Month: May 2010

Church World Service anti-Arizona too!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Not only did the USCCB and the Catholic Church support this past weekend’s anti-Arizona demonstrations, so too did federal refugee contractor Church World Service.

Here is what John L. McCullough, Executive Director and CEO, Church World Service, said about the law in Arizona that simply mimics what is already federal law—-legal immigrants who have not yet become citizens must carry identification as to their immigration status.  No ID and they are turned over to ICE (by the way, this is how the legal 287g program works too).

McCullough:

“We are deeply concerned about the enactment of SB 1070 as it goes beyond anti-immigrant sentiments and supports racial profiling. This legislation feels reactionary and hateful.

[…..]

As a 63-year-old faith-based humanitarian organization working with 34 refugee resettlement affiliates across the United States, Church World Service understands first-hand the impact this legislation will have on communities. We do take heart that President Obama has strongly condemned this legislation, and urge his administration to do everything in its power to prevent its implementation and the consequences it will have for human rights.

The legislation “feels” hateful.  I wonder do the residents of Arizona who have suffered due to crimes committed by illegal aliens “feel” scared?  Do those Arizonans have “human rights?”  How about that murdered rancher’s family, how do they feel?  Do blacks and legal immigrants “feel” they are being shut out of jobs because an illegal alien will do the job more cheaply?  Where are their human rights?

I guess I will be asking this question forever:  how do refugee resettlement contractors, like the USCCB and Church World Service, square their support for illegal immigrants and by extension their support for businesses that hire them with their contracted DUTY to find work and help legal refugees get a start in America? 

Forget about feelings for a minute and please answer me with logic because the impact on the community is pretty clear to me—-less illegal immigrants looking for work equals more jobs for poor black and white Americans as well as more jobs for refugees!

Lacking any logical explanation (I’m not holding my breath waiting for one!), the only conclusion one can draw is that this is all about Leftwingers beating Rightwingers and creating a one world socialist government where immigrants are merely the pawns!

Addressing refugee poverty in Idaho, how?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Three weeks ago we told you (here) that Boise, Idaho had joined the growing list of cities with a refugee poverty crisis.   Here then is a portion of the response from leaders in the refugee resettlement industry.

From the Idaho Statesman:

Up until recently, the Idaho resettlement program has been highly effective in helping refugees to become self-sufficient; refugees have traditionally become employed within the first eight months of arriving and refugee children have integrated into our public school system. Many refugees have purchased homes, started businesses that create employment opportunities for themselves and others, and sent their children to college. [Readers should know that there is a whole branch of the refugee industry that makes available special loans and savings programs  for refugees for purchasing homes, businesses, cars and higher education not available to American poor—ed]

Even in this time of economic recession, most refugees find work and a degree of economic security and make significant positive contributions to our community. But those who do not achieve early independence have become the face of poverty.

The challenges they face regarding employment, housing, financial assistance, health care and mental health services are the same ones faced by vulnerable Americans who are victims of domestic violence, have disabilities or have lost their jobs and are facing homelessness.

Refugees who are struggling make up a small percentage of people in our community who are living in poverty, and it is critical to improve economic opportunities and provide a safety net for all our citizens.

All social service programs have limitations. The Idaho Office for Refugees and local resettlement agencies are working together with many other community members and organizations to address the limitations. We also are working together to affect how our community addresses poverty on a larger scale.

In the meantime, the compassionate individuals who work and volunteer with resettlement agencies are putting significant energy into creative job searches and raising private funds to prevent homelessness among their clients.

Raising private funds is something they were supposed to be doing anyway as part of the public-private partnership they agreed to when becoming federal contractors.  As for creative job searches aren’t there about 5 million Americans doing the same thing?

Immigrant polygamy in France called “breeding for cash”

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I don’t know what is happening to AP but they seem to be getting a bit more conservative lately.  I had been meaning to tell you about the burqa ban in Belgium and France, but hadn’t gotten around to it.  This AP story gives you some information on that and something a lot more important and destructive regarding Muslim immigration.  Polygamy!

