Tennessee: housing market “unkind” to refugees/immigrants

Do we see a trend developing here!  It appears that the Open borders activists must have sent out talking points—tell the media that there is unfair treatment of refugees/asylum seekers and other migrants rampant in America!

We just now posted on the not-so-nice Minnesotans, here.  And, we have a story from Portland, Maine last week that we didn’t get to about problems asylum seekers are having with landlords there.

Hawa Abdullahi: We would like more low-income housing for our people. http://www.centerforrefugees.org/our-team/

Now comes the news from Nashville, a major resettlement site for Catholic Charities, that they are having problems with “fair housing” in that ‘welcoming’ city and surrounding counties.

Not mentioned, of course, are the problems that impoverished or disabled native Nashville area citizens are likely having getting housing when they have to compete with the immigrants!

From The Tennessean  (Hat tip: Joanne).  Emphasis is mine:

Immigrants and refugees in Nashville have more help than ever finding stable housing, but forces beyond their control have made life tougher in recent years.

Increasing apartment rental costs have been hard on international newcomers, said Hawa Abdullahi, social services coordinator with the Center for Refugees and Immigrants of Tennessee, at a conference on fair housing in Nashville.

“We have seen a lot of rent going up, which is hard for people to cover,” she said. “We see a lot of people getting pushed … moving to Antioch, Smyrna, and places like that. It’s really getting hard right now to find apartments.”

Abdullahi spoke about immigrant housing experiences as part of the Fair Housing Matters Conference. The fight against housing discrimination has taken on new urgency locally and across the nation because of increased federal funding and new directives meant to make housing available to all people.

Abdullahi described how the refugee families she works with struggle to get by on wages that rarely top $10 per hour.

The panelists said immigrants struggle to find housing because of language barriers, discrimination, poor credit histories, and limited options near public transit.

And refugees, in particular, arrive with debt. People approved by the U.S. government to move into America to escape persecution in their home countries, they receive financial assistance for eight months but must pay back the travel costs that move them to America in the first place.  [This plane fare issue is bogus—many just walk away from the debt.  What they never tell you is that the ‘church contractor’ (in this case Catholic Charities) gets to keep a portion of the loan if it is repaid!  Only a small portion of your tax dollars are reimbursed to the US treasury.–ed]

About 1,300 refugees are resettled in and around Nashville each year — with more than two-thirds joining families that already live here.   [Just a reminder readers, that when yours has become a “welcoming” city, the first refugees arriving apply to bring their family members.  It is called chain migration—ed]

[….]

“The city of Nashville is getting better. Definitely (officials) are aware Nashville is a destination for immigrants,” Morales said. “For surrounding counties, that’s a different story.”

Nashville has been such a hot spot over the years that we have a whole category designated just for Nashville, here, with 65 previous posts.  Nashville was recently chosen by the federal government as a “preferred community” for refugee resettlement, here.

Report: Minnesota not “nice” enough to refugees/illegal aliens

Our Minnesota readers will be angered (or rolling on the floor laughing) at this news!

Robin Phillips: Minnesotans violate refugees/migrants human rights!

From the Star Tribune (hat tip: Robin).  Emphasis is mine:

Despite a self-professed sense of acceptance of newcomers and a well-worn notion of “Minnesota Nice,” the state does not provide some of the most basic protections to the more than 350,000 immigrants and refugees living here, a new report claims.

From public safety policies that force immigrants to live in fear of deportation to some of the worst racial disparities in the nation in income, health, and educational outcomes, the failures undermine the state’s values and squander the potential resources newcomers can contribute, according to a report from the Advocates for Human Rights, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit.

The study, “Moving from Exclusion to Belonging,” looks at a number of federal policies that the report says have combined to create a sense of exclusion. Those include what it calls “meager provisions” of a maximum 90 days of assistance for refugees after arrival, and a six-month wait before asylum seekers become eligible to apply for a work permit.

[….]

“Laws, policies and practices exclude immigrants and refugees from full participation in our community and violate their human rights,” said Robin Phillips, executive director for the organization.

Read it all!

And, then you might want to revisit this old post from 2011,Why so many Somalis in Minneapolis, where we learned that it was due to the “welcoming” social services in Minnesota that US resettlement contractors (Catholic Charities, Lutheran Social Services and World Relief)  have been pouring them into Minnesota for more than 25 years!   We recently learned that secondary migrants are flooding into Minnesota as well.

This is one of the strategies we see all too often—Leftists write reports and then use them as news hooks.

Canada: Roma refugee sentenced in apartment building arson

Diversity is strength alert!

Looks like Canada got a vibrant ‘new Canadian’ when they gave this one citizenship!

Bad boy won’t be allowed matches when he gets out in 8 months!

From thespec.com (Hat tip: ‘pungentpeppers’):

A 62-year-old man has been sentenced to two years in jail for dousing his Bold Street high-rise apartment with gasoline and setting it on fire.

The December 2011 fire triggered an emergency rescue of tenants, including seniors, that sent four Hamilton police officers to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.

Rudolf Balogh was sentenced Friday within hours of pleading guilty to arson endangering life.

[….]

The fire caused an explosion that knocked out windows and sent shattered glass across the street, Reid said, adding damage was in excess of $100,000.

He came to Canada in 1999 and had his last job in 2000!  So he worked for a year until he figured out how to get on disability!  Yet, they say he has poor “coping skills.”

Balogh came to Canada as a refugee claimant in 1999 and was granted Canadian citizenship in 2010. He was married twice and has five children.

His last job was in 2000 and he has received government assistance since 2001 under the Ontario Disability Support Program because of health issues including heart problems, diabetes, colon cancer, a leg injury and mental health.

The psychiatrist report said Balogh attempted suicide many times, suffers from depression and has poor coping skills. The fire, the report said, was a result of a major depressive episode and a cry for help.

He only has 8 months left on his sentence before he is out in public again!  Take comfort though—he has been forbidden matches!  This is not a joke, but it is an idea for a comedy skit!

Balogh, who appeared in court in a wheelchair and with a Hungarian interpreter, has been in custody off and on since arrested in Jan. 2012 because he twice breached his bail conditions.

Charges on the breaches were yet to be dealt with and there was no information on what the breaches were.

Carpenter-Gunn sentenced him to two years, but gave him credit for 16 months for his time in custody — leaving him eight months to still serve. This will be followed by three years of probation.  [Here is a novel idea—how about deportation!—ed]

He was also ordered to provide a DNA sample, ordered not to possess any matches, lighters or incendiary devices, or firearms, and to stay away from the apartment building property manager and the taxi driver.

For more news on Canada’s refugee problems, see our Canada category here.