Month: March 2012

Iraqis who fled to Syria now have no where to go

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

As Iraq deteriorated into chaos over the last decade or more, Iraqis fled to Syria not just because the US had gone to war against Saddam Hussein, but even earlier than that to escape Hussein’s regime itself (although NGOs like to blame the US for the exodus from Iraq).

Then, as some stability returned to Iraq, an undetermined number of “refugees” returned (we can’t really know the numbers because as this article points out, many did not register as “refugees.” )  Now, that the US is no longer in Iraq to help keep the warring factions apart, the country is sliding back into chaos.  So is Syria.   And, no one can blame the US for the Shia/Sunni civil war in Syria and across the Middle East.   In fact,  Andrew McCarthy makes a good point, here, when he suggests we let them fight it out themselves (Afghanistan shows we can’t bring western-style peace to feuds a millennium old).

So here is the story from Syria about Iraqis with no place to go, from al-akhbar.  Pay attention to the fact that the “bad” Assad regime let the Iraqis work and educated their kids.

Starting in 2003, thousands of Iraqis started to flee their homes in search of refuge in neighboring countries, mainly Syria and Jordan. As violence and targeted killings, in particular of the Iraqi middle class, came to a head in 2006 and 2007, the number of refugees in Syria exploded to over one million, according to Syrian regime and Iraqi estimates. At more than twice the number of Palestinian refugees in Syria, the Iraqi community became the largest refugee community in the country.

But the majority of Iraqi refugees in Syria did not register with the UN. According to Souad al-Azzawi, an Iraqi environmental engineer, human rights activist, and herself a refugee, many of those who failed to register chose to lie low because they “sensed danger in handing over their personal information to the UNHCR. Some had been illegally detained by US occupation forces, or kidnapped, or feared assassination” by pro-Iran militias infiltrating the Iraqi-Syrian border, she said.  [By the way, the Kentucky Iraqi terrorists passed through Syria and didn’t mind giving over their papers in which they lied to the UN—ed]

[….]

With reported death tolls in the thousands since the uprising began in March last year, Iraqis in Syria have generally not been turned into targets of violence as such, according to UNHCR spokesperson in Damascus Helene Daubelcour.

[….]

Though it is impossible to estimate the total number of people that have voluntary returned home, a worsening security situation in Iraq in recent months has only given refugees new reasons to stay away from their country.

[….]

The majority’s lack of better options has made Iraqis like Ibrahim face the future with a sad mixture of solidarity, pure resilience, and fatalism. She believes that, although things were somewhat better for Iraqis refugees just over a year ago, the deterioration of conditions of life for people in Syria as a whole “might just show the direction in which the whole Arab world is heading. We are worried about Syria. As for us, wherever we go, things won’t be much better. So we choose to stay,” she said.

I’m with McCarthy on this.  We need to open up our own energy options in North America, help our ally Israel, but generally let the Arabs settle their own internal squabbles.  If they want to live in the seventh century, so be it.

Fishy Somali deportation story in Lewiston, ME

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I could almost not believe my eyes when I read this story from the Somali capital of Maine.  A judge has ordered the deportation of an apparently law abiding Somali man and his family—ostensibly back to SOMALIA.  What the heck!  We don’t deport to Somalia, we don’t even deport criminal Somalis back to that hell hole.

I’ve written many times on these pages about Canada, for instance, deporting to Somalia, but we don’t.  As a matter of fact, you know the guy I call the Somali Jesse Jackson Omar Jamal (search him here to see what I mean)?  He was found guilty of immigration fraud in Tennessee a number of years ago and we never deported him.  We let him run around the country freely doing his defense of all things Somali.

I’m guessing the plan to deport cafe owner—Mahamed Mahamud—from Lewiston to Somalia is an Obama administration (ICE) strategy to bring sympathy to Somalis illegally here in the US.   Obama is building his case for amnesty.   Or, there is a lot more we don’t know about Mohamud and the court does.

From the Sun Journal (hat tip: Susan):

LEWISTON — Three One Cafe, a popular Lisbon Street restaurant, is closing March 31 because owner Mahamed Mahamud faces deportation, he said.

