This is the big lobbying week (I’ll get to that later) when NGO’s like Human Rights First ramp up their pressure on Congress and the Administration to do more to resolve what they call the “humanitarian” crisis involving Iraqis who have been displaced from their homes by the sectarian violence in Iraq.
Last year Senator Ted (bring them to Hyannisport) Kennedy managed to pass legislation in the dark of night (attaching it to the Defense Authorization bill) that increased the number of special immigrant visas for Iraqis who might have helped America in the war (by the way, no mention of the truly persecuted Christians). After some late night debate, but no hearings, the number was set at 5000 and the bill became law at the end of January. Not satisfied, Kennedy and Senator Biden aided by others including Senator (open wide our gates) McCain, are about to, or have just in the last few days, introduced another bill to bring more sooner.
Senators Kennedy, Lugar, Biden and others will introduce a bipartisan bill providing additional authority for continued processing of special immigrant visas for qualified Iraqi and Afghan translators who worked for the U.S. military and U.S. government. The National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008, enacted January 28, 2008, created 5,000 new special immigrant visas for Iraqis whose lives are at risk because of their service to the U.S. government. These special visas are not available until FY 2009. Senator Kennedy’s bipartisan bill would make the visas available immediately to qualified Iraqis who worked for the U.S. military and the U.S. government. Iraqi translators and interpreters who placed their lives, families, and livelihoods at risk to serve on the side of America are eligible for these special visas. Others cosponsors include Senators Leahy, Specter, Levin, Cornyn, Obama, Lieberman, McCain, Durbin, Sununu, Cardin, Smith, Hagel and Coleman.
By the way, did you ever notice how they always put this translator stuff in these pitches. Some of those are the “refugees” Homeland Security is most concerned about and Denmark discovered that the hard way.
I don’t know where McCain’s head is on this because this whole effort smacks of whacking the Bush Administration over the war and McCain continues to be a strong supporter of the war. This large public relations campaign on refugees is meant to damage Republicans. If McCain were smart instead of signing on to this initiative to bring Iraqi Mulsims here (to live in ghettos and clean motels) he should be promoting a sort of Marshall plan for Iraq. Here is another post on unhappy Iraqis in Arizona no less.
There is also a report attached to this article that you need to read. I quickly searched it to see if it said anything about a rebuilding effort in Iraq and I didn’t see a mention.
Now to Senator Joe Biden! Just as Senator Ted isn’t going to be resettling any refugees of any sort to Hyannisport, Senator Joe (any place but Delaware) Biden is a hypocrite. He is one of the few originators of the Refugee Act of 1980 (along with chief sponsor Kennedy) still in the Senate, yet his own state of Delaware ranks third from the bottom in the number of refugees resettled there between 1983 and 2005, this while surrounding states Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey have each brought tens of thousands of refugees. Ranking below Delaware are only West Virginia and Wyoming.
So, Senator Biden is promoting bringing more Iraqis but few if any will come to Delaware. The politics of this stinks!
The public relations campaign to brainwash the American public gets underway shortly. More in my next post.