Month: February 2014

Maine Muslims looking for charter school in Lewiston, lie on application

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Community organizer and prospective board member of the charter school, Fatuma Hussein, said in January 2013, “We’re here and the sooner people realize that, the better.” Photo: Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

So what is the next step for “welcoming” communities like Lewiston, Maine that has seen its Somali Muslim population skyrocket in recent years—-yes, they want their own school!

This must have been a pretty exciting hearing before the Maine State Charter School Commission on Friday.

Lewiston Sun Journal (hat tip: Michael).  Emphasis below is mine:

AUBURN — Lewiston School Superintendent Bill Webster is not opposed to a taxpayer-funded charter school opening in Lewiston or Auburn.

But such a school must have a foundation of trust, Webster said Friday as he delivered damaging testimony to the state commission that will decide whether the Lewiston-Auburn Academy Charter School can open.

The Maine State Charter School Commission held a public hearing Friday at Central Maine Community College on the proposed school, which wants to open with 180 students in September.

Webster named three people*** that the application lists as supporters but whom Webster said are not. “It raises some concern about the truthfulness in this application,” he said.

Read about how Webster tracked down those who supposedly sent letters of support but never did.  Then this—is the Gulen school movement involved?

Webster also questioned the proposed school’s ties to Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen, who, according to Wikipedia, lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania. Webster said charter school applicant Tarlan Ahmadov is courting Lewiston Muslim students for the school.

The so-called Gulen movement includes schools around the country. A New York Times report about Gulen charter schools in Texas raised questions about whether the schools are using taxpayer money to benefit Gulen teachings.

Webster:  If the school is non-religious, why is it targeting Muslims?

None of that means the local charter school would be tied to Gulen or would be a religious school, Webster said. But if the school is non-religious, “why is it targeting Muslims?” he asked.

The application includes 300 surveys from people who support the school, including 201 from Lewiston, of which 180 have names typical of Lewiston immigrants who practice Islam, Webster said.

He said he spoke with a member of the local mosque and was told Ahmadov, the applicant, spoke there and distributed surveys. Webster said he checked with Catholic churches and the East Auburn Baptist Church — the largest churches in the area — and learned Ahmadov did not appear at those churches.

“The bottom line is that, right or wrong, Gulen or not, the parents of this potential school likely view the school as matching well with their Muslim faith and quite possibly that is the only reason they would support the school,” Webster said.

A decision will be made March 4th.

***It’s too much to get into here, but former Mayor Gilbert, mentioned in this article as one of those who supposedly supported the school in a letter, but didn’t, was feted in Washington DC by Soros’ Center for American Progress, here in 2010, for his welcoming attitude toward the Somali demographic and cultural change coming to his town.

We have a lengthy archive on Lewiston, here.  One of our top posts of all time is this one—Somali migration to Maine—it’s the welfare magnet stupid!

Quote in photo caption is here.

Secret internal government audit: at least 70% of asylum claims are fraudulent

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Poster boys for fraud in US asylum system—Boston Bomber Tsarnaev brothers!

Update February 13th:  CIS reported on the House hearing on asylum fraud, here, on Tuesday.

That is what the Washington Times reported this week here (hat tip:Erich):

At least 70 percent of asylum applications showed signs of fraud, according to a secret 2009 internal government audit that found many of those cases had been approved anyway.

The 2009 fraud assessment, obtained by the House Judiciary Committee and reviewed by The Washington Times, suggests a system open to abuse and exploitation at a time when the number of people applying for asylum in the U.S. has skyrocketed, particularly along the southwestern border.

Another report obtained by the committee suggests that the government isn’t detaining most of those who apply for asylum, including those awaiting a final judgment. [As we learned this week, lawyers like those at the ACLU, are working hard to keep more asylum seekers out of detention!—ed]

Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte said the documents taint the credibility of the asylum system, which is designed to provide an outlet for foreigners who face real risks of being harmed if they remain in their home countries.

