Was woman killed in Washington today, after bizarre car chase across DC, a Somali?

10/03/2013 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

****UPDATE and correction**** The woman has just been identified as Miriam Carey a 34 year old (crazy!) dental assistant from Stamford, CT. Here is one story at NBC. Not likely a Somali woman with a name like that! But, as one of my sources mentioned this is the 20th Anniversary of Black Hawk Down so maybe someone was jumping to conclusions.

Since this story has brought a lot of readers to RRW maybe you should visit some of our hundreds of posts on Somali refugees in America and in the West generally by clicking here. We are the premiere location for Somali news!

I had a call from a friend telling me that a radio reporter (just a few minutes ago) mentioned that the woman killed by police today in Washington was a Somali woman from Connecticut. According to my source, the reporter was quickly hushed-up by another voice telling the reporter that it wasn’t to be discussed.

I don’t want to start rumors, but I see a blog called ‘Fire Andrea Mitchell’ is reporting that news. Here is what they say:

Somali descent (Muslim) not terrorism? BS! The black woman from Seems the suspect in the White House barrier ramming and Capitol Hill shooting today was of Somali descent and black from Connecticut. This means the suspect was likely a Muslim and on a Jihad for terrorism. Yet the DC Police have been quick to claim that this was not an act of terrorism and just some sort of ‘lone wolf’ attack.

If any of you see additional news about who the woman was, please let me know so that we can get the story straight. I’m sure by tomorrow we will know for sure.

As US government shuts down, resettlement agencies will have to dig into their private pockets

10/03/2013 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

It is about time they did!

Frances McBrayer, senior director of refugee resettlement services: Don’t interrupt refugee benefits!

When the Refugee Act of 1980 became law, the understanding was that refugees were not to be on welfare (we were not going to be importing poverty!) and that it was to be a public-private partnership where the private non-profits were supposed to be using their own funds along with taxpayer dollars for resettlement.

As we have chronicled at RRW over the years, the contractors are often 90% or even more funded by taxpayers, while some of their CEO’s are making high six-digit salaries!

So, I don’t have much sympathy for Catholic Charities of Atlanta quoted in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Message to CC: Go to your church members and ask them to contribute! Try some real Christian charity for a change!

The federal government shutdown has halted cash assistance and medical aid for refugees resettled in Georgia.

Refugees are permitted to use the federal cash aid for food, clothing, shelter, transportation and any other expenses until they become employed or otherwise self-sufficient, according to the Georgia Department of Human Services. A family of three is eligible to receive up to $280 monthly for up to eight months. Like the cash assistance, federal medical aid is based on gross income or resources.

“There may be other private funds available to refugees by the local resettlement agencies, churches, civic organization, etc.,” the state agency said in a prepared statement Wednesday.

Catholic Charities Atlanta bemoaned the loss of federal funding.

“Catholic Charities is hopeful for a quick resolution to all of this in order not to have these refugee benefits interrupted,” said Frances McBrayer, senior director of refugee resettlement services for Catholic Charities Atlanta.

I just now checked out Catholic Charities of Atlanta Form 990 (most recent one available). They took in about $5.7 million in that year. $1.75 million came directly from “government grants,” another $2 million came from “related organizations.” I can only guess that might be the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, which would make it also taxpayer dollars (p. 9 of Form 990). Their expenses on Page 10 included: salaries, benefits, office expenses, advertising, travel, conferences etc. amounting to $4.5 million (I’ve rounded the numbers). So basically, most of the income they receive goes toward keeping the organization running so they can get refugees resettled and signed-up for public assistance.

How about a special Bingo night or two to raise money for refugees during the government shut-down! Just a suggestion!

For all of our posts on problems in Atlanta, click here. For more on the Refugee Resettlement Program and government goodies, see our fact sheet.

Obamacare applies to legal immigrants—all 150 varieties!

10/03/2013 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Obama: Have no fear! We’ve got your Obamacare instructions in 150 different languages!

