Lancaster Lutherans run job placement service for African refugees

But, of course they are paid by you, the federal taxpayer, to provide the service.

I guess the Lancaster, PA area has run out of Americans looking for work and so Sudanese “refugees” who traveled through Libya, Egypt and the Ukraine are now working at an egg processing plant there.

There are some interesting nuggets in this story that obviously riled up local commenters (check out the comments before they disappear!).  I was struck again about how we (the US) have picked up “refugees” that have traveled through safe countries (not including Libya) and didn’t ask for asylum in say the Ukraine and wherever else they must have passed through.

REBECCA ZEMENCIK/staff photo

Be sure to check out the part of the story where the three Arabic-speaking men were dropped off by a driver in the wrong PA community and didn’t exactly receive a warm welcome.

From the Republican Herald (thanks to several readers for sending it):

SPRING GLEN – R.W. Sauder Inc., a fourth-generation family company, has returned to the Hegins Valley.

As of Jan. 1, R.W. Sauder Inc. has taken over Hegins Valley Farms and have all eight bird houses filled and fully operational. Unfortunately, the business was having difficulty filling all the positions in order to have the Hubley Township plant fully operational.

A trip to a Lancaster gym by Paul Sauder paid off in more ways than one both for both himself and his company.

“My dad was working out at the gym and got talking to this man who works with Lutheran Refugee Services in Lancaster,” Mark Sauder said. “He learned of refugees that are here from various places in the world and who need employment.”

Sauder met with Lutheran Refugee Services in Lancaster and was introduced to a program that works with companies to find gainful employment for refugees and help them to get established here in the states.

Lutheran Refugee Services resettles approximately 180 refugees to the United States [they must mean to Lancaster because the Lutherans actually resettle thousands to America every year—ed]. Refugees are individuals who are forced to leave their country because of war or persecution. In order to gain admittance to the United States, refugees must prove that they have not fought or aided in military action, but rather are victims of the conflict.

According to LRS, refugees arrive in the U.S. with a status that allows them to work. After five years, they will be eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship.

Currently, LRS is resettling refugees from Iraq, Burma and Sudan. LRS assists them for their first 90 days in the country. The goal is for all refugees to be self-sufficient at the end of that time. Because some refugees need time to learn the language and culture enough to gain employment on their own, LRS is also funded to provide assistance with their job search beyond that time. Refugees can come back to the agency for the assistance any time within their first five years in the country.

Three men from Sudan – Alhadi Gouma, Norreldin Ali and Ismaeil Shrif – are now gainfully employed at R.W. Sauder Inc.’s Hubley Township plant.

Sorry, it never rings true to me that these ‘frightened’ men are willing to leave wives and children behind in the supposedly dangerous area they came from.   No, I should rephrase that, what kind of man leaves his wife and children in danger?

“We have been in the United States for the past eight months,” said Shrif, who left his wife and other family members in order to seek a better life. “It was very scary in the Sudan. There was much killing and burning, the men in the area were constantly in danger.”

Shrif said the men traveled to Libya, Egypt and Ukraine in order to finally escape.

“I still have contact with my wife in Sudan and hope to bring her to the states,” Shrif said.

Don’t forget to read the commentary!

We have a lot on Lancaster here at RRW, click here for our complete archive on the preferred resettlement site.

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