EXECUTIVE ORDER that Bush could have rescinded but didn’t. Trump? It says that you, local and state taxpayers, must provide at your expense interpreters whenever refugees/immigrants have problems with any institution receiving federal funding for medical care, school systems, criminal justice system, etc.
About the photo:  Ahhhh! there is a degree in Refugee Studies!  Will they hire me to be a guest lecturer?

Report: Charleston, WV pro-Syrian Muslim resettlement rally held

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

“I don’t think they should be brought here, period!”

(citizen activist Brenda Arthur)

As I told you a few days ago a Charleston ‘Interfaith’ group was planning a rally to push for the resettlement of Syrian refugees to the state capitol. And, as I mentioned then, I am struck by the fact that the rally for refugees was so specific about Syrians when we bring refugees from all over the world (and resettlement contracting agencies don’t get to pick only those ethnic groups they prefer).
Why are they so concerned about Syrians? Why is the Charleston, West Virginia group so discriminatory against other ethnic groups?

And here are my bigger questions: Where is Alex? Where is Shelley? Where is Joe?

manchin
Come on Joe! Even if the Republicans are too squishy to speak up, surely you get it!

Considering that the controversy about the resettlement of Syrian refugees in American towns is one of the major issues that pushed Donald Trump over the finish line last week, shouldn’t we expect elected officials like Rep. Alex Mooney (R) in whose district this rally occurred and US Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R) and Joe Manchin (D) to have the guts to say where they stand on the issue! 

Are they for or against this plan from Washington?

One story about the rally is here.  There was a counter-rally, so no one can say any longer that there is no opposition to the plan to expand the resettlement of Syrian Muslims (99% of all Syrians entering the US are Muslims) in to West Virginia.
See some of the opposition’s arguments reported at the Charleston Gazette-Mail:

During last year’s rally supporting Syrian refugees, Brenda Arthur stood across the street in protest. She learned of the rally only hours before it was scheduled to begin. She was then one of only two people protesting against it.

This time, she brought a few friends. To them, the reasons to not bring refugees seem endless.

“We had the June flooding disaster, we’ve lost jobs, there have been cuts in school funding and then there’s the drug epidemic,” Arthur said. “We’ve got all of these major problems to deal with. How does it even make sense to bring people here from halfway around the world that are going to need every form of government assistance?”

Arthur, 65, gathered with about a dozen other people in protest of the rally. Their main complaints about settling refugees in Charleston is the fear that they might be sent by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and that tax money would be used to resettle them.

But even if it didn’t cost taxpayers anything to bring refugees to West Virginia, and even if officials could be completely sure that the refugees weren’t sent by ISIS, Arthur still doesn’t want them here.

“I don’t think they should be brought here, period. We should take care of them in their homeland,” Arthur said. “A lot of these people, you know, they’ve been in their tribal land for thousands of years, and now they’re uprooted, brought to a new culture — in many cases a culture that has nothing to do with them. Our values are antithetical to a lot of things that they believe.”

See our complete archive on the West Virginia controversy by clicking here.

Hudson,Wisconsin Catholic Church asked to resettle five Syrian families in departure from normal resettlement process

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

First, this proposal to a specific Catholic Church to effectively become a resettlement agency in a town with no resettlement office tells me that the refugee industry is getting desperate.

Frankly, as Congress has not appropriated enough money for Obama’s large refugee numbers for FY17 (already underway) because it has not acted on the budget for the upcoming year, contractors like the US Conference of Catholic Bishops are looking for ways to pawn off some of their responsibilities on, in this case, an individual church.
Members of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church are apparently in the process of deciding if they will take responsibility for five (most likely Muslim since 99% of the Syrians entering the US now are Muslims) families.  (I saw this story almost a week ago, so maybe they have already decided.)

st-patrick-hudson
US Conference of Catholic Bishops attempting to get the most bang for their federal bucks by not opening an office while turning over responsibility for Syrian families to a specific church.

