Wanted: US Muslim families to “adopt” kids from camps

07/20/2013 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Muslim kids of course.

Sheesh, and I thought the burgeoning ‘unaccompanied minors program’ of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (in the US Dept. of Health and Human Services) only took in kids who had come across our borders or had been abandoned by their parents when the family came across the border. Now, we learn we are plucking ‘kids’ (16, 17, 18 year olds?) from camps elsewhere in the world, who supposedly have no parents/no family, and bringing them to the US. And, you are paying for this!

Linda Hartke, CEO of Lutheran Immigration Services, will help facilitate the Muslim “adoptions.”

I recently mentioned the astronomical size of this program, here, in my report on the Lancaster meeting, and wondered about the huge number of kids I thought were coming across the borders. Now we know they aren’t just ‘finding their way’ to the US on their own! And, notice the word “orphan” isn’t being used. This is what I learned in Lancaster:

In 2012, 14,700 kids arrived in the US without parents and in 2013 the number is expected to be 20,000.

Thanks to Creeping Sharia for tipping us off about this story at the Muslim Link:

It has been nearly six months since the U.S. Government launched the Action Plan on Children in Adversity at the White House. [here is a link to the Obama Administrations Action Plan—ed]

[….]

The Action Plan represents the first-ever whole-of-government strategic guidance for the U.S. Government’s international assistance for children.

[….]

The Joint Council on International Children’s Services, a Virginia-based NGO has been working for decades on the pillar of advocating for children in family care – especially for those around the globe who may be growing up on the streets or in orphanages or other institutions.

[….]

In the greater Washington DC area, government agencies identify refugee youth overseas (often living in camps outside of their country of origin) who are eligible for resettlement but who do not have a parent or a relative in the US. Due to their age (under 18), these children are placed into the Unaccompanied Refugee Minors program and receive refugee foster care services and benefits. [Ahhhh! What about a parent or relative right there in the camp?—ed]

One of these benefits is placement in a compatible home with matching ethnicity, language, and religion where possible. The placing agencies are always seeking families to volunteer to help these teens by providing a home as they are receiving schooling (which may have been interrupted in their country of origin or while they were living in a camp) and be involved with their case-specific programs with an aim to helping them achieve eventual independence by their early 20s.

So we could see a youth of 17 or 18 (who says he has no parent) plucked from a refugee camp for Syrians brought to the US to be “adopted” by an American Muslim family and then when he turns say 21, he just becomes one more alien on the path to US citizenship who will also be able to bring in his family who will surely be ‘discovered’ at about that time!

And, to top it off, the family who “adopts” the teen gets paid by you—the American taxpayer—to care for the child! Some racket! And, look who is here—LIRS and the USCCB (getting paid to make the arrangements)!

The two leading placement organizations, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, are especially keen to work with the Muslim community in our area since it is likely they could find matches for many of the children enrolled in the program. Specialized training in helping these children adjust to their new life and situation is a part of becoming involved as is a background check. Financial support for participation is provided. [Yippee! They will get paid for their “charitable” work!—-ed]

I sure hope LIRS and the USCCB are doing some really good screening of American families—sure would hate to hear about a sexual abuse charge or a slavery charge (wasn’t it only a week or so ago a Saudi woman was charged with keeping aliens as slaves?)

Photo: More on LIRS and Hartke’s Baltimore digs. See ‘Don’t break our rice bowls!‘

Have a look at a recent Form 990 for Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, page 9. They had income in that year of $31,653,748 and, of that, you, the taxpayers of America, gave them $30,376,568. Their CEO makes $204,186 in salary and benefits. (Doing well, by doing good! Hartke’s bio is here.)

Feds have no idea if/when Asylees like the Tsarnaevs leave the country, return to country that persecuted them

07/19/2013 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

That is what a House Committee heard in testimony from the USCIS on Wednesday. Thanks to a reader for alerting us to this story.

I assume this means that Mama Tsarnaev has now lost her asylum privileges and her welfare check!

From FierceHomelandSecurity:

When individuals granted asylum return to the country they’d fled, they can lose their asylum privileges-–but only if U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services knows about it, the head of the agency’s asylum program said during a House hearing July 17.

Joseph Langlois, the associate director for refugee, asylum and international operations at USCIS, suggested that the agency would not have known that Tamerlan Tsarnaev–the Boston Marathon bombing suspect who died in a gunbattle with police–traveled in 2012 to Russia, which his family had received asylum from.

Langlois told the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on national security that he couldn’t publicly discuss the Tsarnaev family in particular for confidentiality reasons. But he did speak in general terms about cases like that of Tamerlan.

When an asylee comes back to the United States after traveling abroad, Customs and Border Protection can alert USCIS about an asylee’s travel, he said. [Gee, I wonder if they were alerted about Tsarnaev and did nothing—ed]

“We do have referrals from CBP. They are not great in number though,” Langlois said.

