Day: November 17, 2009

We are not a resettlement agency, we are a blog

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I wish I didn’t have to state this again and I do feel sorry for all the people who are writing and wanting us to help them get into the US or to help with their immigration problems.  We are merely a blog, we are a news outlet about issues involving refugees and immigrants.  

We are not connected to the government and no one pays us for our work.  Our work is entirely voluntary.

On the right column, note that just before one logs in to comment we have stated that clearly—-that we are not a resettlement agency, yet we increasingly receive comments from around the world that are really pleas for help.  I am sorry, we cannot post those.

LOL! Omar Jamal to represent Somalia at the UN

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

For another laugh:  Jihad Watch tells us today that Omar Bin-Laden (Osama’s boy) wants to work at the UN too, here.   How cool (and fitting!) is that —Omar Jamal and Omar Bin-Laden together at the UN!

The guy I have been calling the Somali Jesse Jackson, the same guy who was convicted of immigration fraud but never deported, the same guy who dashed off to NYC to defend the Somali pirate, the Somali mouthpiece from Minneapolis who has been on both sides of the Somali missing youth case has now been chosen to represent Somalia at the United Nations—that is priceless!   Guess it goes to show that anyone can succeed in America!

Here is the whole story from AP:

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A well-known advocate for Somalis in Minnesota has taken a new job with the Permanent Mission of the Somali Republic to the United Nations.

Omar Jamal, 36, is in New York City this week, getting credentials and getting to work.

Somalia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Elmi Ahmed Duale, says Jamal was appointed about a week ago to the position of first secretary. Duale says Jamal will represent Somali interests on various U.N. committees.

Jamal says Somalia is under siege by al-Shabab and he’ll make an “urgent appeal to save the country from al-Qaida.”

As many as 20 young men have left the Minneapolis area to possibly fight with the terror group in Somalia.

Jamal, who has led the Somali Justice Advocacy Center since 2001, says he’ll ask board members to appoint a new executive director.

What board members?  There is no organization but Jamal. 

Readers:  There are many more links to Omar Jamal at RRW, just use our search function and enjoy!

Revelations about HIAS at the Center for Immigration Studies

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society is one of the top ten federal refugee resettlement contractors, which we have mentioned from time to time on these pages.*  In 2009 they received over $13 million of your tax dollars.   I didn’t see it last week, but the Center for Immigration Studies has a lengthy analysis by Stephen Steinlight (Heisting HIAS …..) of the transformation of HIAS from an organization concerned about the plight of Jewish refugees to one now deeply enmeshed in the Open Borders political movement.  Frankly, virtually all of the resettlement agencies spend time and energy (hopefully not your tax dollars!) lobbying on Amnesty for illegal aliens, something I addressed here just two days ago.

The article also addresses an issue we have wondered about here as well.  How can Jews support and help Muslim “refugees” reach the US and Israel when we know that Jews are right at the top of the list of infidel targets of Islamic fundamentalists?  Do they honestly believe that the Muslims will say, gee these are nice Jews?

Read the whole article, but what follows are a couple of sections that interest me.

In this first section, the author reports that HIAS has apparently purposefully interchanged the words “refugees” and “immigrants” so as to confuse its supporters.

One can remain loyal to HIAS’s historical mission is by supporting a humane – and security-sensitive – refugee policy. That loyalty to the historical mission would not be compromised if one simultaneously opposed massive increases in immigration or illegal immigration – which have nothing to do with HIAS’s historical raison d’être. A principal reason many American Jews can’t see the distinction is the Jewish Establishment, with HIAS out in front, has sought to erase it in order to advance its political agenda. Engendering sympathy for refugees is far easier than for illegal economic migrants who are neither escaping oppression nor seeking to assimilate to an idealized America. Conflating the two groups is willful misrepresentation but good politics, especially in a community with a large quotient of incorrigible bleeding-hearts.

Then here, why must HIAS be involved in resettling Muslim Somalis?

Since HIAS is not only devoting its energies to promoting illegal immigration but is also now in the global refugee business, Aronoff might give more serious attention to the refugees he is aiding. If he did – taking the wild leap of faith that American or Jewish interests occasionally cross his mind – he’d surely reconsider the wisdom of bringing more Somali Muslims to the U.S., a group from a hothouse of Islamic extremism that has already spawned numerous domestic jihadists. The specter of an historic Jewish organization furthering the Islamization of America – increasing the presence in the United States of a group that hates Jews above all else – is so counterintuitive and, frankly, weird, it beggars the imagination.

And then this, Muslims to Israel!

The seeds planted by the politically correct moral stupidity of the “Save Darfur Coalition” have blossomed into a significant national security problem for Israel. Because of the influence of politically connected, wealthy liberal American Jews, the government of Israel was persuaded to give permanent refugee status to some 3,500 Darfuri Muslims – or those who claimed to be Darfuri Muslims, in any case.

