St. Louis: International Institute surprisingly truthful about its federal funding

Senior VP says shutdown will sully our reputation around the world!

Not surprisingly the shutdown of the US government, that will soon be two weeks old, is causing havoc for contractors including those nine big federal refugee resettlement contractors who frankly could not survive without your tax dollars.

LeLaurin: We get most of our funding from the federal government!

Here is a new boo-hoo story, this time from Voice of America.  Previously we heard a similar tale of woe (here) also from St. Louis.

As is the case with most formulaic refugee stories, it begins with a some sad refugees, but part way through we have a spokeswoman from the International Institute of St. Louis (a subcontractor of the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants), giving us a frank recitation of their problem.

From VOA (emphasis is mine):

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI — The U.S. government shutdown has temporarily frozen resettlement of refugees in some parts of the United States. Dozens from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East who hoped to arrive in the Midwest state of Missouri in October are in limbo abroad. Family members anxiously awaiting their arrival fear the longer the shutdown goes on, the less likely they will reach their destination.

Read about the unhappy refugees, then here is Suzanne LeLaurin:

“This is not healthy for our country,” said Suzanne LeLaurin, senior vice president at the International Institute, the non-profit group providing the travel funds for Subba’s parents and 34 more refugees – from Iraq, Somalia, Cuba, Burma, and Eritrea. Now, all are in limbo. “It’s not healthy for our reputation around the world, and I think that all of us would wish that Republicans and Democrats alike would sit down and come to an agreement and get the government back in business.”

“We get most of our funding from the federal government, maybe 60 to 70 percent, mostly because of our refugee resettlement services,” said LeLaurin.

She said more is at stake than just resettlement. The support system that helps refugees once they arrive in the U.S. also depends on federal funds. Everything from rent, utilities, and food to staffing the International Institute is at risk as the shutdown continues.

I can’t resist checking these “non-profit” groups’ Form 990s which they file with the IRS.  The most recent one available for the International Institute of St. Louis is here.  When you go to page nine, note that they took in $4.3 million that year (rounded number) and a whopping $3.7 million came from “government grants.”  In fact that is 86% from taxpayers!  It is possible that all of their government grants are not federal; perhaps there is some state and local dollars in the mix which would maybe make LeLaurin’s estimate of 60-70% accurate.

And when she says staffing will be affected if the slowdown continues, you bet it will with over $2 million of their budget going to salaries and benefits!

At what point is an organization no longer a private non-profit and is instead a government agency subject to scrutiny by elected officials and citizens?  That is what I would like to know!

For new readers, you might want to check our St. Louis archive and be ready to be shocked about all the problems there with refugee issues.

Surprise! Bulgaria finds “threat to national security” in refugee influx

So is Turkey facilitating the movement of Islamists into Bulgaria?

We told you previously (here) that Bulgaria is having a hell of a problem with mostly Syrian ‘asylum seekers’ flooding into the country from Turkey!

As Bulgarian citizens have suspected, some of the ‘downtrodden’ are likely Islamic terrorists in refugee clothing.

Here is the story at novinite.com (Sofia news agency).  Emphasis below is mine:

There are four persons among the refugees on Bulgarian territory suspected to be a possible threat to national security, says Interior Minister, Tsvetlin Yovchev.

The Minister explained these individuals are accommodated in secured facilities in awaiting the appropriate procedures for their extradition, already undertaken by the authorities.

Yovchev did not specify their native countries, but noted the well-known fact that the majority of the refugees are from Syria.

He explained that in 2013 Bulgaria has improved the pace of extradition of foreign suspects.

[…..]

Bulgaria is the gateway to the European Union for refugees fleeing Syria via Turkey, many crossing the border illegally to seek asylum.

Readers, the other day, here, we were reminded by Britain’s Independence Party leader, Gerard Batten, that legitimate refugees are to seek asylum in the first safe country in which they land (it is not supposed to be a shopping expedition for the country of one’s choice!).  So the question is–-is Turkey letting them waltz right through their safe country and exit out the other side?

I hope readers here are not getting weary of all of our posts on Europe recently, but in my mind the Muslim invasion of Europe holds lessons for all of us concerned with the preservation of Western civilization.

Next!  A post on the US and more on how the refugee program is being slowed by the government shutdown.  Update:  Here it is.

Another boat carrying illegals sank in Mediterranean on Friday

This one was launched from Egypt.  Note in my previous post, about the other sinking on Friday, that the graphic we found doesn’t even show launches from Egypt.  And, this story, with a death toll of a meager twelve illegal aliens (compared to the two recent sinkings) wouldn’t be post-worthy except for the mention of who the migrants are (or at least the living ones that have been interviewed).

From Reuters at NBC:

Twelve people died when a boat carrying illegal migrants and Syrian refugees sank off Egypt’s northern coast on Friday, security and medical sources said.   [And, if one is Syrian apparently one is not also an illegal migrant—ed]

“The Egyptian coast guards saved 72 Palestinians, 40 Syrians and four Egyptians,” one security source said. The circumstances of the accident and the nationalities of the deceased were not yet known.

Palestinians!

We are accustomed to hearing about the Africans and more recently the Syrians trying to get into Europe, but Palestinians!  Are these asylum seekers or invaders?