Month: December 2007

Job hunting? Utah looking for a director of new refugee office

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

 Your tax dollars:

The refugee business is booming in Utah, or so it seems.   According to today’s Deseret Morning News, Refugee services have been coordinated by one guy but now a whole office is needed to handle the flow of refugees to the state.  The new office will be funded by the federal government but it looks like state funds will be thrown into the pot.   Taxpayers of Utah need to look into this!

The state’s first director of an emerging Refugee Services Office could be in place by early next year.

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“We’re moving very quickly,” DePaulis (Utah Dept. of Community and Culture) said of organizing the office, which for now will be federally funded under the Department of Workforce Services.

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The refugee group also has requested that Huntsman allocate $200,000 in state funding for refugee services in the governor’s budget, which is set to be released Monday, DePaulis said.

But wait, the numbers of refugees are going down in Utah, not up!

“It’s been something I’ve wanted for a long time, recognizing that one person can’t do it all,” Nakamura (the present refugee coordinator)  said. “The needs of the refugees over the last five to seven years are significantly different from the needs … when the program was created.

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“In the ’80s we had a huge population coming from a handful of countries in Southeast Asia. Now, we’ve got a handful of people coming from all over the world.”

If you check the number of refugee cases handled by Nakamurra’s one-man office you will see that the number went DOWN from 2005-2006 by almost a third.   But, this is interesting!  The federal funds required to take care of the smaller caseload went up by about $1 million.

Note that the federal funding is coming from the Utah Department of Workforce Services.   This is a handy federally funded (?) state agency.  It’s one stop shopping—employment services and food stamps/medical assistance all in one place. 

Federal agents raid store in Hagerstown, MD yesterday

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Although this has nothing to do with refugees, it has lots to do with where we live, near Hagerstown in Washington County, MD.   And, I am bringing this to you as a reminder to be on the lookout for similar activity in your communities.   It will be sharp eyes and the willingness of regular people to to speak up that will make all the difference in helping to protect our American cities and towns.

What follows is information provided by the Hagerstown Police Department:

Hagerstown Police Department

50 N. Burhans Blvd

Hagerstown Maryland 21740

301-790-3700

News Release

Incident Information

Incident: Search and Seizure Warrant Executed

Location: Nadia’s Convenience Store @ 200 W. Franklin St Hagerstown Md

Date & Time: Thursday December 6, 2007 at 1:00 PM

On Thursday December 6, 2007 detectives with the Hagerstown Police Department and agents with The US Department of Agriculture Office of the Inspector General executed a Federal Search and Seizure Warrant at Nadia’s Convenience Store at 200 W. Franklin St. The warrant was a result of a year and a half long investigation into illegal electronic food stamp transactions being done by the store. During the investigations transactions were made for cash in exchange for food stamp benefits. No one was arrested at this time. Agents with the Inspector Generals Office seized evidence from the store which will be reviewed by them. The case will then be presented to the US Attorney for possible charges. Nadi’s Convenience Store is owned by Mohammed Tariq Khan, who was present during the execution of the warrant.Supervisor: Sgt. Jim Robison.

It is unclear whether Mr. Mohammed Tariq Khan is a US citizen or when he might have immigrated to America.   There has also been no suggestion that any money has left the country.

Apparently the nearly $30 billion a year Federal Food Stamp Program is fraught with problems especially as it relates to small grocery stores.    This 2006 story in USA Today will give you more information on what to look for with this scam at small grocery and convenience stores.   Here is one of the criminal cases cited by USA Today:

Criminal penalties for individuals convicted of food stamp fraud are more severe. A Dearborn, Mich., man pleaded guilty last month to committing more than $380,000 in food stamp fraud over 20 months. Wissam Salameh, 32, manager of a BP gas station and convenience store in Detroit, was convicted of trading cash for food stamp benefits. Salameh, who will be sentenced in February, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

One of the methods that criminals can use to steal from the Federal government goes something like this:    The store might purchase food stamps from someone at half their value and then seek reimbursement for the whole value from the Dept. of Agriculture.   As of this time, we do not know what the nature of the possible crime was that prompted the removal of many boxes of material from the store yesterday.

