Day: December 30, 2009

Church leaders and congregants at odds over immigration

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The Center for Immigration Studies has analyzed a new Zogby poll that appears to indicate that when religious leaders advocate for amnesty and more immigration they are doing so against the wishes of their parishoners.   Check it out here.

In contrast to many national religious leaders who are lobbying for increases in immigration numbers, a new Zogby poll of likely voters who belong to the same religious communities finds strong support for reducing overall immigration. Moreover, the poll finds that members strongly disagree with their leaders’ contention that more immigrant workers need to be allowed into the country.

Also, most parishioners and congregants advocate for more enforcement to cause illegal workers to go home, while most religious leaders are calling for putting illegal immigrants on a path to U.S. citizenship.

The survey of Catholic, mainline Protestant, born-again Protestant, and Jewish voters used neutral language and was one of the largest polls on immigration ever done.

We reported a related story a few months back when the National Association of Evangelicals testified for amnesty but had backtracking to do when some of its member groups disavowed the testimony—-in other words, when the parishoners and members got wind of what their leaders were up to.

Burmese teens die of toxic fumes in Ft. Wayne, IN

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Two teenagers, believed to be Karen refugees, were found dead this past weekend in a Ft. Wayne garage.  It is not clear what happened, but from this article it sounds like attempting to stay warm might have lead them to their untimely deaths.  Here is what we know so far (by the way, doesn’t Ft. Wayne have restrictions on how many families can live in one home?).   From the Journal Gazette:

Two teenagers found dead in the garage of a home on Fairfield Avenue over the weekend died accidentally from carbon monoxide poisoning, according to the Allen County coroner.

The teens – identified as Klu Tal Eh Day, 18, and Dah Eh Moo, 17, both of Fort Wayne, were found Saturday morning in a car inside a garage at 3522 Fairfield Ave. Preliminary autopsy results list the manner of death as an accident, a ruling that Chief Deputy Coroner Dick Alfeld does not expect to change. 

“It’s pending, but it’s probably going to be an accident. There’s nothing sinister going on here,” said Alfeld, who would not elaborate on what investigators think happened.

Klu Tal Eh Day lived at the home, which houses several Burmese families, according to a boy who answered the front door Monday and identified himself as Then Myint Win.

The inside of the home was nearly bare, with rugs covering the entire front room and folding chairs the only visible furniture. Two others who looked to be teenagers watched videos on a computer while several young children roamed the home. One very young girl was on the floor wrapped in blankets.

An older man sat in silence in the front room dressed in a flannel shirt.

Then Myint Win was the only one who spoke some English, though it was very little. He identified Dah Eh Moo as Klu Tal Eh Day’s “girlfriend.”

A small girl inside the home said she was Klu Tal Eh Day’s sister and called herself Eh Klu See. She did not know what to say about her brother, other than the family lived in Fort Wayne for three years.

Ft. Wayne is overloaded with refugees who are unemployed and lack even the basic necessities.  As we learned recently, here, the US State Department is trying to stem the flow to the “welcoming” city.

In keeping with my new feature (find the responsible refugee resettlement government contractor), here is a link to state refugee agencies.  Note that Catholic Charities is responsible for this group of refugees since the World Relief office there had not yet been opened (assuming these refugees have been in Ft. Wayne for three years).

Handy guide to state refugee agencies

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Here is a website page at Refugee Works that I came across the other day which lists which government contracting resettlement agencies are in your states.   I see the list may not be completely up-to-date because, for example,  it doesn’t have the new World Relief office in Ft. Wayne, but it’s a good starting point if you want to know who is responsible for bringing refugees to your cities and states.

My plan is to refer to it and link it on future  posts where I’ve written about refugee problems so that readers can know who is responsible for the refugees.

Comment worth noting: America owes the world

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Comments worth noting is a category we created to highlight comments that otherwise would be lost because they were sent to old posts, or are so good (or bad!) that we want to make the point more strongly by posting them upfront.   Here is one this morning (posted to our ‘fact sheets’ link) just to give you an idea of the sorts of comments we get.  Apparently this guy (assume it’s a guy) says that because of Islamic terrorism, he has left his “beloved” African country and come across our Mexican border illegally.  And, we owe him.    No further comment from me!

Dolecha says:

I can’t tell you how flawed your immigration system is or other bullshit your writing……But i can tell you something[how i end up being an asylum seeker]i came vie the Mexico border.I haven’t in my wildest dream thought of coming to USA to be illegal this way.I was having a multiple profession with a very comfertabel income.But your country is helping a blood sucker in East Africa in the name of terrorism it let us flee our beloved country hence,it is your responsibility to give us what we lost in our respective country’s.You have to take responsiblity.I am not saying that all of us have the same reason to be here,but there are fewor many of us who don’t want to be here but were forced to be.

Which African country is the “blood sucker?”