Kenya may be one of the only countries in Africa which has a will for self-preservation and so they have begun to clean-up some hotbeds of anti-Kenyan activity, especially neighborhoods associated with the Westgate Mall slaughterby a band of Somali al-Shabaab terrorists*** last September.
Community organizer, Jibril Afyare (center?), led 100 picketers in St. Paul condemning Kenya.
However, the Minnesota Somali “community” apparently doesn’t think Kenya has the right to save itself and agitators there, including newly elected city council member Abdi Warsame, are calling on the US government to step in. They say they want “justice.”
After members of the Twin Cities’ Somali-American community said their afternoon prayers Friday, they gathered at the state Capitol to express solidarity and demand justice for relatives in Kenya.
Reports from human rights groups, news stories and communications with relatives describe abuses against Somalis in Eastleigh, a suburb of the Kenyan capital of Nairobi that is known for its large Somali population.
As part of an ongoing counter-terrorism crackdown, Kenyan security forces launched house-to-house searches in Eastleigh last Monday.
US government should intervene in Kenyan affairs says community organizer.
Nearly 100 picketers joined the Friday demonstration in St. Paul, condemning actions by Kenyan government and demanding the release of those detained.
Jibril Afyare, an activist who organized the demonstration, said the event was meant to raise awareness and ask the U.S. government to intervene and stand with Somalis in Kenya.
Warsame: Somalis in prison everywhere!
Minneapolis City Council member Abdi Warsame, Somali-born with personal ties to Somalis in Kenya, was among the elected officials who attended Friday’s Capitol gathering.
Addressing the crowd in Somali, Warsame said: “Somalis everywhere are in prisons. We’re in prison in Hennepin County. We’re in prison in Nairobi. We’re in prison in Mogadishu.”
LOL! Maybe there is a reason for that!
As I said the other day, why don’t young, strong, educated Somalis like Afyare and Warsame go back to Somalia and save their country from further ruin instead of flapping their gums from the safety of Minnesota. I think I know why—it is not about Somalia. They are more interested in Al-Hijra—the Islamic doctrine of immigration—for both Kenya and America.
*** Remember readers that there are Somalis in prison in the US for sending financial support to al-Shabaab.
Governor Matt Mead keeps saying, they (refugees) are coming to Wyoming anyway, so we need a plan.
According to this article some immigrants are arriving in the Wyoming court system and require interpreters that are not readily available. The Wyoming Public Radio story mentions Chinese (Mandarin), Spanish, and an occasional Laotian or Somali speaker.
However, keep in mind that a “refugee recruitment” office in the state is not going to solve the problem of immigrants on trial in Wyoming and in need of skilled interpreters—it will only exacerbate the problem because of the myriad languages refugees to America are speaking.
For review, the top nine languages (in descending order) spoken by refugees in the last 6 years are: Arabic, Nepali, Sgaw Karen, Somali, Spanish, Chaldean, Burmese, Armenian, Kayah and more than 8000 refugees in those 6 years spoke “other minor languages.”
Utah Burmese refugee found guilty earlier this year in rape and murder of little girl. Appropriate interpreter was initially difficult to find.
We have written much lately about the expensive refugee criminal trials where costs for court interpreters were a hefty portion of the bill (see Utah Burmese rape murder trialfor instance). Are you ready for this in Wyoming?
A refugee resettlement office will have no role in dealing with the secondary migrants already arriving in Wyoming. Their job will be to bring new refugees into Wyoming and that is what they are paid to do!
Wyoming is a largely rural state with limited diversity. But as the population grows and the state attracts all sorts of newcomers. Wyoming is learning to accommodate the changing population. One of the areas where the state is making headway is interpretation services in its courts. Wyoming Public Radio’s Irina Zhorov reports.
Not mentioned here is that it is federal law that appropriate court interpreters (and interpreters for all sorts of social welfare/healthcare/education) be provided to the newcomers and billed to LOCAL taxpayers. Note to “welcoming” communities—it is expensive!
