Month: April 2010

Leahy “Refugee Protection” bill doesn’t reform much

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

….actually it reforms nothing regarding the stress on communities overloaded with refugees and does nothing for the neglect of refugees by federal contractors which we report on frequently except throw more of your money to the contractors for salaries and such—two issues which I think are critical at this 30th anniversary juncture (in addition to the security issue!).

I first learned about the Leahy bill at the 30th anniversary “celebration” of the Refugee Resettlement Act that I attended in March at Georgetown University Law School.  Clearly the bill’s introduction was timed to coincide with the “celebration.”   Frankly I found it too boring to even report on here at RRW.  But, for the sake of thoroughness I need to tell you at least where to find more information on the subject.

Actually one of the things that really got me steamed at the “celebration” was that it was all about how to get more asylum seekers into the country (with no detention) where a phalanx of lawyers (immigration lawyer employment service anyone?) would be waiting to get them processed through the immigration courts. 

Then the other prong of the supposed reform is to make sure the resettlement agency contractors who are doing a lousy job now in many cases are just given more federal money before they even make any reforms to the program. 

There was nary a word of concern for the security of the American public with so many questionable illegal aliens coming across the border (Remember the 270 Somalis two months ago, if they had even been caught these people do not want them detained!).  Nor is there even a nod to the plight of cities in the great recession expected to cope with all the needy newcomers. 

With that said, is it any surprise that anybody who is anybody in the refugee industry is pushing the Leahy bill.   Groups hail Refugee bill here.

NEW YORK, 7 Apr (IPS) – Immigrants’ rights activists are virtually unanimous in their endorsement of proposed legislation that would change decades of U.S. asylum practices. But proponents of the legislation fear it may never find its way out of the U.S. Senate to the president’s desk.

Senator Patrick Leahy introduced the Refugee Protection Act of 2010 back in March. The objective of the bill is to “affirm the U.S. commitment to provide refuge to individuals fleeing persecution in their homelands.”

It helps restore protection to deserving individuals fleeing persecution and torture, who have been denied refuge under increasingly restrictive immigration laws and court decisions.

Chances for passage are slim.

But some Congress-watchers point out that historically, major refugee and immigration reform bills have not moved through Congress the same year that they were introduced. In addition, the Senate calendar has been so choked with health care legislation and other “must pass” bill that the House of Representatives is now referring to the upper body as “the place where bills go to die.”

Finally, the status of the Leahy bill could change if the Barack Obama administration decides to introduce comprehensive immigration legislation during the current session of Congress.

Meanwhile, pro-immigration groups are lobbying senators to obtain more co-sponsors. Thus far, all are Democrats. Getting two or three Republicans is one of the objectives of the White House, but immigration is one of the most predictable third rails of U.S. politics, especially in a mid-term election year.

If grassroots support were ever enough to get a bill through the Senate, Leahy’s legislation would have smooth sailing. It has been lavishly endorsed by more than 25 of the country’s leading immigration organisations.

You can read what Leahy says about his bill here.   And, Chris Coen at Friends of Refugees wrote about it here.

Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights launders your tax dollars to ethnic advocacy groups

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Your tax dollars:

Nice sounding name, right, sounds like they are doing good things for struggling immigrants and refugees in Illinois. Right? Wrong!  If only taxpayers and Tea Partiers had a clue about how tax money is funneled into lobbying, it would make them sick.  As a matter of fact, without taxpayer funding there wouldn’t have been much of a March on America two weeks ago.

Just now browsing around I learned that the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) was a key organizer for the lobbyists and demonstrators who attended the Marxist March on America here.  So, I wanted to see exactly what they do.  Their website says:

ICIRR is dedicated to promoting the rights of immigrants and refugees to full and equal participation in the civic, cultural, social, and political life of our diverse society.

In partnership with our member organizations, the Coalition educates and organizes immigrant and refugee communities to assert their rights; promotes citizenship and civic participation; monitors, analyzes, and advocates on immigrant-related issues; and, informs the general public about the contributions of immigrants and refugees.

Not much here about helping those poor refugees who have been suffering in Chicago, living in slums and having no work—you know the ones supposedly taken care of by the Heartland Alliance.   Maybe some of the ICIRR’s millions could be used to actually help suffering people, or is the word “refugee” in their name only to give them political cover?

But, what is most maddening about the fact that the ICIRR is really a lobbying outfit and money launderer for Left wing political advocacy is that 78% of their money comes from unsuspecting taxpayers!   Check out their 2008 Form 990 here.  Note that their income that year was $6,153,133 and that $4,770,755 came from governments (you! the federal taxpayer and the Illinois taxpayer).