Mahamud said he was never granted asylum, and closing the business he opened in 2008 at 259 Lisbon St. will allow him time to make plans to take his family back to Somalia.

He and his wife, Shukri Ali, have three children, ages 14, 8 and 4. The two younger children were born here and are U.S. citizens. The oldest child and the parents are not.

Mahamud and his family came to Lewiston in 2002. In 2003, a judge denied them asylum, he said, which meant he could not get a green card to work toward citizenship. The judge did grant a temporary work permit or visa, Mahamud said. He has renewed the work permit a number of times, but he is now being told he must leave, he said.

Read it all—a story written to garner sympathy.

By the way, the Saudis can’t stand the illegal alien Somalis and against the objections of the UN, the Saudis (their Muslim co-religionists) just drop off unwanted Somalis into Mogadishu, here.

Galveston and the curious case of “George” the ‘unaccompanied alien’

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Most Americans don’t know that the US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), is responsible for the care of thousands of kids a year who somehow got into the US from a foreign country without a parent or guardian— it is called the “Unaccompanied Alien Children Program.”

Not surprisingly the largest number of such “kids” come from Mexico and Central America.    Skeptical readers might wonder if they weren’t dropped off/separated from family on purpose as the largest percentage of the children are in their mid-teens.

One such “unaccompanied minor” now turned 18 is the subject of this editorial in the Galveston Daily News where editor Heber Taylor amuses readers (sort of) with his introduction to the story (emphasis mine):

The federal government owes island residents a better explanation of the strange case of “George,” an 18-year-old Honduran immigrant who came to Galveston under a program operated by the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

George had an exciting time in January.

He was accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl who, along with her family, was in a homeless shelter operated by the Children’s Center Inc., a social services agency that has deep roots in Galveston. The organization has been on the island, supported by some of its prominent families, since the 19th century.

George also was involved in the arrest of Terry Bernard, 38, whose girlfriend was convinced George was having sex with her 12-year-old daughter. Bernard told police he used the 12-year-old girl’s cellphone to send a text message to George, inviting him to the park for sex.

About six shots were fired, and Bernard, who apparently was trying to discourage the alleged relationship with the girl, remains jailed on several felony charges and is facing a parole board warrant.

While shots were fired in the park, George was unscathed in that case.

However, George was shot during an unrelated robbery, capping off a busy month.

George’s medical care for the gunshot wound was provided because he had a Medicaid card, something many people would dearly love to have.

George cannot work legally in this country, and it is not clear how he was able to acquire a cellphone and property that was valuable enough to make him a target of an armed robber.

So how did a character like George get to Galveston?

Read on.  The answer isn’t clear, but editor Taylor wants Texas readers to write to elected officials in Washington for an explanation!

Taylor raises a point I’ve wondered about too.  After the little darlings are cared for with the help of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops which both get federal grants for their “charitable” work—kids are fed, clothed, housed, educated and health care needs met—what happens to them when they turn 18?

They are EMANCIPATED of course!  I kid you not, that is the word used in the 2008 ORR Annual Report to Congress (see pages 61-65 for a description of the program) for what happens after the illegal youngsters learn “independent living skills.”  So, is that what George was learning at Catholic Charities?

Houston-Galveston Catholic Charities Sex Abuse scandal

Gee, I wonder did “George” learn a few things at this Catholic Charities that was rocked by a sex abuse scandal involving ‘unaccompanied minors’—see the shocking report here last September!

According to the Houston Chronicle story I wrote about, ORR “takes care of” over 6000 such kids a year and half of those are in Texas.  (Here is a chart with the top five states with “apprehensions” of minors).   I guess when they turn 18 they are just “emancipated” into your towns with there new skills.  And, LOL!, they will expect a Texas taxpayer-subsidized college education to boot!

Comment worth noting: reader asks when will refugee problems come to Montana?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Reader, Carol, asked that question in response to my previous post on Boise, ID.

It occurred to me that it’s been awhile since I told you where you could get information on your state programs.  Here is the list of State Refugee Coordinators at the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).