I’ve not seen that phrase before—refugee recruitment—it must be newly coined by critics of Wyoming Republican Governor Matt Mead’s proposal to study the possibility of a refugee resettlement office in the state, but I like it!
Mead’s primary challenger, Dr. Taylor Haynes, opposes Mead’s invitation to the federal government to study the possibility of resettling refugees in Wyoming.
Here is yet another article on the controversy. Our complete archive, is here.
CHEYENNE — State officials are continuing to study a proposal that could bring a refugee resettlement program to Wyoming.
But the governor’s office and others are also trying to quell worries that this will lead to an influx of immigrants coming here.
“Some people are concerned about this effort, worrying that Wyoming is ‘recruiting’ refugees,” Gov. Matt Mead recently wrote in a letter to the editor sent to newspapers in the state. “There is no recruitment; there is, however, an effort to understand the issue.
“Right now, our state is learning more on the issue.”
Mead sent a letter last year to the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement*** to explore setting up a public-private resettlement office here.
The federally funded program would provide refugees with a range of assistance, including help finding housing, employment and health care, for the first several months after they arrive in the country.
The feds and their resettlement contractors would like Wyoming decision-makers to think that the whole program is funded from Washington. It is not! For a few months US taxpayers foot the bill for the refugees and then the responsibility falls on the state for all of those refugees who never find work. Wouldn’t you think that a Republican governor would be sensitive to taxpayers and jobs for Americans everywhere before getting into a contract with Washington?
Barnett: Federal refugee contractors are no different then your Lockheed Martins in that they have the same incentives.
The Tribune Eagle continues:
Don Barnett is a fellow for the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for a reduction in the number of immigrants coming into the country.
He agreed that refugees can impact the state’s and federal government’s budget.
And he cautioned that the federal government and the groups picked to be its contractors rather than the state would largely control how many refugees come here, where they will live and where they come from.
He said the contractors also proactively try to set up the refugees with the welfare programs.
“I don’t think people realize that the state will not have much control of this program if it is institutionalized or implemented,” he said. “It’s largely these contractors that will have the say, and these federal contractors are no different than your Lockheed Martins in that they have the same type of incentives.”
*** Gov. Mead wrote his letter of inquiry to the Office of Refugee Resettlement which is in the US Dept. of Health and Human Services (they dole out the $$$ to the contractors after the refugees are resettled. It is the US State Department (and the UN) which makes decisions about who comes to the US and it is the State Department which doles out the $$$ to the contractors for the initial resettlement and decides where they will be located (in consultation with ORR). Contractors are PAID BY THE HEAD.
Wyoming controversy goes national, including discussion about Mead challenger Taylor Haynes
The Associated Press has picked up the Wyoming refugee story. Here it is at the Washington Times:
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – Gov. Matt Mead is addressing criticism about the possibility of opening a refugee resettlement program in Wyoming.
Mead recently sent a letter to the editor addressing the issue to newspapers across the state. Mead wrote that the state is still learning more about the issue and said that Wyoming is not recruiting refugees.
The Wyoming Tribune Eagle (http://bit.ly/1m21Fj0) reports that Mead’s challenger for the Republican nomination, Taylor Haynes, is among those who have criticized the move.
Haynes said refugees could strain Wyoming’s budget by relying on state and federally funded safety net programs like Medicaid. He is also worried that they may not be screened for ties to violence or for diseases such as HIV and the Ebola virus. [Haynes is a medical doctor, so it is interesting that the story doesn’t mention those credentials.—ed]
Two Wyoming cities are the subject of discussion for locating the federal offices—Gillette and Casper. Once established, it is only rarely (extremely rare!) that a city can stop the program when they find out that there are problems and there will be many problems!
Addendum: I see our fact sheet on refugee resettlement is attracting large numbers of readers (again!). If you haven’t seen it, click here.