It’s been sometime since we’ve mentioned it at RRW, but polygamists are coming into the US through the refugee program.  No one will say it officially but we hear rumblings.  The second or third wife will be a “sister” or some other close relative and be resettled in the same community as the polygamist and wife #1.  One tip-off I’m told—Shariah-following Muslim women are not promiscuous so if one is ‘pregnant out of wedlock’ look around for a ‘husband.’

This AP story tells us how the welfare system is gamed in Europe with Muslim men actually making money while breeding.

PARIS — The burqa, or face-covering veil, is getting all the attention in the debate over Muslim immigrants in France. But another controversial tradition among some immigrants is less noticed and far more widespread: Polygamy.

The issue resurfaced last week after a woman received a traffic citation in the western city of Nantes for driving with a veil over her face. Officials then accused her husband of having at least three other wives, and said he may be profiting from them financially while the state pays the bill.

Polygamy is one of several issues, like forced marriage or genital mutilation, that France and other European nations face, as immigrants arrive with customs that conflict with the law of the land. But experts say polygamy in France can also be linked to fraud, where husbands hijack a generous social welfare system to line their pockets with state funds from each of their wives.

“They practice polygamy just for that,” said Jean-Marie Ballo, founder of an association that helps women escape from polygamous situations, Nouveaux Pas, or New Steps. “I’d go so far as to say that polygamists here (in France) are breeding for cash.”

Read on, there is much more.

It’s pretty easy to see how the French (and other Europeans) are being outnumbered by immigrant population growth when the immigrants have this racket going.

Why are Justice Department facilitators needed in Ft. Morgan, CO?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Off and on for almost two years I’ve been reporting on Ft. Morgan, CO, another of those meatpacking towns flooded with Somali workers.  This town, or at least its newspaper, has been working really hard to show how welcoming Ft. Morgan is to the African influx.  As a matter of fact, I noted this editorial in September of 2008 in which the editor of the Ft. Morgan Times seems to be pointing a finger of criticism at us—RRW—while professing that everything was just great in Ft. Morgan! 

Now I see that although the entire article published on Friday about a touchy-feely meeting in Ft. Morgan makes it all sound so congenial, there must be more to the story or why were Justice Department mediators called in?

Members of the Morgan Area Ministerial Alliance and their congregations sat down with some local Somali refugees, as well as some Somali representatives from around the state, on Monday to try to bridge the communication gap. [What gap?  I thought everything was peachy in Ft. Morgan?–ed]

It was an effort to help immigrants and the community to come together, to understand each other and to work on issues that may bother either side, said Brenda Zion, executive director of OneMorgan County, a group which works to help immigrants adapt to their new land and helps the welcoming community to understand the newcomers.  [Who is not understanding the newcomers?-ed]

“Facilitators” from the US Justice Department—trying to keep a lid on something?

On hand were representatives of the Community Relations Servcie, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

CRS is not a law enforcement agency but a “peacemaker” organization that helps communities deal with conflicts and tensions arising from differences of race, color and national origin. It was created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, said Philip Arreola, regional director of CRS for the Rocky Mountain Region.

CRS helps communities develop mutual understandings and agreements as alternatives to coercion,violence or litigation, and to take proactive measures to prevent ethnic or racial tension, he said.

Essentially, it is a mediation agency which helps deal with cases involving changing community demographics, hate crimes, demonstrations and emotionally charged issues, Arreola said.

“We are mediators,” said Christopher “Kit” Chalberg, a conciliation specialist for CRS. “We are facilitators.”

We got that, you are mediators (facilitators, peacemakers), but why are you there if Ft. Morgan has been so welcoming?

For all of our posts on Ft. Morgan, and there are  more than I thought, go to the Ft. Morgan archive, here.

HONOR KILLING?   I hadn’t checked on the status of the Ft. Morgan Abdi murder from last fall in some time, so while visiting the Ft. Morgan Times I learned that not much has happened.  The trial is scheduled for June.  However, I did learn one important fact that may confirm my suspicions—the victim was the step sister of the murderer.  Sure sounds like an honor killing to me!  (see post coming next).  By the way, not a peep about the murder in the peacemaker meeting I see.