This is from a comment thread at our post Friday—about African immigrants arrested in a massive DC Medicaid fraud ring bust. But, it might just as well be applied to why so many Americans can’t wrap their minds around the fact that someone would lie to get into our country (or any civilized country) so that they might destroy us someday.
I asked reader ‘momodoom’ this:
Momodoom, Why are Americans so vulnerable to this….why don’t we ‘get-it’ that some cultures/ethnic groups are so willing to lie, cheat and steal—especially from Americans—they do not think like us!
* sigh! * That’s the Question Of The Year! It’s Do-Gooder-itis, an illness of the perennially obtuse. Most of them are Christians and Jews who can’t be bothered with the intricacies of their religion, so they boil it down to simplistic phrases, like “God is good”, and then try to live their entire life by that phrase.
It’s also too much work for them to understand the intricacies of human nature, so they decide that everyone is, deep down, Just Like Them. Everyone is essentially good, no one wants to do any harm to anyone, everyone just wants to get along with everybody…
They just can’t conceive of a place where everyone learns, from birth onward, that life is a dog-eat-dog kind of place, that getting anything is hard in this life and that if you can find something to take for free you should grab it. Where cleverness is measured by how much you can take (and they just don’t call it “stealing”), that honesty is only for duping a person, and that good people are fodder for the evil ones, living in crushing poverty, and being butchered at will.
Readers: ‘Comments worth noting‘ is a category I sometimes forget about. When a reader sends a particularly informative or otherwise interesting comment, we post it (as a post) so most of you don’t miss it.
Asylum fraud is becoming the immigration crisis of the day and I believe historians will look back at this period as the tipping point—-America governed by soft leaders who allowed our great nation to be dragged into the third world through a complete breakdown of our borders. Don’t let it happen. Please speak up and inform your friends and neighbors about what is happening, and tell those jokes in Washington to grow a pair!
Immigration attorney: “In the next six months to a year, you will see even more Syrians crossing into the United States from Mexico.” Photo: Sandy Huffaker for The Wall Street Journal
Here is the latest asylum (fraud!) news from reporter Miriam Jordan at the Wall Street Journal (emphasis is mine):
In 2012, after being imprisoned and beaten, a Syrian dissident named Mohammad fled to neighboring Lebanon, where he applied for and was denied a U.S. tourist visa. Intent on rebuilding his life with family in California, he flew to Mexico City and then Tijuana. There, he crossed the U.S. border illegally and handed himself over to a customs official, seeking asylum.
Last month, the U.S. granted him that status. In a year, he will be eligible to apply for permanent U.S. residency.
With the three-year-old Syrian conflict raging on, and U.S. embassies in the Middle East increasingly denying tourist visas, more Syrians are arriving in Mexico on tourist visas and using the country as a gateway to possible U.S. asylum.A Mexican embassy spokesman “had no comment on this matter.”
Some say the phenomenon underscores the need for a more coordinated international response to the Syrian crisis, while others worry it may offer too easy a path to U.S. residence for potential terrorists, given al Qaeda’s rising presence in Syria.
The Department of Homeland Security in fiscal 2013 recorded 118 Syrian “credible-fear” referrals such as Mohammad’s, up from five in fiscal 2010. In these cases, migrants declare fear of harm if returned to their home country and may stay in the U.S. while pursuing asylum.
By the way, I came across this articlelast night blaming the government shut-down on the backlog of immigration court cases and not on the huge spike in asylum claims as illegal aliens increasingly come across our borders and ask for asylum.
Jordan continued:
At the beginning of the war, it was easier for Syrians to secure U.S. visas. [That explains this Muslim with the eight kids—ed]. Those who entered the U.S. in recent years with visas to study, work or tour also have been increasingly claiming asylum. In fiscal 2013, such applications numbered 1,335, up from 36 in 2010.But as the conflict has flared, the U.S. has denied a higher proportion of Syrian visa requests: 46% in fiscal 2013 compared with 28% three years earlier. Many don’t qualify because they can’t prove they will return home after visiting the U.S. Thus, hundreds of Syrians, including women and children, have begun to show up at the U.S.-Mexico border prepared to seek asylum.
As we previously reported, only a tiny fraction of asylum seekers are detained, the vast majority are released into your towns and cities.
Lawmakers, though, specifically cited a newly uncovered Immigration and Customs Enforcement document that showed thousands of asylum seekers were released while awaiting a decision.
The document, obtained and reviewed by FoxNews.com, showed that in fiscal 2012, just 2,508 of the more than 24,000 asylum seekers were kept in custody.