Before you read this, here is my disclaimer: Like most Americans, I don’t know what the heck Obamacare does or doesn’t do, but this is one supposed expert’s view on whether legal immigrants (although they may be non-citizens) must also sign-up for Obamacare. Yes! says the expert (with some caveats!).

From About.com:

The Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, begins a period of open enrollment on Tuesday, Oct. 1, and immigrants will have to comply with the new law.

Immigrants with legal status — green card-holders, asylees, people with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) — are required to have health insurance coverage just like U.S. citizens.

For immigrants without legal status, nothing changes. Obamacare has nothing to offer unauthorized immigrants other than the status quo. Hospitals are still required to provide emergency room care to anyone who comes through their doors, regardless of immigration status, race or ethnicity. [Caveat #1: hospitals will still have to treat everyone and then try to squeeze the patient for payment later—-good luck with that!—ed]

Immigrants who have lived in the United States legally for at least five years and meet income requirements may be eligible to get Medicaid health coverage. [Caveat #2: A large number of legal refugees will just sign up for Medicaid, and probably not be truthful about income.—ed]

Are there penalties for immigrants who qualify to participate in the new system but don’t? Yes, immigrants are subject to fines, just like U.S. citizens. [Caveat #3: We keep hearing that the fines are so low that it’s better to pay the fine, but do they even file a tax return on which to be fined?—ed]

Fear not! If you are a confused immigrant, Obama said two days ago, this is all you need to do:

…. there’s a hotline where you can apply over the phone and get help with the application, or just get questions that you have answered by real people, in 150 different languages. So let me give you that number. The number is 1-800-318-2596 — 1-800-318-2596.

If any of you speak another language well, why not call and see what is available in that language!

Austria takes first Syrian refugees—Christians!

10/03/2013 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I have a story to post today from AP at the Washington Post before I get to the Syrian article. The title is: ‘Austria governing coalition barely keeps its absolute majority as anti-immigrant party gains.’ The tone of it is one of shock that Austria’s ‘Freedom Party’ should be gaining (elections were this past Sunday) although not quite enough to wrest control of the government from the Socialists.

Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache

Nevertheless, just as Australia demonstrated recently, the voting public is increasingly concerned about high numbers of Muslim migrants seeking asylum in their countries.

Here is the WAPO:

VIENNA — Hundreds of thousands of voters disenchanted with Austria’s cozy ruling coalition voted Sunday for a right-wing opposition party championing anti-immigrant and EU-skeptic views, leaving the government barely holding on to the absolute majority its needs to stay in power for the next five years.

[…..]

Although the results gave the two parties nearly 51 percent of all votes cast Sunday, the real winner in terms of gains was the right-wing Freedom Party. With 21.4 percent, its showing was nearly 4 percentage points better than at the last general elections five years ago.

[…..]

…..in a country traditionally fearful of outside influences bursting its bubble of prosperity, Freedom Party calls of “Austria first” appeared to have been effective, along with slogans exploiting distrust of Muslim immigrants.

So why might voters distrust Muslim migrants? Remember this story from February when “asylum seekers” holed-up in a church, went on a hunger strike and demanded they be allowed to stay in Austria. It is one of many we have written about Austria (click here for more).

Austria criticized for taking Syrian Christians!

Now this is the story (at the Lebanon Daily Star) about the first Syrians arriving in Austria. 17 countries have agreed to take Syrians according to the UNHCR.

This is the first specific mention I’ve seen of Syrian Christians being helped by the West.

VIENNA: A family of four Syrian refugees has arrived in Austria, the first of 500 that the country has offered to take.

Interior Ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundboeck says the family arrived Tuesday evening. He says plans are to bring the rest of the contingent to Austria “as quickly as possible,” but cannot give a precise date for when the last refugee will enter the country.

The four are Christians. Charity organizations have criticized the government’s selection method, saying Christians were given preference. Grundboeck says that members of groups most at threat were chosen – children and minorities, including religious minorities.

“Charity organizations” complained about the choice of Christians, gee, what a surprise!