“Asylum fraud undermines the integrity of our immigration system and hurts U.S. taxpayers. Once individuals are granted asylum, they receive immediate access to all major federal welfare programs. Our immigration system should be generous to those persecuted around the globe, but we must also ensure our compassion isn’t being abused by those seeking to game the system,” Mr. Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican, said in a statement to The Times.

“Because our immigration laws are so loosely enforced by the Obama administration, we should not be surprised to see so much fraud in the system,” he said. “President Obama’s continued refusal to enforce our laws on the books encourages more illegal immigration and invites fraud.”  [This asylum fraud was going on in the Bush years as well, the report says it looked at claims made in 2005!—ed]

[….]

The investigators said even the 70 percent combined fraud number may be low because some of the other 30 percent of cases had problems that weren’t detected.

The report was labeled “Draft” and apparently was never released.

There is more, read it all.

Checking some numbers!

Go to the Department of Homeland Security’s ‘Annual Flow Report’ for 2012.  Just a reminder, and one the Washington Times story mentions too, refugees are brought into the US through the US State Department, but asylum seekers ‘find their way’ to America on their own steam (they might be visa overstays, or illegal border crossers) who then ask for asylum and claim they have a “credible fear” of persecution if they go home.

In 2012 we brought 58,179 refugees to the US and there were 29,484 aliens granted asylum.  Assuming a 70% fraud rate, that means that 20,638 individuals lied or cheated and are now on the way to US citizenship.  And, in the meantime they are dipping into taxpayers’ wallets.

British-Syrian TV pundit causes firestorm, says Syrian refugees should not come to UK

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
If all Syrians coming to America were like the UK’s Halla Diyab, the Leftwingers would be leading the charge to STOP Syrians from coming here.

She suggested they go to neighboring countries where they are among people of their own culture!  And, the horror, she questions who will pay for all the Syrians?  For that, she is labeled ‘Syria’s Sarah Palin.’

One country she lists as a better place to send Syrian refugees is deportation-nation Saudi Arabia!

From Al-Arabiya News (hat tip: ‘pungentpeppers’):

A British-Syrian TV pundit is threatening to sue social media users who slander her or threaten her life after her recent controversial views regarding not allowing Syrian refugees to come to Britain were aired on a BBC program.

Halla Diyab, a writer and producer based in London, told BBC One’s This Week news program that Syrian refugees would be better off seeking asylum in neighboring Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt – rather than coming to England where they will face a cultural barrier such as not being able to speak English.

Syrian refugees shouldn’t be “picky and choosey,” she told the BBC’s Andrew Neil.

She also voiced concerns over how much allowing Syrian refugees into the country would cost British taxpayers.

Many people publicly condemned Diyab’s views referring to her as “Syria’s Sarah Palin”;’ however, the British-Syrian pundit is now concerned the criticism has went too far with some angry viewers saying she is an Assad-loyalist and others making comments about her morality.

There is much wailing and moaning from the ‘humanitarian’ crowd who call her insensitive.  You can read all of that yourself.  I guess she, or they, don’t know that some of their ‘humanitarian’ brethren would agree with Diyab (here).

Then she asked who will pay for all of this?

And, if peace comes, will they go home or will taxpayers continue to support them?  Yikes! The ultimate sin to ask those questions!

During one part of Diyab’s BBC appearance, now available online, Diyab takes a sip of coffee, and asks: “If Syria returns to peace, will the British government force them to go back to Syria or will they stay here forever?

“As a British taxpayer, will I be requested to subsidize for a new Syrian population in this country?”

“It would be much better for them to stay in neighboring countries that are close to Syria culturally and demographically, like the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon,” she added.

And, the you-know-what hit the fan on social media.  Hang in there Halla!

The answer is yes, of course, these refugee resettlements are always permanent, even when the word ‘temporary’ is bandied about.

Regarding our photo caption.  Consider for a moment what would happen to the immigration issue if a large majority of immigrants arriving in America, or the West generally, said they would vote for conservatives.  In a heartbeat, the political Left would be demanding we halt all immigration!  Heck, they might be at the border with guns!