When we first started writing RRW in 2007, it was all about the refugee resettlement side of the Refugee Act of 1980, but gradually over the years the open borders agitators have been working overtime to build up the asylum side of the law. I noted the change here in January 2011 (three years ago!!!) when I looked back at the 30th anniversary “celebration” of the Refugee Act I had attended the previous year (where there was much giddy enthusiasm for the asylum process). How did poor downtrodden Somali teens get halfway around the world and arrive at our Mexican border seeking asylum—who helps them, where did they get the money, I asked. Who now is helping the Syrians?
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ migration office, which you (US taxpayers) are presently funding for the majority of its budget, has released a report predicting 60,000 illegal alien ‘kids’ will cross US borders this year. Some will be released to relatives and others will come under the Bishops’ care.
They say the ‘kids’ are escaping lawlessness at home and they deny that push factors include a pending ‘amnesty’ or Obama’s welcoming Dreamer policies. So because there is lawlessness around the world we are expected to welcome the kids!
This is a long article, but it is well-worth reading the entire thing for an insight into this latest phenomenon surely aided and abetted (if not entirely hatched) by the open borders lobby.
Kevin Appleby, lobbyist for the USCCB and author of the report: kids are not being drawn by Obama’s lenient immigration policies or the promise of amnesty. (Right!)
60,000 Unaccompanied Minors Could Arrive in U.S. in 2014, Warns Bishops’ Report
…last November, staff from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Department of Migration and Refugee Services, the largest refugee resettlement agency in the world, organized a mission to Mexico and Central America to examine the reasons for increased number of young migrants crossing the border.
The resulting report, issued in January by the USCCB delegation led by Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, warned that an estimated 60,000 undocumented minors — referred to in U.S. law as “Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) — could arrive in this country before the close of 2014.
“The delegation found that a series of interrelated factors have contributed to this dramatic increase in migration and that a ‘perfect storm’ of a number of these root causes has coalesced to create this phenomenon,” according to the report. [LOL! they later say that none of the perfect storm has to do with a pending amnesty or Obama’s policies!—ed]
Report: It is all about a breakdown in the rule of law where they live. So, I guess that means it’s o.k. to break our laws too?
Poverty, weak educational opportunities and a bleak future with no job prospects were part of the problem. The report also noted that many youngsters hoped to be reunited with family members, especially parents who may already be working in this country.
However, the most urgent reasons for the “fear and hopelessness” that spurred teenagers to embark on a harrowing journey to the United States were “generalized violence at the state and local levels and a corresponding breakdown of the rule of law.”
Numbers dramatically increasing:
The majority of unaccompanied minors are taken into custody by the U.S. border patrol, placed in a shelter and then released to relatives, with the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services providing most of the initial services.
Last year, an estimated 20,000 minors passed through the “shelter release” program run by the HHS Office of Refugee Services, almost double the number of 2012. In the first quarter for this fiscal year, 9,881 minors had already been placed in shelters, with daily costs averaging about $400 per person, according to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal. [Taxpayer dollars pay the Bishops to take care of those not released, but articles like this one never make that clear—ed]
The USCCB and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (not mentioned here) are the two major federal contractors paid by the Office of Refugee Resettlement to take care of the ‘kids.’ We previously learned that when the kids reach the age of 18 they are free in America!
At the national level, the USCCB department of Migration and Refugee Services lobbies to improve options and services for undocumented minors, and oversees a country-wide network of mostly Church-affiliated agencies that administer foster care programs.
The USCCB also provides the kids with lawyers, according to the article.
A nod to the critics:
Critics of the federal shelter release program argue that by facilitating family reunification and providing services like free education, the shelter release program is encouraging young migrants to make a hazardous journey and to violate U.S. laws.
There would be no USCCB Office of Migration and Refugee Services without your money.
Go to page 11 of the USCCB 2012 annual report, here.
Note that out of a total revenue stream of $70.9 million, government grants and contracts were an astounding $65.9 million. They also garnered another $3.6 million from refugee travel loans (that is your money too!). We loan money for refugees to get to America and then the USCCB, acting as a collection agency, collects the money from the refugee and returns some portion of it to the taxpayer, but keeps a cut for its labors.
So, if my math is correct, this means that 98% of the USCCB’s immigration work is funded by YOU! And, that would mean that 98% of lobbyist Appleby’s salary is paid by you (remember they are actively supporting amnesty legislation). We have heard, but have never seen published officially anywhere, that the US State Department covers the entire cost of their DC office as well!
See our complete archive on ‘unaccompanied minors’ here.
For this year (FY2014) the UNHCR is looking for commitments for 30,000.
So far, the only semi-official number we hear for the US is 2,000 for 2014, here. Although keep in mind that the refugee resettlement contractors recently testified in the Senatethat they wanted 12,000-15,000 in 2014. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops was pushing for the highest number—15,000! Remember that the contractors are paid by the head by the US State Department for each refugee they resettle. And, keep in mind that none of the resettlement contractors have said a word about protecting Syrian Christians as a priority!