And, adding more insult to injury they gave $3,685,364 to all sorts of ethnic advocacy groups that likely could not have gotten government funding on their own because of what they do, some of  them are not even in Illinois.  I was shocked to see they gave $50,000 of your tax dollars to Casa de Maryland a notorious lobbying outfit for illegal immigrants in Maryland, not to mention the funding they gave to other pro-amnesty advocacy groups in other states. 

Do the people of Illinois know their tax money is leaving the state of Illinois via a money laundering scheme?

I’m not really suprised by all this, it wasn’t completely new information to me, I told you about ICIRR, money laundering and Obama here two years ago.

And, by the way, remember how open borders advocates sat-in at RNC headquarters and demanded a meeting with Michael Steele, well ICIRR’s Executive director was among them, here.   Here  the ICIRR is linked with the Council on American Islamic Relations in Chicago.  Need I say more.

Level the playing field!  CUT OUT ALL TAXPAYER FUNDING FOR ADVOCACY GROUPS OF ALL STRIPES!

Haitians entering US through Canada-Vermont border

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

No one knows for sure why the Haitians who had been living in Canada after fleeing there some time ago to avoid deportation from the US are now re-entering the US.  115 have been caught so far.  I’m guessing there is some misunderstanting about the Temporary Protected Status (hinted in this article) that Obama gave Haitians already in the US illegally when the Earthquake occurred in January. 

From the Burlington Free Press:

Over the past two and a half months — ever since Haiti was devastated by a monstrous earthquake Jan. 12 — a growing number of Haitian expatriates have been trying to come back into the United States after departing the country just years earlier to avoid deportation.

As of late last week, the number of Haitians caught since the earthquake allegedly trying to enter the country illegally had topped 115, said Mark Henry, operations officer for the U.S. Border Patrol’s Swanton sector.

Of the 115, one was caught in New York and 114 were apprehended in Vermont, Henry said. The Swanton sector covers the border from New Hampshire through Vermont to Ogdensburg, N.Y.

Tristram Coffin, the U.S. Attorney for Vermont, said he would not speculate on why Vermont’s border was such a preferred option for the Haitians.

Betsy Horsman, a deputy U.S. Attorney who works on immigration cases out of Plattsburgh, N.Y., said she suspects the Haitians think they have a better shot of entering Vermont’s border undetected than they would in upstate New York.

“We’re known over here as being very aggressive,” she said. “I don’t know why they would choose Vermont unless there are a couple of places in Vermont they know about.”

Do they think Temporary Protected Status will work for them?

They also are coming back here hoping that an 18-month ban of deportations to Haiti put in place by the Obama administration after the quake might give them time to establish themselves in America and strengthen their case for permission to reside in the country permanently.

“I suspect this has a lot to do with the Temporary Protected Status policy because of the earthquake,” Henry said.

Church World Service involved?

Way back in 2007 we reported that a subcontractor of federal refugee contractor, Church World Service, was arrested for human trafficking in Canada.  They were smuggling Haitians to Canada.   Hope they are not involved in helping them back across the border now.  Obviously someone suggested Vermont.

Detroit area immigrants hiding from the Census

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

But, but, but—you won’t get your federal goodies if you aren’t counted!  You won’t get your share of the wealth redistribution!  What will happen to all that money that goes to food stamp fraud?  Boo hoo!

From the Detroit Free Press:

If you’re a young, ethnic or lower-income individual, the U.S. census is looking for you.

Working around the clock, census workers are targeting traditionally hard-to-count populations in the colossal effort to count every person in the nation this month.

They are visiting local mosques, shelters, schools, fast-food restaurants, decaying neighborhoods and even combing bridges, abandoned buildings and open fields for homeless people to encourage everyone to fill out the census form by April 30.

“In this economy, it’s very important for everyone to participate, especially those who are disenfranchised,” said Kim Hunter, spokesman for the U.S. Census in southeast Michigan.

Metro Detroit stands to lose about $1,400 a year for every uncounted resident. The federal funds finance hospitals, education, shelters, road repairs, emergency response, job training, child care and other services.

[…..]

A lot is at stake — $400 billion a year. That’s the amount the federal government sends to local communities based on demographics and population.

The article tells us that the feds and other paid workers are fanning out in the Detroit area to count every last resident.

“Many of these folks are living day to day. They want to know what’s in it for them.”

Turns out, census officials said, a lot is in it for low-income people, which is a hard-to-count population — health clinics, public transportation, shelters, job training and education. [Food stamps!]

Food Stamp Fraud rampant in Detroit area

Coincidentally, just as I was seeing this census story, I came across this site which has a list of about 40 cases of recent food stamp fraud in Michigan, primarily in the Detroit area.

Somalis with terrorist links may be arriving from Mexico

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Sara Carter reports in the Washington Examiner: