Day: January 5, 2014

Meriden CT: Moroccan sentenced in food stamp fraud case could be deported upon release

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I’ve long complained that with these immigrant-run food stamp fraud scams, the media rarely mentions the immigration status of the scammer found guilty, but hurrah! this story does!

The store in Connecticut where taxpayers were scammed out of $820,000!

From My Record Journal (emphasis is mine):

MERIDEN — A local grocery store owner was sentenced to 27 months in prison by a federal judge yesterday for food stamp fraud.

Myrachid Elquafai, 52, of New Haven, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit food stamp fraud and one count of food stamp fraud. He was found guilty after a five day trial in federal court in New Haven.

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Elquafai was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Janet Hall to 27 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. [This release bit doesn’t jibe with the deportation suggestion below—ed]

[….]

Elquafai would redeem food stamp benefits at the store at a “significantly discounted rate in exchange for cash and cigarettes,” and an investigation showed more that $820,000 in illegal food stamp benefits were redeemed at the store, Daly said.

[….]

Elquafai has been detained since his arrest on August 2, 2012 and is subject to immigration proceedings after his release from prison, Daly said. Elquafai is a citizen of Morocco, Daly said.

Photo is from this story.  Seems store owners were already in trouble for buying stolen goods to stock their shelves.

Click here for our complete archive on immigrant-run convenience store food stamp fraud (a hobby here at RRW).  Go here for how to report suspected food stamp fraud.

Saudi Arabia deports 200 more Somalis who were only seeking a better life

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update January 6:  Reader Petzix sent us the website ‘UN Watch’ with a story on the ten worst things the UN did in 2013, check it out here.  Ha! Ha! Ha! Saudi Arabia elected to the UN Human Rights Council!

They just ship them back and drop ’em off in Mogadishu.    Meanwhile the UN bullies Bulgaria to be more welcoming to Syrian Muslims and berates Burma for being unwelcoming to Rohingya Muslims, not a critical peep though about Muslim Saudi Arabia being unwelcoming to fellow Muslims.  The double standard is stunning!  No ‘diversity is beautiful’ for the Saudis!

Bye! Bye!

Every time I see one of these stories I’m reminded of the UNHCR saying in 2009 that the tradition of welcoming refugees comes out of the Islamic faith! From Mareeg:

Mareeg.com-More than 200 Somalis deported from Saudi Arabia have reached Mogadishu’s Aden Abdulle Airport on Friday. The people deported mostly young men and women were members of Somali immigrants who have travelled to the Kingdom of Saudi Srabia to seek better life and work following the civil wars in their homeland.

Some of those deported back to Mogadishu have said they were tortured and mistreated by the Saudi police while some of the people were detained for more than one month.

The country’s civil aviation authoroties said that more than two thousands Somalis were deported back to the country since September.

Just imagine for a moment the worldwide wailing and crying if the US deported 2,000 Somalis in three months! Photo is from this story—we will give Somalia money, but we don’t want your people!  (the article doesn’t say that, I do).

Culturally/ethnically appropriate childcare encouraged by federal training and microenterprise loans

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I have two complaints about this story, ‘Would-be business owners move one step closer to dream.‘

First, the next time you hear some open borders advocates saying immigrants create more new businesses, please remember that the immigrants get special loan deals and government-funded training to become “entrepreneurs.”   You can bet there is no program like this one for some poor American women living in a mobile home community who might like to set up a daycare for their kind of people.

Then secondly, if we expect refugees to become integrated (oops! assimilated) wouldn’t the kids be better off in daycare (if they needed daycare) where people speak English and do activities that most Americans do instead of in ethnically and culturally segregated daycare centers?  Don’t get me wrong, if people want to stay segregated, I’m o.k. with that, it is a free country, I just don’t think federal taxpayer dollars should be used to facilitate segregation.

We have written about this topic before, but here is the latest story, this time from the Milwaukee Courier (hat tip: Joanne):

Refugees who have the dream of starting their own business are closer to making that a reality.

Muslim women review their daycare plans

The participants of the Refugee Childcare Microenterprise Development Project are working to start their own home-based daycare businesses.

The program designed to help refugees is a project of the Social Development Commission (SDC) in partnership with the Pan African Community Association and the Multicultural Entrepreneurial Institute (MEI).

The participants have been taking classes to gain the knowledge and certification needed to start and successfully operate their own home-based childcare business.

[….]

The program participants said that it has been very challenging to reach this point in their efforts, pointing specifically to cultural and language barriers that have presented problems. [So, what language will they speak in their daycare centers?—ed]

Federal grant program at ORR funds this (well, actually you do!).  Grant program expanded!

Here is information on the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement funding that was more than doubled in 2012 for Microenterprise/Home based child care:

In FY2012, ORR increased funding to the program, raising it from $2.225 million to $5,752 million, and offering grants to a total of 34 agencies.

And, get this!  In order to qualify one cannot be a US citizen!

All low.income refugees who are not citizens are eligible for services under this program.

The Milwaukee Social Development Commission is one of the grant recipients.

I’ll betcha there are some potential lawsuit angles in this taxpayer-funded program.  I wonder if there are any American citizen women in Wisconsin who are struggling to set up daycare centers and having problems doing so, either with paperwork/permits or lack of start-up money?

Best analysis yet of Somali apartment explosion at Gates of Vienna

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Minneapolis: Somali neighbors listen to fire chief John Fruetel’s explanation of what he thinks happened. Pioneer Press: Jean Pieri

Update January 6th:  Yesterday GOV published a new piece (Part I) analyzing the crime scene, here. Very cool!

Blogger Baron Bodissey at Gates of Vienna has been spending a lot of time analyzing the public story about the New Years Day explosion and fire in the “Little Mogadishu” neighborhood of Minneapolis and raises more questions then we have answers for.  Why was the building so hastily demolished?  Who were the men in the second floor apartment where the explosion originated?  One question that jumped out at me originally too was why was the now believed to be deceased Mrimri Farah, a man over military age, doing military work for the US in Iraq?  Why was the fire chief running to the media right away and speculating about a natural gas leak?  More!

Read it all by clicking here.  (Hat tip: Deb)

Note that Bodissey has suggested you should contact members of the House Homeland Security Committee (he lists members who might listen) to urge an investigation.

By the way, Rep. Peter King of New York has held hearings on radicalization centered on this very same community in Minneapolis (here in 2011).  This is the same neighborhood from which a still undetermined number of Somali youths returned to Somalia for Jihad training beginning in around 2007-2008, here.

For readers new to the explosion story, one earlier post here at RRW is here, follow links to earlier and subsequent posts.

Photo is from this earlier Pioneer Press report.