 

Sauerbrey: Refugees become terrorists if we don’t bring them here

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Oh brother!     A couple of days ago we reported to you that Asst. Sec. of State Ellen Sauerbrey visited Louisville, KY, the city that lures refugees.   We’ve heard many explanations about why we are the largest refugee resettlement country in the world, but this is the biggest stretch I’ve seen (so far)!   She told audiences in Louisville that we are bringing them to keep them from becoming terrorists!

We do it because it’s the right thing to do, but we also do it because it is in our national interest,” Assistant Secretary of State Ellen R. Sauerbrey said, telling of how many refugees languish for years in crude camps.

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“When you have people in these hopeless situations, this is where terrorism breeds, this is where failed states come from,” she said.

What kind of terrorists Asst. Sec. Sauerbrey?  Christian terrorists?  How about those potential Buddhist terrorists?  Or, could she possibly mean Islamic terrorists?    This idea that the economic plight of Muslims is what drives them to become the world’s leading terrorists is B.S.  This is what is wrong with the entire Bush Administration, Sec. of State Rice and right up to the President himself, they do not understand the imperative of Islam!

Then she made this interesting comment:

Among the most recent waves of refugees: a growing influx of Iraqi refugees, including a disproportionate number of Iraq’s minority Christian population who fear persecution. Sauerbrey said Sunni and Shiite Muslim refugees — who also are coming to the United States and Louisville — face similar fears.

Really?  We have not heard that we are bringing a “disproportionate number” of Christian refugees to America.

Back in October we heard quite the opposite, that Muslim UN employees were ‘discouraging’ applications for resettlement from the desperate Christian Iraqis.   See our post here.

So, what is it?   Give us the numbers Asst. Sec. Sauerbrey!   How many Christian Iraqis have we resettled and how many “persecuted” Muslims have we brought to America?  How many of each are in the pipeline?  Everyone should e-mail the Asst. Secretary and politely ask for the answer.   And, if anyone gets the numbers we will post them here.    Her e-mail address is SauerbreyER@state.gov

Sen. Smith (R-OR) seeks to extend SSI benefits for refugees

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Your tax dollars:

Hearings held yesterday in the Senate Select Committee on Aging were aimed at supporting legislation to expand and extend the program that allows senior citizen refugees to receive Social Security Income benefits.    Presently benefits are available for 7 years, but Senator Gordon H. Smith thinks that is not enough time for them to become full-fledged citizens.

“The SSI benefit is a lifeline for elderly and disabled refugees. To penalize them because of delays encountered through the bureaucratic process of becoming a citizen is unjust and inappropriate. Only by increasing the time limit before their SSI benefits expire will the United States help to fulfill its promise to this most vulnerable population.”

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Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a federal income supplement program designed to help aged, blind and disabled people, who have little or no income by providing cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing and shelter. Congress modified the SSI program to include a seven-year time limit on eligibility for refugees, those granted asylum and other humanitarian immigrants.

According to this article in Senior Journal  7000 refugees have already lost benefits and 16,000 may soon lose them if revisions to the law are not soon made.

Diversity Visas questioned by GAO, potential security risk

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Since we have been talking about security screening for refugees, and since the deadline for the annual “diversity lottery” is this Sunday,   I thought it might be a good time to remind readers that besides refugee resettlement there are many additional immigration programs administered by the US State Department.   This highly questionable one came under fire from the General Accounting Office this past fall because of its potential security risk.   This was written by James Pinkerton and published at the Houston Chronicle a couple of days ago:

A little-known immigration lottery that grants 50,000 visas a year poses a ”pervasive fraud risk” and could be used by terrorists with false documents to enter the U.S., according to federal auditors.

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Called the “diversity visa,” the program is designed to bring variety to the stream of immigrants legally entering the country. The deadline to apply for this year’s lottery is 11 a.m. Sunday, and it is open to citizens of 170 countries that sent fewer than 50,000 immigrants during the past five years, according to the U.S. State Department.

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But at six of 11 consular posts reviewed by Government Accountability Office investigators, officers found ”widespread” use of fake documents, including counterfeit birth and marriage certificates and passports, according to the agency’s report in September.

I had to laugh about the need to “bring variety to the stream of immigrants.”  We don’t have enough variety in the Refugee Resettlement program?   In  Appendix A of the 2005 Annual report to Congress there are 24 differant countries and regions listed from which we receive refugees.  A couple of those are listed only as former Soviet Union or Yugoslavia which actually represent many additional countries.   This “diversity visa” demonstrates the grip multiculturalism uber alles has on our sappy State Department.