As I mentioned, I took some reading material with me when I was away last week and had a chance to make this list of “preferred communities” from the 2010 Annual Report to Congress from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) in the Department of Health and Human Services.
According to the feds, a”preferred community” is one in which newly arriving refugees have the best opportunity for “self-sufficiency and integration.” I look at the list and know that many of these cities are having big problems with refugees/immigrant joblessness and poverty, and lack of integration (assimilation!).
The grants for 2010 totaled nearly $6 million. And, take note Wyoming, the grants did not go to the city or state, the grants went to the contractors, so they decide what is needed to smooth the way for refugees in your “welcoming” city!
It strikes me that this is just one more excuse to funnel your tax dollars to a contractor.
Below are the cities that were “preferred” for both continuation grants and new grants in 2010 (from 2010 Annual Report). Since my return I see that the Annual Report for 2011 is out, so I’ve added those cities in red. Keep in mind that the ORR is always late in producing these reports, so by 2012 and 2013 surely they have added new cities to their “preferred communities.”
***Again, cities in red were added in 2011. This list gives you an idea of the cities being overloaded and that problems have developed.***
Bet you didn’t know your city was “preferred!”
Arizona: Tuscon, Phoenix
California: San Diego, Sacramento, Modesto, Walnut Creek
Colorado: Denver, Greeley, Ft. Collins, Loveland
Connecticut: Derby/Bridgeport, New Haven
District of Columbia
Florida: Orlando, Clearwater
Georgia: Atlanta, Savannah
Idaho: Boise, Twin Falls, Treasure Valley
Illinois: Chicago, Dupage/Aurora, Moline
Indiana: Indianapolis
Iowa: Des Moines
Kentucky: Louisville, Lexington, Owensboro
Maryland: Baltimore, Silver Spring
Massachusetts: Springfield, Jamaica Plain, Worcester
Michigan: Dearborn, Ann Arbor
Minnesota: Minneapolis, St. Cloud, St. Paul
Missouri: Kansas City
Nebraska: Omaha
Nevada: Las Vegas
New Hampshire: Manchester, Concord
New Jersey: East Orange
New Mexico: Albuquerque
New York: Syracuse, Buffalo, Utica, Albany
North Carolina: Raleigh, New Bern, Wilmington, Durham, High Point, Charlotte, Greensboro (lucky NC!)
Ohio: Cleveland, Columbus, Akron
Pennsylvania: Lancaster, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Erie
Rhode Island: Providence
Tennessee: Nashville, Knoxville
Texas: Fort Worth, Houston, Austin
Virginia: Charlottesville
Washington: Seattle, Richland
Wisconsin: Milwaukee, Madison
This was so much fun, I’ll see if I can find more recently designated “preferred” cities!
Today’s post is archived in our ‘where to find information’ category.
***Update*** Here you can see a list of new grantees. Note that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops gets nearly $2 million through 2016 for preferred communities, but no specific sites are listed (they probably don’t want you to know that your city is among the chosen!).