Minneapolis: Fight breaks out at Somali-dominated political caucus, police called

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Bringing their cultural ways to America?

Minneapolis City Council Member Abdi Wasame with supporter Rep. Keith Ellison

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune (hat tip: Steve). Emphasis mine:

A day after political tensions in Minneapolis’ Somali community erupted into caucus-night chaos, leaders grappled with how to repair their image and simultaneously channel its massive political ambitions in a more peaceful manner.

The Cedar-Riverside precinct hadn’t even elected officers Tuesday night when a brief melee broke out between activists on opposing sides of a legislative race between DFLers Mohamud Noor and longtime Rep. Phyllis Kahn, highly unusual for the normally staid events.

Facilities staff decided to end the event, at the Brian Coyle Community Center, prompting a handful of police officers to begin loudly dispersing hundreds of confused attendees.

“It became a farce,” said Minneapolis City Council Member Abdi Warsame, a Kahn supporter who became the country’s most prominent Somali-American politician last fall.

“And now the community looks bad. Now the Somalis look horrible … All the negative assumptions people have of our community [are] going to come to the fore because three or four individuals couldn’t behave themselves.”

Warsame, who was not at the Coyle Center, has received about 50 calls from concerned community members.

He worries that people will stop participating if the process isn’t improved. “People might start saying, ‘If I go to these places, people will start fighting each other.’ ”

The Somali community has grown into a major political force in Minneapolis, able to assemble massive numbers of voters at political events. Some well-attended yet similarly chaotic caucuses in April helped propel Warsame to win the DFL endorsement over incumbent Robert Lilligren, who complained that the events were tainted by irregularities.

But many attendees who speak little or no English are also not well-informed about the process, raising fears among opposing activists that voters will be manipulated.

Read it all—just a “few bad apples?”

Baltimore: Two citizens of Yemen plead guilty to $2 million in food stamp fraud

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Baltimore convenience store where Yemenis ripped off US taxpayers for millions. You can’t make this up!

This is an update of a story we reported here last September.

Big questions for me are:  What legal immigration program allowed them to enter the country and set up these stores, participate in SNAP?  Did they send the money out of the country?  And, will they be deported after serving their time?  This article says they can get 20 years, but in all the cases I’ve seen, crooks like these were back out running the store again within a couple of years.

Note to readers, we have been following food stamp fraud perpetrated by immigrant scammers for years as a side interest at RRW, but now we have one place to gather such stories and that is a facebook page—Diversity’s Dark Side (‘Like’ it).

From the Examiner (Hat tip: Robin):

Two foreign citizens residing in Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to committed fraud in connection with a scheme to illegally redeem food stamp benefit in exchange for cash over three years and obtained a significant amount of money in payments for food sales that never occurred.

Abdullah Aljaradi, (52), and Ahmed Ayedh Al-Jabrati, (58), both citizens of Yemen, operated in two convenience stores of Baltimore City –Second Obama Express and D&M Deli and Grocery–, located next door to each other at 901 Harlem Avenue where the illegal transactions were committed.

According to their plea agreements and court documents, the stores participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), previously known as the Food Stamp Program. Both Aljaradi and Al-Jabrati knew that it was a violation of SNAP regulations to trade cash for SNAP benefits. Nevertheless, from October 2010 to July 2013, Aljaradi and Al-Jabrati exchanged SNAP benefits for cash at less than face value of the EBT benefits, in violation of the food stamp program rules, and kept up to 50 percent of the benefits for themselves.

[…..]

The indictment alleges that as a result of these unlawful cash transactions, Aljaradi and Al-Jabrati obtained more than $2 million in payments for food sales that never occurred.

While the Court will determine the actual amount of the financial loss for the purpose of calculating the sentencing guidelines, restitution, and forfeiture, any money judgment ordered by the Court will not be less than $259,344.15, the funds seized from the stores and from two bank accounts associated with the stores.

For our complete archive on food stamp fraud, click here.