UN spokesman McNorton: We expect our goal for 2014 to be met by a “significant number of submissions to the United States” [the UN does not think 2,000 is “significant” enough!—ed]On Friday, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees set a benchmark for 2015-2016. From Reuters:
GENEVA, February 21 |(UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency on Friday called upon countries around the world to make multi-annual commitments towards a goal of providing resettlement and other forms of admission for an additional 100,000 Syrian refugees in 2015 and 2016.
UNHCR had earlier called upon states to offer resettlement or other forms of admission to 30,000 of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees by the end of 2014. To date, 20 countries have offered more than 18,800*** places towards this goal. “UNHCR remains confident that the 30,000 goal will be met by the end of the year through a significant number of submissions to the United States,” spokesman Dan McNorton told journalists in Geneva.
UNHCR anticipates that, in the coming years, there will be increasing numbers of vulnerable Syrian refugees who will be in need of resettlement, relocation or other forms of humanitarian admission. “In light of the growing needs of the Syrian refugee population, the goal of 30,000 in 2014 represents only the first benchmark in securing solutions for this group,” said McNorton.
***Note that they are short by just about the same numbers the US resettlement contractors are lobbying for!
To give you some idea of how many other countries are taking, go here for a graph we posted earlier this month (Germany’s death wish!).
Concerned readers should contact your US Senators and Members of Congress to express your views on this next wave of mostly Muslims (chosen by the UN) and proposed for resettlement to your cities and towns. With Iraq, the open-borders contractors and lobbyists could argue that we caused the problems for Iraqis, not so this time! Ask your representatives why the Syrian civil war is our problem!
Great! More immigrant “entrepreneurs” for ‘Welcoming America’ to brag about!
We just mentioned yesterday in our widely read poston St. Cloud, MN that Somalis are busy setting up ‘home health care’ businesses and we have seen previous news accounts about how easy it is for such businesses to defraud the US taxpayer.
From Cameroon to DC: Here we come to rip-off some American taxpayers!
In this DC case, it appears that most of the fraudsters nabbed were from Cameroon according to (not surprisingly!) the last line in the story at CBS.DC. (It is very rare for the nationalities of immigrant law-breakers to be mentioned at all, so for this we are grateful.)
Many of those charged are immigrants from Cameroon in west Africa, but authorities did not go into detail about their nationalities.
Don’t you think there should be a law requiring that the public be informed about what LEGAL immigration program allowed these aliens to enter the US in the first place? It is always my first question!
Few of these crooks would be refugees because we don’t take many refugees from Cameroon. Nor does DC resettle many refugeesalthough Maryland surely does. So how did they get here?
WASHINGTON (CBSDC/AP) — Federal authorities say 25 people have been charged in a wide-ranging scheme to obtain millions of dollars in fraudulent Medicaid payments from the District of Columbia government.
U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen calls it the largest health-care fraud case in the city’s history. It involved bogus claims for home care services, a category of Medicaid claim that has grown dramatically in the city over the past eight years. Machen says fraud is largely responsible for the increase in those claims. The uptick in billings for home care — from $40 million in 2006 to $280 million last year — was part of what tipped off authorities to illegal activity, U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen said.
“We concluded that much of the growth was due to aggressive networks of fraudsters paying kickbacks to beneficiaries to manufacture false claims for nonexistent services,” Machen said, later adding: “Medicaid fraud in the District of Columbia is at epidemic levels.”
Ms. Bikundi’s upscale home in Maryland! http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/02/florence-bikundi-arrested-in-medicaid-fraud-crackdown-100429.html
Among those charged Thursday was Florence Bikundi, 51, of Bowie, Md., the owner of a home care agency in suburban Maryland who had lost her nursing license and was ineligible to receive Medicaid payments. Authorities say that by using different names, she was able to bill the city for $75 million in Medicaid payments.
Prosecutors say many of the defendants persuaded patients to fake illness or injury so they could bill Medicaid for home care they didn’t receive. Some of those patients received kickbacks, authorities said, although no patients have been charged.
[….]
Machen said it wasn’t clear whether any of those payments went to legitimate home care services, but Bikundi was able to amass significant personal wealth, authorities said. Among the property seized from her were millions of dollars from 46 bank accounts, a 7,300-square-foot home valued at $927,000 and five luxury vehicles.
Sometimes I think there are fraud training programs abroad before the immigrant even gets here—maybe a Scams 101, or Fraud-planning for Dummies—-because some of the ones we’ve written about on these pages require a level of sophistication and an infusion of seed money that one wouldn’t expect your average migrant to be blessed with.
Just a reminder! We are posting stories like this one at a new facebook page entitled ‘Diversity’s Dark Side.’ Check it out and “Like” it, here.