* Here is a litany of complaints about HIAS.  And, here is a post earlier this year about how HIAS head honcho did not get a pay cut when finances were tight— he fired staff instead.  Note here they were among the lobbying groups invited to the White House in August to get marching orders on the Amnesty legislation.

Bowling Green International Center plans Owensboro satellite office opening, Dec. 1

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update November 18th:  The tangled web that will likely hinder any investigation into charges of refugee neglect in BG, here.

Recent criticism of the Bowling Green International Center doesn’t seem to have slowed the plan for the organization to open another office in neighboring Owensboro, KY.

Here is the story, which we first reported here:

Nov 16, 2009 (Messenger-Inquirer – McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) — The Bowling Green International Center hopes to open its satellite office in Owensboro by Dec. 1.

Though an office hasn’t been selected, Suzanne Rose, a local volunteer, will be meeting with Father Larry Hostetter, Brescia University’s president, next week about potential office space, said James Robinson, executive director of the International Center.

He said the first group of refugees could be settled in Owensboro by Christmas. The refugees will probably come from Myanmar (formerly Burma).
The International Center works with the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants to bring refugees to the country.

“They’re very excited for us to get started, and we are too,” Robinson said. “It’s going to be hectic (at) first. (We’ll) start slow and gain momentum.” Refugees are also expected to be relocated to Owensboro from Iraq. Robinson anticipates Owensboro will receive between 75 and 100 refugees in its first year as a satellite site.

The city received federal approval in late October to become a satellite office for the International Center.

What the heck does that mean, “The city received federal approval…?”   Is that supposed to mean the federal government blessed the city.  Who in the federal government conferred the approval?  Did the city government agree?   Was there any sort of public discussion?

And in light of the complaints we are hearing in Bowling Green where it appears the refugees aren’t getting enough help, how does the International Center think they can manage a whole new office?  In Bowling Green we hear the office is only open two weeks out of the month, could that be?

A combination of International Center staff, interns and volunteers will operate the Owensboro office.

A full-time case manager might be added next year after more refugees have been relocated to Owensboro, Robinson said.

The International Center also plans on bringing its immigration office representatives to Owensboro once a week or once every other week.

Other programs the International Center will offer includes cross-cultural training where refugees can learn about local law enforcement and vice versa, and education on human trafficking.

They need more volunteers (no kidding!):

Volunteers will help the refugees find housing, furniture and jobs. They will also help school-age children get enrolled in schools, and they help refugees get Social Security numbers and immunizations.

“The qualities we look for more than anything (in volunteers): If you say you’re going to do it, do it,” Robinson said. “Commit only to what you can do, and always communicate with us as much as possible.” Robinson was scheduled to meet with local volunteers on Sunday. Volunteers are welcome to mentor refugees, but they also need to make sure the refugees learn to survive in the United States on their own.

The organization has been criticized because its volunteers only take refugees to the grocery a few times before having them go on their own. [That would be fine IF THEY HAD TRANSPORTATION!]  The International Center doesn’t want refugees to become dependent on volunteers.

“The goal is to be self-sufficient within 90 days,” Robinson said.  [Readers, how many of you would be comfortable and self-sufficient in say China or Thailand in 90 days if you didn’t speak the language?]

The refugees are given a little money to help them get started, but they have to eventually pay back their travel expenses to the government.

Is USCRI supplying labor for Perdue Chicken?   USCRI is the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants and is one of the top ten federal refugee contractors.  The Bowling Green International Center is a subcontractor of USCRI.  What sort of arrangement does USCRI have with Perdue?

I had to laugh in searching around on the topic I came across a post I wrote back in February about USCRI bringing refugees to North Carolina to work in a chicken plant there!  Here it is!   Judy and I have written over 2500 posts in the last few years and we are finding our posts at the top of some google searches, but I guess I better search our own site first in the future!

Brenda Walker writing at VDARE calls this Neo-slavery, here.

In March of this year, I reported on a report from the Center for Immigration Studies about how immigrant labor keeps wages low in the meatpacking industry, here.

A new study out yesterday from the Center for Immigration Studies confirms that immigrant labor keeps wages low in the meatpacking industry.

One other little bit of information I found about the Perdue chicken factory near Owensboro is that it was closed by the USDA in 2007.   It doesn’t say why they had been closed, but it must have been for health or safety reasons.

A final note to the critics:   Before our critics jump in here and say, well, where do we expect them to work, let me say this:   You need to ask yourselves whether this life is better for the refugees than their life in Thailand (in the case of the Burmese chicken plant workers).   If you believe it is, then all I want is honesty—that all of you admit the labor supply arrangements, be honest to the city where you are resettling them, to its citizens and to the volunteers and mostly be honest to the refugees and stop pretending it is all about being a humanitarian.