Day: October 1, 2007

Church World Service subcontractor arrested in Canada

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Church World Service sure is making the news these days, and must have had a busy press office over the weekend.   First, its subcontractor Virginia Council of Churches makes news right here in our county when it is forced to close its doors.   And,  then on Saturday the New York Times reported that the director of another of its subcontractors, Prime-Ecumenical Commitment to Refugees, is arrested in Canada for immigrant trafficking.  According to the Institute for Cultural Partnerships, “PRIME operates through funding from Church World Service.”

An American refugee aid worker accompanying Haitians seeking asylum in Canada was charged by Canadian authorities this week with immigrant trafficking.

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…..she said that her group had made 19 trips to the Canadian border in the last five months, taking immigrants, primarily Haitians, who had despaired of obtaining legal status in the United States and feared deportation.

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Ms. Hinshaw-Thomas said that during her first trip, on Aug. 22, a Canadian immigration officer warned her that she could be prosecuted for trafficking if she was making any profit from the refugee trips. She said she told the officer that she collected fees, about $250 per family, to defray travel expenses. Mr. Paradis, the Border Services Agency spokesman, confirmed the warnings. “If a person has been notified that this method of working is illegal and they continue, we’re going to take action,” he said.

Ms. Hinshaw-Thomas’ agency is in Lancaster, PA.   At the recent Refugee Resettlement Forum in Hagerstown we were informed that for some unexplained reason a Church World Service subcontractor was suspended in Lancaster.   The Russian Turks originally destined for Lancaster were brought to Hagerstown instead setting in motion the events that ended on Friday with the closing of the VCC office here.   Hum……any connection? 

Note:  If PRIME is no longer receiving federal funding through Church World Service and the U.S. State Department please let us know and we will report that information.

Blogs are springing up all over!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Annoyed by what they are reading in the mainstream media, and feeling voiceless, people are blogging out of sheer frustration (and finding it fun too!)   Someone just sent me this new blog about issues pertaining to Washington County and of general concern to all Marylanders. 

Check out this “Common Sense” blog written by The Patriot Sharpshooter.  Today’s post is on Refugee Resettlement which has been all the buzz around here for the last couple of days.

Way to go Patriot Sharpshooter!  

Immigration meeting eye-opener

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This past weekend I attended two days of meetings in Washington about immigration.  It was a great opportunity to learn more about the subject and to meet national leaders from around the country.  From time to time I’ll refer to aspects of the meeting as it relates to other things we are writing about at Refugee Resettlement Watch.

But this morning, I’ll just tell you about this one eye-opener.  The immigration reform movement encompasses people from across the political spectrum.

My education and early employment was in the environmental field.  I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that many environmentalists have found a home with those seeking to stop illegal immigration and reform legal immigration.   The major national environmental groups are so fearful of their leftwing funders that they shun the issue.  But, many environmentalists see the ever-increasing numbers of immigrants as a severe threat to open space, clean water, clean air and just the overall quality of life.  

Steve Camarata of the Center for Immigration Studies reported on his statistical work that predicts a 100 million increase in US population by 2050 almost exclusively due to immigration if it remains at the present level.   The audience that heard this information, again across the entire political spectrum, is not moved by any multicultural/diversity is great/save all the people of the world yammering we are so used to hearing in our local and national media.  The focus was entirely on what hard policy decisions do we make now that will bring America through this century as the greatest nation on earth in which to live.