Day: February 18, 2011

New York Times reports sob story on Virginia’s “anti-immigrant mood”

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

There is just one problem with this SOB STORY—the guy had no right to be in the US in the first place!

In typical fashion for the Leftwing media (see CBS rape story too), the New York Times left out a key fact in its bash Virginia story.  This is how the reporter sets up the reader (get out your box of tissues):

FALLS CHURCH, Va. — When Mohamed Mejri, a Tunisian immigrant with a limousine business here, first learned that the State Department of Motor Vehicles had refused to issue him a new driver’s license, he thought it was a mistake. After all, he had been a licensed driver in Virginia for years.

But last fall, the department stopped accepting his federally issued work permit, a document that was his main proof that he was in the country legally, because he does not have a green card.

Now, five months later, his business is collapsing, and bill collectors are calling.  [Are you crying yet?]

Remember the story where the drunk illegal alien killed a nun in Virginia (I posted it here), well, Virginia changed its policy (good for them) to make it harder for those in deportation proceedings to use a work permit as proof of address to get a drivers license.

Back to the NYT:

Virginia changed its policy in September after an illegal immigrant from Bolivia was charged with hitting and killing a nun while driving drunk in Prince William County.

Her death hardened what was already a strong anti-immigrant mood in the state. Virginia’s governor, Bob McDonnell, announced that work permits would no longer be accepted as proof of legal residence because they could be held by people who, like the Bolivian immigrant, are in deportation proceedings. The governor said other documents would still be accepted.

The permit, called the employment authorization document, allows foreign nationals to work in the United States. Asylum seekers, refugees and students are among those who have one.

Here is Mr. Mejri’s story as reported by the New York Times (emphasis mine).  Hey, NYT, is this the best story you could find?

For Mr. Mejri, who is 54, the permit is all he has. He fled Tunisia in 1992, and after living in Canada, where he had been granted political asylum, he came to the United States in 2000. American immigration authorities rejected his application for asylum, over an unpaid fine in Canada. By the time it was paid and processed, several years had passed, [sounds fishy to me–ed] and he received notice that it was too late to reapply. He then received an administrative order to leave the country, but a federal judge ruled in his favor that he not be deported [so why wasn’t his deportation order rescinded?–ed]. Now he is in limbo, in the country legally but without any path to citizenship.

You should be wailing for Mohamed by now!

But, here is the kicker!

You can’t be granted asylum in Canada and then just hop on over to the US and stay!   Heck, a Canadian citizen can’t just decide he wants to leave Canada and be an American citizen!  Asylum law requires that you ask (and hopefully receive) asylum in the first country in which you land.  Having been granted asylum in Canada doesn’t grant you the right to then go shopping for a better country!

Get ready Marylanders!  What has Mohamed done?  He set up a temporary residence in Maryland!

A month ago, Mr. Mejri rented a room in Rockville, Md., and got a driver’s license in that state. But his monthly insurance payments have tripled, and for now, he has put his business aside.

The way I see it, the worst thing that will happen to Mr. Mejri is he will be sent back to that horrible (LOL!) country Canada.  (I bet there is more to the story about the “fine” in Canada, he was probably going to be deported from Canada.)  But, most likely none of that will happen now that the New York Times has christened him a poster boy for Virginia’s “anti-immigrant mood.”

One last thing.  We don’t deport anyone to a country that has an unstable government and the recent revolution (oops democracy movement) in Tunisia will likely be his American lawyer’s ace in a hole.

Bulgaria bracing for refugees from Arab turmoil

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Add Bulgaria to the list of freaked-out European countries (see Italy here).

From the Sofia News Agency:

As many illegal migrants move on from Italy, Bulgarian analysts have stoked fears about a refugee wave trying to reach the country because of turmoil in the Arab world.

“Bulgaria, being a border country in the European Union, risks to be flooded by a wave of illegal migrants from Northern Africa or other Arab countries,” Kiryak Tsonev, a specialist on the Arab world and Chavdar Charvenkov, Bulgaria’s former ambassador to Tunisia, warned on Thursday in an interview for Darik radio.

They called on the Bulgarian government and the European institutions to brace for a large influx of migrants due to turmoil in the Middle East, warning the continent’s policies on immigration and the world’s fledgling anti-smuggling efforts will be put to the test.

“Egyptians will be fleeing to Greece, Libyans will be fleeing to Italy and it is highly likely that Bulgaria may become a focal point for refugees. Europe will not accept those people and they will have to stay in Bulgaria.

Bulgarian solution—solve the social problems in those African and Arab countries (good luck with that!).

Refugees leaving Chicago looking for work…

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

……or looking to escape crime? Or, both?

This is your basic refugee warm and fuzzy story about refugees finding new lives in the suburbs of Chicago.  It is also a prime example of why RRW exists.  The media penchant to gloss over problems in refugee resettlement that do not fit the political Leftwing world-view must be balanced.