This is a huge undertaking. I watched as a church near where I live in 2007 took on the responsibility for one family and it was an enormous chore that didn’t end well.  My local story is a long story, but members of St. Patricks must be prepared for many duties not the least of which is shuttling refugees in their own cars to myriad appointments (doctors, schools, social service departments) and often to jobs for months (one of the first things volunteers ultimately become weary of!).
And, one of the other things that volunteers tire of is the lack of appreciation some ethnic groups of refugees show for volunteers.  I can’t say that will happen here, but the fun and excitement of taking care of Africans and Middle Easterners wears thin when the refugees act entitled.
One more thing before I get to the story:  Hudson, Wisconsin is on the border of Minnesota. Normally a federal contractor has an office within a hundred miles of where it places the refugees, but the three offices maintained by the Bishops in Wisconsin (Greenbay, Sheboygan, and Milwaukee) are all hundreds of miles away.  However, the USCCB office in St. Paul, Minnesota is only 18 miles from Hudson so I assume that out-of-state office will be sending the federal money to St. Patrick’s.  My first thought is that the USCCB is now making decisions from over the border in Minnesota for what happens in another state.
Here is the news from the Hudson Star-Observer:

Rev. John Gerritts and St. Patrick’s Church received a call from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for the parish to assist with the resettlement of five Syrian refugee families from a camp in Turkey to Hudson. The church has not yet made a decision.

The conference is one of several organizations that helps with the federal government’s refugee resettlement program. Through the program, the U.S. will admit 85,000 refugees this year [reporter has it wrong, that was FY16, the number for FY17 is 110,000—ed] , according to the U.S. State Department.

These five refugee families have been vetted by the government and approved for resettlement in the United States, a process that can take between 18 and 24 months, Gerritts explained.

hudson-map
Hudson is right across the state line from a huge resettlement area (mostly Somali refugee resettlement) in Minnesota.

“It’s quite thorough and lengthy,” Gerritts said. “They are fully approved to move here. This is working through the government.”

Hudson was selected as the families’ new home because they indicated they had a relative in Hudson during the vetting process. [One relative and five families are coming? Sounds fishy—ed]

Whether or not these five refugee families come to Hudson is not up to the church, as they have already been approved by the federal government. Instead St. Patrick’s is being asked to be a resource to spearhead the resettlement.

[….]

Usually, after a location for resettlement is determined, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will reach out to an agency in the area that specializes in resettlement. The Hudson community does not have an agency like this, so instead St. Patrick’s has been asked to assist. St. Patrick’s is one of the first parishes in the country who have been asked to take on this role.

[….]

St. Patrick’s would not bear any of the financial cost for these services. The church would be responsible for disbursing the government funding provided for refugee resettlement.

For the full story, go here.
LOL! Parishioners at St. Patrick’s better get that in writing and the town of Hudson’s elected officials are presumably being briefed because there will be many costs to local taxpayers!
For new readers in Wisconsin, see our ‘Ten things your town needs to know’ by clicking here. It is not just one Catholic parish that will be impacted by the decision, but the whole town!  If you don’t like what is happening be sure to let Speaker Paul Ryan hear from you!

SC Governor Nikki Haley should not be Secretary of State

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

As you have figured out by now, I am a one issue voter. What we do about immigration/refugees is all that matters for the future of this country, so I’m judging Donald Trump’s choices for high office based on that issue alone.
Needless to say I was shocked and disappointed to see that South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley was headed to New York today for consideration for the job of Secretary of State.  See Townhall here.

haley-and-graham
If Trump puts Nikki Haley at the top of the US State Department it will give Senator Lindsey (Open Borders) Graham a direct pipeline. Refugee resettlement will not be stopped, slowed or even reformed in that case.

