Religious refugee agencies: Priority one is “guarding the government golden goose”

James Edwards writing at the Center for Immigration Studies has a great summary of the Refugee Resettlement Program and how the mostly religious federal contractors often operate, in many cases, against the best interest of the refugees AND the communities into which the agencies place the third-worlders.

Here is just a bit of what Edwards had to say (Hat tip:  Richard Falknor at Blue Ridge Forum):

While illegal immigration usually raises the ire of the public and politicians, few look closely at refugee programs. Most Americans, including Christians, reject the pro-amnesty stance fashionable among religious elites from the U.S. Catholic Conference to the Southern Baptist Convention to the National Association of Evangelicals. Yet many faith-based organizations, including arms of major religious entities, engage in resettling refugees.

This Memorandum briefly reports on the financial stake certain religious agencies have in U.S. refugee resettlement. It shows that refugee resettlement has become dependent on U.S. taxpayers and is a disruption to American communities, with nongovernmental agencies profiting from it.

[…..]

Similar to what happened to private charity when the government took over many of its functions (and became less effective and efficient as a result), a refugee assistance industry has built up around government-run refugee bureaucracies and funding streams.6 It resembles other conglomerations of associations, agencies, and professional pleaders focused full-time on protecting and expanding their share of the public till, from public housing advocates to lobbies surrounding each “human services” program.

Program “stakeholders” that receive millions of taxpayer dollars usually continue to receive funding year after year, with little accountability.* These groups’ mission becomes guarding the government golden goose rather than helping people achieve self-sufficiency or maximizing efficiency in usage of public money. This same phenomenon seems to have influenced the refugee resettlement industry, including its religious agencies.

Read it all, hereIt is so good I would like to have copied the whole thing!

DON’T FORGET!  You have a chance to comment on the number of refugees (and nationalities) as the US State Department holds its annual consultation, here.

* In 2007 I was told by a State Department official that there isn’t any financial accountability to speak of, that they do “program audits” and not “financial audits.”  Program audits I was told simply determine such things as whether refugees have gotten jobs in a proscribed time frame or are otherwise functioning on their own.

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