Additionally, those referrals only come from entries into the United States–Langlois said it was his understanding that USCIS has no knowledge when asylees depart for the country where they said they feared persecution.

The father of the Tsarnaev brothers reportedly applied for asylum after arriving in the United States legally, under a tourist visa, which would make him an affirmative asylum applicant. Individuals in removal proceedings, on the other hand, can apply for asylum defensively, at which point USCIS screens them for credible fear of persecution.

Asylum claims up 400% since Obama took office.

Langlois said the agency is on track to receive about 29,000 defensive applications this year–an increase of about 400 percent since 2009. He added though that there have been large fluctuations in applications, both defensive and affirmative, in recent years.

We have 25 previous posts on the political “refugees”, the Tsarnaevs, in our Boston Marathon bombing category.

Remember that those granted asylum get all the taxpayer-funded goodies that refugees get.

Note from Ann

07/19/2013 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We’ve been having cable problems all week. I think it is because of the extreme heat on our long cable line coming across fields, but who knows, this tech stuff is a mystery to me. I’m mentioning this because I know a lot of you have sent story ideas this week which I hope to get to, or have sent me e-mails I haven’t answered—it’s not me ignoring you, it’s the internet.

Cable is up right now, so hoping to get something done. I did just write about Rep. Steve King duking it out with Grover Norquist on amnesty, here, at PTPR.

Obama/Dems pin hope on Rep. Paul Ryan for their amnesty goals

07/18/2013 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

That’s what an AP story published in the Boston Globe tells us. And, a good part of the reason Ryan is pushing the “comprehensive reform” bill that includes a “slush fund” for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops is because the Bishops depend on taxpayer slush to survive. And they are counting on Ryan to provide their slush. Of, course the AP doesn’t tell us that, but I am.

Ryan and dumbbell. Photo: Gregg Segal for Time

Here is what AP says (emphasis mine):

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats doggedly pursuing a far-reaching immigration bill are counting on help from Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s running mate last year and an unlikely candidate for delivering the centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s second-term agenda.

Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman who is frequently mentioned in the GOP lineup of possible 2016 presidential candidates, stands apart from many fellow House Republicans in favoring a way out of the shadows for the 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. in violation of the law. [Note to Ryan, no hope for 2016 if you continue down this path—ed]

He casts sweeping overhaul as a necessity to ensure both economic and national security — a fitting argument for an acolyte of Jack Kemp, the late Republican congressman and 1996 vice presidential candidate who backed an ill-fated effort in 2006 to overhaul the immigration system.

‘‘Paul Ryan says we cannot have a permanent underclass of Americans, that there needs to be a pathway to citizenship,’’ says Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., who has been working relentlessly on immigration legislation. ‘‘He is my guiding light. I know I get him in trouble every time I say it.’’ [LOL! Gutierrez is killing Ryan. First get him to support amnesty, then pin it on him so that he can’t win the Republican primary, slick, huh? They killed Rubio too!—ed]

Senior White House aides often mention the Wisconsin Republican as crucial to the prospects for legislation this year, hoping the Republican with impeccable conservative credentials will sway recalcitrant House members. Ryan also is a reminder of two other powerful forces backing an overhaul of immigration laws — the Catholic Church and business.

Ryan is a practicing Catholic who made a point of attending Mass every Sunday during the jam-packed 2012 campaign; the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops strongly favors the first major changes to immigration in 27 years.

There it is in print—the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, lobbying for amnesty too.

We told you about the Lutheran Immigration service and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society this week.

What makes me steam over this is that there is never a next paragraph that explains that the USCCB is the largest of the federal refugee contractors. They receive the majority of their funding (their DC lobbying office is even paid for by the US State Department) from you—the taxpayer—to bring refugees and asylees to your cities and towns, get them hooked up with services (food stamps, health care, education), find them subsidized housing and maybe a job (although the unemployment rate for refugees is through the roof and lack of work is blamed for high suicide rates in Bhutanese refugees).

The racket!

If S.744 becomes law the USCCB will receive even more of your money to help the newly legalized aliens get their services too! The Gang’s bill also expands the refugee program making it easier for more refugees and asylum seekers to enter the US. So, why can’t AP and others in the mainstream media ever point this out—-it’s about MONEY (and future “progressive” voters), but mostly it’s about money?

So, how much is the USCCB getting in federal refugee and migration funding—-just about their entire budget!

Go to page 20 of their 2011 annual report (didn’t see a more recent one). Archbishop Jose’ Gomez (bring in the Syrians!) heads up the USCCB MIGRATION services.

Their revenue for the year was $72,102,484

Of that, $66,723,452 came directly from federal grants and contracts

Additionally, $3,751,295 came from travel loans.

