Amarillo, TX, a pocket of resistance, is still trying to stop the resettlement of refugees to their overloaded city

We told you about Amarillo, here, back in February.  They were appealing to their Congressman for help in stemming the migrant tide.

Apparently their REPUBLICAN Congressman (did he get a visit from Grover Norquist?) didn’t do much for them because, according to this article, they are now turning to their state legislators.

[This is not a story about ‘unaccompanied minors,’ but for new readers it is one about the three-decades-old federal program quietly resettling the third-world into America via phony ‘non-profit’ contractors.]

We know this same-old-story well—city services depleted, health department stressed to the max, schools filled with needy children who don’t speak English, not enough housing or jobs.  But, there is one thing that jumped out at me in the same-old-story (high-lighted in red below).

Wyoming and Athens, GA, are you listening?

A case of the dueling contractors?

From News Channel 10:

Amarillo, TX – Amarillo has one of the highest numbers of refugees for a city across the country.

The city has been working to reduce the number of refugees for two years now because they say the number is too high for the city to support.

One of the main concerns the city is seeing is with school funding.

Mayor Paul Harpole says the number of refugees Amarillo is receiving is putting a strain on schools.

“Our concern is that our schools get enough funding to take care of this or we limit the number to more with what our population is. We are getting a higher number of refugees in our city than any other city in the United States of America and we don’t think that is good for the refugees in our city” said Harpole.

Amarillo has been doing refugee resettlement since 1979.

The city says they will still welcome refugees to the area, but the large number is outgrowing the city.

“We have been traditionally accepting, we have Catholic Family Services and now Refugee Resettlement of Texas*** and they have worked well with the refugee population. But we just think it is getting a little too stout for what we should be getting in our city,” said Harpole.

I couldn’t decide if I should liken the contractors to dogs fighting over a bone (federal money) or sharks seeing blood in the water (federal money).  But these dogs seemed appropriate (federal grants/contracts are, of course, the bone).  For new readers, contractors are paid by the head for each refugee they resettle in your towns and cities.

And it makes you wonder if the US State Department is doing its job when it awards contracts???

News Channel 10 continued:

Art work: Kitt Gardner

Nancy Koons, the executive director of Catholic Charities of the Texas Panhandle, which provides refugee resettlement services.

Koons says they started reducing their numbers back in 2011 to help with the issue.

“When we reduced our numbers from 400 to 200, Refugee Services of Texas, another agency in town picked them up, so we ended up with a net of no difference … so we still have a high resettlement rate,” said Koons.

 [….]

The mayor will meet with Senator Kel Seliger this week and other state leaders in Austin about the problem.

Learn how the federal government (ORR) has hired “Welcoming America” to try to clean up the “pockets of resistance.”

***Refugee Resettlement of Texas is a subcontractor of THREE of the major resettlement contractors:  Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Church World Service and Episcopal Migration Ministries. Wow!  I guess no one is mediating the contracting wars that must be going on in Washington!

The contractors (we may have to start adding grant recipient big dogs Baptist Children and Family Services and Southwest Key Programs to our list):

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