Census figures have come out recently to show the flow outward from Chicago’s slums, where the refugees were first resettled by federal contractors, to surrounding suburbs.

From Medill Reports:

New waves of refugees are branching outwards from Chicago to surrounding suburbs adding to growing diversity in adjacent counties.

Job opportunities [?], increasing numbers of refugee organizations [federal contractors increasing in number?], desire for better education for their children and a semblance of their homeland contribute to this trend, according to refugee experts.

The U.S. Census Bureau Wednesday released 2010 census data confirming a 10-year exodus from Chicago to the suburbs. Refugees who continue to be part of that wave face intimidating lifestyle changes. Lack of easy access to public transportation and less ethnic and religious diversity can pose challenges for refugees living in suburbs.

[…..]

It is estimated that there are currently 136,000 refugees in Illinois with 40 percent, or 54,400, residing in the suburbs.

Silverman (below) says they are moving out for jobs, but then says refugees are unemployed. Which is it?

And, no where in this article does it mention Silverman* coming under fire here for earlier resettling refugees in crime-ridden slums in Chicago.  I’ll bet the US State Department told Silverman and the contractors to get them the h*** out of Chicago.

Edwin Silverman, chief of the Illinois Bureau of Refugee and Immigrant Services, said approximately 136,000 refugees live in Illinois. Up until five years ago, 85 percent of refugees lived in Chicago. But that has decreased to about 60 percent now, Silverman said.

“Part of the reason is that one organization, World Relief, has offices in Wheaton and Aurora and they have had greater access to jobs,” Silverman said. “So it’s mainly been a jobs issue – because of the recession, refugees have remained unemployed.”   [readers, I believe this is why no legally mandated annual reports are coming out of ORR.  They don’t want to show the unemployment numbers for refugees.]

Affordable housing in short supply in the suburbs (not surprising) and I am skeptical about whether the resettlement contractors are working with local government.  They weren’t doing that two years ago.

Wouldn’t you think the reporter for Medill would do a little googling?  Here, Friends of Refugees reports on the living conditions World Relief has provided for refugees in Aurora.

Suburban organizations also have to work with local government and schools to make sure their towns can handle more refugees each year.  [In 2008 I reported that Aurora was having a difficult time with too many refugees, here].

Finding affordable housing for refugees is another issue for organizations to consider. [In competition with low income Americans—ed]

Meanwhile, the refugee defender outfit, Illinois Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (funded largely by taxpayers), is busy helping to “organize” in Egypt, here.

* Learn more about Edwin Silverman here and how he and representatives of the State Department treated a critic of their Chicago resettlement policies.

Afghan refugee sentenced to life for murder of fellow refugee

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Since I’m on the subject of Australia this morning (see my previous post) this is an update of a story I thought I posted when the arrest was made, but maybe not.   Osman Ahmadyar was sentenced to life for the brutal torture and murder of fellow Afghan asylum seeker (they came to Australia as boat people).

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

An Afghan refugee has been sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum of 17 years to be served, for murdering another refugee in Perth.

Osman Ahmadyar, 38, pleaded guilty to murdering Abed Ahymad Shah, 29, at his unit in the southern Perth suburb of Victoria Park in February 2009.

The WA Supreme Court heard on Friday that the pair came to Australia on the same asylum seeker boat in 2001.

Read on about the awful details.

And here is another story from Australia last year where an Afghan refugee honor-killed his wife.

To learn more about refugee issues in Australia, visit our Australia category here.

Comment worth noting: Australia’s failed experiment with multiculturalism worse than Europe’s

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is Australian reader B.L.’s response to the post in which we reported that a petition had been filed in Australia to halt Muslim immigration for ten years.   B.L. is referencing recent reports from Europe, here, about the failure of multiculturalism in the UK, France and Germany.

B.L.:

We all wish for the sake of a better and more peaceful world don’t we? Unfortunately, reality isn’t so nice and this petition won’t have any legs to stand on in this gutless and left driven parliament of ours.

Let me remind readers that my country of Australia has problems with Arab Muslims on a daily basis here. In this country they have a notorious reputation for crime and disregard for society at large. They strategically have outspoken community leaders that cry foul at the very onset of anything that remotely attacks their race, culture or religion, even though what is said is absolutely true. The very sad thing is these community and religious leaders succeed under the blanket of political correctness. Surely Australia’s present state is worse than Europe’s. The political correctness disease has spread so much here due to the government’s cowardliness and the Muslim communities constant protests that it wouldn’t be far fetched to imagine Sharia Law being implemented in the not so distant future here. Perceivably, one would swear that Arab Muslims can do absolutely what they please in our communities without fear of reprisal.

It is just an absolutely shocking state of affairs here but the saddest part maybe that the average Australian is too ignorant or has fallen prey to the government’s multiculturalism propaganda even though it slaps them in their face on a daily basis.