I urge all of you to write or call your coordinator and ask for a copy of their most recent PLAN for your state.  Technically all states must have an approved plan every year!  If they say they have no PLAN for this year, tell them you want the most recent PLAN approved by ORR.

Also, you should visit WRAPS from time to time to check on the numbers and nationalities of refugees being resettled where you live.  I mentioned WRAPS here recently.   Go here then scroll down to the data base for ‘Arrivals by Destination City by Nationality by FY’ for the stats for the last five years.

Note that Montana has only had a few refugees resettled in recent years—then continue scrolling to the states that follow in the alphabet—Nebraska, Nevada and New Hampshire—and note the THOUSANDS dropped-off from every corner of the world.

Visit our ‘where to find information’ category for other fun facts.

Boise’s got problems (again!)

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

One of the most frustrating things about writing about the US State Department’s Refugee Resettlement Program is that the same stories cycle around from month to month and year to year (each new young reporter thinking they have a cool story).

This morning I see that lo-and-behold Boise, ID can’t support thousands of refugees, as if they have just discovered this problem.   I immediately had a look at our Boise archives and sure enough we’ve been reporting on the Boise overload since 2008!…and, about the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) whining about it!

From NPR in Boston (reporter Molly Messick):

In the last few years, more than 4,000 refugees have found their way [Dear young reporter, they don’t “find their way,” they are taken there by a federal contractor–ed] to a far-flung spot: Idaho. Most of the state’s incoming refugees come to Boise. For years, the city’s strong economy, good-quality affordable housing and supportive community created an especially favorable environment for refugee resettlement. The recession has shifted that picture.

[…..]

“Three years ago, we were just seeing a few extreme cases of refugees that had consistent difficulty with integration, and then it really happened very suddenly, where there were 50, 60, 100 families really struggling,” she says.

She says, “for years” Boise was a favorable environment for refugees—heck, as I just mentioned, I have stories from 2008 where the overload was already evident (and the IRC’s Boise program only started in 2006)!   Here is one where the IRC Pres. George Rupp is bawling in Boise for more government money because the refugees aren’t finding work.

IRC says they are NOW slowing the flow (remember in 2008 they already knew they had problems):

The recession has complicated the hard task of refugee resettlement nationwide. The shift is especially stark in Boise, because the city has long been regarded as a good place for refugees to put down new roots.

“Boise was particularly favorable, yes,” says Bob Carey, who oversees resettlement and migration policy for the International Rescue Committee. Carey’s based in New York, but the IRC has a Boise office, too, opened in 2006. At that time, Idaho had the fastest growing economy in the country, and unemployment in the Boise area was under 3 percent.

“It was a very strong employment market, and there were certainly many jobs available for refugees at the entry level when they arrived in Boise,” he says. “So for those people who were able to work, we could generally find them jobs that would allow them to support themselves within 90 days.”

Now, Boise is one of the places where the IRC has reduced the number of refugees it aims to resettle each year, cutting back by about a third. In addition, it and other local agencies that help refugees find work have adopted new strategies.

Let’s take a little side trip to the IRC’s most recent Form 990 (I haven’t looked at one of their financial reports to the IRS in awhile).   The organization had an income stream in 2010 of $316 million—-$200 million came from you, the taxpayer.   Former Columbia University President*and now IRC President George Rupp took home $428,571 in salary and benefits putting him surely in the 1%.  More then ten employees took home six-figure salaries and most of those topped $200,000.

It is classic doing well by doing good!   Maybe they might want to share some of their good fortune with the now unfortunate refugees like Rwandan mother of two,Virginie (the star of this article today).  But, no, foisting her on the taxpayer is what this is all about.

Despite the clear difficulty of Virginie’s situation, there’s room for hope. Virginie and her daughters have been lucky to get subsidized housing, at a moment when many waiting lists are closed.

How many times now have I had reports that refugees are getting subsidized housing as American citizens including the disabled wait on the list (if they can get on the list).

* I wonder did ol’ George know Columbia professors Cloward and Piven and was he a supporter of the Cloward-Piven strategy to create chaos by overloading the welfare system (under the guise of helping the downtrodden).