There is no doubt in my mind that these recent articles in the Chicago Tribune are orchestrated and meant to create a crisis in order to push Congress to “reform” the Refugee Resettlement program by allocating it more money. Afterall, this is Chicago and Ed Silverman has been around long enough to know the basics of Alinsky-style “community organizing.” Read all about Silverman and Iraqi refugees, here.
Five days ago I told you about the unhappy Iraqis in Chicago and now it’s the Africans.
From the Chicago Tribune today:
The crowd was angry inside the Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago — a stark contrast to the cheery African murals that have greeted one refugee community after another since the Uptown nonprofit organization formed 25 years ago.
The reason: more evidence that the federal system set up to welcome roughly 2,500 refugees to Illinois per year is nearly broken.
On the heels of two critical national studies highlighting worries over homelessness and other problems faced by Iraqi refugees, a new report released in Chicago [what report, where is it?] shows the frustrations of Africans arriving from such war-torn areas as Burundi, Sudan and Somalia.
Among the findings is that the system created in 1980 no longer meets the needs of an increasingly diverse refugee population of former human trafficking victims, child soldiers and victims of torture.
“I arrived here full of hope to start a new life,” fumed Idriss Shariff, a refugee from Darfur, Sudan, who said he nevertheless was frustrated about a lack of job training and decent housing.
White House officials have acknowledged the need to reform the system, which provides a one-time grant of $425 per adult refugee and leaves much of the burden for housing, job searches and other needs to overwhelmed local aid groups.
Roughly 4,800 African refugees have arrived in the Chicago area since 1999, most of them settling on the North Side as they contribute to African communities’ rapid growth in the last decade to nearly 30,000 people.
And, what do you know! It’s Mr. Ed again saying that boo hoo we have no money for all these refugees!
Ed Silverman, who has directed state refugee services since the late 1970s, said stability has become increasingly elusive for new refugees.
“We are facing the worst crisis in the refugee program that I have ever experienced,” he told the crowd at the Ethiopian center.
Many clapped in agreement.
NO ONE EVER SUGGESTS THAT MAYBE THE NUMBER OF REFUGEES GOING TO CHICAGO IS NOT SUSTAINABLE, AND NO ONE EVER SAYS LET’S SLOW THE FLOW OF REFUGEES TO THE US WHILE WE ARE IN A RECESSION! INDEED THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION HAS PROPOSED THE CEILING FOR FY2010 REMAIN AS HIGH AS THE PREVIOUS YEAR!
So, let’s have a look at the Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago. Note that on their home page they are purchasing a building, so that tells us right there that they have some money. Check out their Form990 for the FY ending June 2008, here.
I am not an accountant, so I’m not sure why these numbers don’t exactly match up, but here they are. They reported that they received $311,317 from government grants (taxpayers) and $611,101 from fees and government contracts (taxpayers) and that is the sum of their income for the year.*
However, scrolling down to near the end of the Form 990 there is this list of government grants and the total amount of money is higher. Keep in mind some of this might be expended in another fiscal year, but I thought it interesting to note the agencies from which funds are received.
There is an Office of Refugee Resettlement grant of $424,453 that is a pass through grant from its parent organization, Ethiopian Community Development Council, one of the Top Ten volags (ECDC does not have a Better Business Bureau Report on file).
$66,297 from the US Dept. of Labor, $20,970 from HUD, and $25,270 from the US Dept. of Education.
That brings the total for June 2008 to $536,990 and that is up from $256,148 the previous June. So, they have doubled their income from the feds (you) in one year. They do have more money.
By the way, that $424,453 is for “reception and placement” which means that if they don’t bring in the refugees they don’t get that money.
That Los Angeles grant scam, any connection?
Now, one more thing. Back to the website for the Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago, note that they had a visit from Dr. Tsehaye Teferra of ECDC. We wrote 2 years ago about a scam involving an African resettlement agency in Los Angeles, another subcontractor of ECDC, here, where the director, Nikki Tesfai (a friend of Oprah!), was indicted in a huge grant scam. I recall reading that she is somehow related to Dr Teferra, but I could be wrong and I couldn’t find the reference just now. I don’t know what happened to Nikki Tesfai, whether she was ever found guilty.
* A little while later: It just occurred to me that there might be readers new to the refugee program who don’t know that this whole thing was set up as a public-private partnership. That means that the private part, the non-profit group, is supposed to put up some of the funding. It was not meant to be strictly a pass through of your tax dollars to unaccountable NGOs, now largely run by the immigrants they originally helped. This is how the left has effectively expanded the reach of the federal government (and redistributes your wealth!)—it happens in all leftwing causes from immigration to environment, and if Obama has his way, before you know it, it will be expanded to newspapers as well!