First, correct me if I’m wrong, but does she have any foreign policy experience?  I sure hope Trump isn’t looking to ethnicity and gender to balance his cabinet.  If so, put her at the head of the Labor Department or something like that.
A couple of years ago when the refugee resettlement industry turned its eyes to South Carolina, a state which has not received very many refugees over the years, Haley didn’t do anything to slow its arrival.
See our huge archive on Spartanburg by clicking here.  And, go here for everything we have said about Haley.
See here for my discussion of why NC is a purple state and SC is still (for now) a conservative red state.
Warmonger Senator Lindsey Graham would have his ally in a very high place. (See Graham on bringing in Syrians, here).

Readers will remember that Haley and SC Rep. Trey Gowdy*** were early supporters of Senator Marco (Gang of Eight) Rubio and that Graham (Gang of Eight) endorsed Jeb Bush.  If Gov. Haley runs the US State Department she will be in charge of immigrant visa programs and refugee admissions to the US, and in the case of refugees, choosing where they go. It will be her budget that pays refugee resettlement contractors for the initial resettlement.  Senator Lindsey Graham will never let her restrict the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program.
I urge my South Carolina readers to weigh-in and tell me if I am wrong about Haley. Has she done anything to indicate concern about massive numbers of refugees especially from countries that hate us entering the US?
***By the way, Gowdy is chairman of the House subcommittee responsible for the UN/US State Department Refugee Admissions Program and has done nothing to begin to examine the RAP with an eye to reforming it.  He didn’t even hold the legally required hearing, as Senator Sessions did in his Senate subcommittee, on Obama’s determination to bring 110,000 refugees to the US in FY2017.  So for all of my friends who think that Gowdy is God’s gift to America, think again!
Rumor has it that Lindsey Graham plays a large role in keeping Gowdy quiet on immigration issues.

A quick primer for new readers: The Refugee Contractors

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

It just occurred to me, when writing my post earlier this morning about State Department secrecy, that new readers are probably lost and confused by the many names of local organizations placing refugees in your towns.
First, there are nine major federally funded ‘non-profit’ groups that receive funding (some as much as 98% of their budget) from mainly the US Department of State (Population Refugees and Migration) and the Office of Refugee Resettlement which is in Health and Human Services.  (An aside: it is critical to pay attention to Trump cabinet picks for State and for HHS). Smaller federal grants come from other agencies as well.
Here they are:

Then working for them are hundreds of subcontractors scattered across 49 states.  Go here to the government’s data base of resettlement subcontractors (aka affiliates) working in your state.  Below is a screen shot of the Connecticut page.
See the abbreviation in the left hand corner of each entry. That stands for the major contractor over this particular subcontractor.
Obviously USCCB is the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. CWS is Church World Service. Not so easy to identify is DFMS. That is the other name (don’t ask me why!) for Episcopal Migration Ministries and it is Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society (scroll to bottom of page here).  My personal guess for why there are two names is that it has to do with their financial structure (keeping their finances hard to track?).
 
screenshot-66
 
 
But when you look at that data base know three things.  1) the data base is out of date, 2) we are told there are 47 new sites not listed and, 3) see if you live within 100 miles of one of these offices because that means your town is fair game to receive refugees.
Here are some of the new sites being chosen by the US State Department (that we know of!):

Asheville, NC

Rutland, VT

Reno, NV

Ithaca, NY

Missoula, MT

Aberdeen, SD (may have been thwarted as a primary resettlement site!)

Charleston, WV

Fayetteville, AR

Blacksburg, VA

Pittsfield, MA

Northhampton, MA

Flint, MI

Bloomington, IN

Traverse City, MI

Poughkeepsie, NY

Wilmington, DE

Watertown, NY (maybe)

Youngstown, OH (maybe)

Knowledge is Power!

Go to our Frequently Asked Questions in the header. And, check out our category ‘where to find information’ if you are trying to research the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program.  Also, our search function is really good so type in a few key words (try your state to begin with) and I am confident you will get an education!