Do you know what the travel loans are? Another government agency (your money) pays for refugees to fly to the US. Then the USCCB (and the other contractors) dun those refugees for the air fare money, and for their services (as a collection agency) they get to keep a portion of the money they wring out of refugees. That is your money too!

Add the travel loan money to the federal grants and you have 98% of the US Bishops MIGRATION services are paid for by the US taxpayer!

So how about a little honesty from Rep. Paul Ryan, Senator Marco Rubio and the mainstream media! This is not about humanitarianism, it’s about Caesar’s money!

Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society: not so many Jews to resettle, moving on to other refugees

07/17/2013 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

And, cooling their push for amnesty!

Update July 23: Maybe they lied to their donors, but they are not backing off lobbying in DC for illegal aliens. Here is a tweet HIAS sent out today:

We need to stand firm + stick with our message that we want a vote on citizenship for ALL #11million aspiring citizens #DREAMers #HJC

They don’t say it specifically here, but we have long known that HIAS (one of the top nine refugee resettlement contractors for the US State Department) resettles Muslims. But, that isn’t mentioned here. There is, however, other more interesting news.

It seems they are searching for relevance (to donors) and in order to do that, they are planning to back-off their up-until-now very visible presence in Washington pushing for “comprehensive” immigration reform.

From JTA:

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. (JTA) — The new HIAS is not your grandmother’s Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, and it’s certainly not the one that brought her mother over from the Pale of Settlement.

After decades as the Jewish community’s foremost voice on immigration — first in leading the resettlement of Jews who arrived here at the turn of the 20th century, then in absorbing hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews in the 1980s and ’90s — HIAS is making formal its shift to refugee care and resettlement overseas.

The vast majority of its work will not be with Jews, and most of it will not be in the United States.

Pres. Hetfield told attendees that ‘immigration reform’ was too partisan. That is incredible since he (or HIAS) tweeted every other minute on the subject throughout the lead-up to the Gang of Eight’s bill (S.744) passing the Senate! And, besides haven’t we been told all along that the Gang is bi-partisan?

I’ve been wondering why these contractors are pushing for the legalization of 11 million job competitors for their refugees—refugees they are supposed to be helping to find employment. Is it possible some are wising up?

By the way, Hetfield spoke at the May State Department hearing where we also testified.

JTA continued:

Underscoring the shift are challenges that are not unique to HIAS: the search for a message appealing to younger Jews considered less parochially minded than their parents, and the dangers of associating with a particular issue — in this case immigration reform — seen as partisan.

“The same stakeholders who were interested in immigration issues were not the same stakeholders who were interested in refugees,” HIAS President Mark Hetfield told the group’s worldwide staff at a retreat last month just north of New York City.

Not too many Jews at risk any more?

The shift culminates a 15-year period in which HIAS has expanded its operations in refugee camps overseas, where it has accrued a strong reputation for service. And it comes at a time when there are few at-risk Jews in totalitarian countries that potentially require rescue.

HIAS directors say the quest for relevance does not mean it is entirely abandoning the infrastructure it has built to rescue Jews at risk should the need arise. But faced with a choice between satisfying an older generation willing to support an organization focused narrowly on Jewish needs and a younger generation more inclined to see itself as citizens of the world, HIAS chose youth.

Going to tone-down their push for amnesty for illegal aliens, so as not to tick-off potential donors!

HIAS is not abandoning immigration reform. It remains one of 26 members of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable, which has made immigration reform a priority this year. And its website calls for comprehensive immigration reform that creates a pathway to citizenship for undocumented workers in the United States and establishes border policies that enhance security while protecting human rights.

But HIAS officials hope the de-emphasis of the group’s immigration work in favor of refugee resettlement will help smooth the edges of HIAS’ relations with potential partners put off by its reform agenda.

“People would say to us, are you for illegal immigration?” Spinner said, describing the reaction of certain Christian groups. “The issues that are around refugees are much more intense and critical.” [Of course that is a little confusing because most of the Christian groups (Catholics, Lutherans, Evangelicals) HIAS would be associating with are all pushing for amnesty too!—ed]

Interesting: Check out their most recent Form 990, click here, and note that they had a revenue stream of about $23 million that year and $13 million came from you—the US taxpayer. I guess they do have to fund raise, they aren’t getting as big of a piece of taxpayer pie as some of their fellow contractors who are receiving upwards of 95% of their funding from the federal treasury.

Hmmm! If other contractors had to raise more money privately, maybe they too would get off the amnesty bandwagon.

I wonder if HIAS is still getting their million dollar grants from the feds to teach refugees how to have healthy marriages? (click here)

Addendum: I am having cable internet problems at my location, so if you don’t hear from me in a reasonable time, suspect that my internet is down again.