Geez, you would think that the big media like the Wall Street Journal (Miriam Jordan) might actually do a little more work than to simply join the orchestrated PR chorus (lobbying campaign!) of the likes of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) wailing for more taxpayer funding so they don’t have to reduce staff or heaven-forbid close offices and stop traveling or going to meetings in the wake of the “children’s” border surge.

In fact, as a regular reader here, you know both of those “refugee” (referred to now as “migrant”) contractors (the biggest crybabies) are getting money from two of the US Health and Human Services (Office of Refugee Resettlement) pockets—the one for ‘unaccompanied alien children’ and for the usual refugee flow of third-worlders into America.

Here is the Wall Street Journal’s ho-hum story (virtually the same one we are seeing from publications large and small).  Emphasis is mine:

The influx of Central American children across the southern U.S. border in recent months is having an impact on another immigrant community: refugees from Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Government funds that would ordinarily go to resettlement programs for refugees have been diverted to help pay for the costs of coping with the recent wave of unaccompanied minors, and it isn’t clear if the money will be entirely restored.

Then get this fear-mongering!

“Unfortunately, you are taking from one vulnerable population to provide to another vulnerable population,” said Jacinda Paschoal, regional operations manager for Lutheran Community Services Northwest, which resettles refugees in Oregon and Washington.

She said that tuberculosis testing, follow-up and treatment as well as services for school-aged children and elderly refugees are among those impacted by cuts. More than a dozen staff positions are slated to be eliminated in Portland, she said, because of the reallocation of resources.

I’m betting most readers are now saying—WTH!—we are bringing refugees with tuberculosis into the US and paying for their treatment? YES! Old people who need care too?   YES!

And, then this is the blood-boiling part of the story (if that wasn’t enough).   The article suggests that these contractors use their own “self-generated funding” to pay for their good works.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and other organizations that serve refugees have taken their concerns to congressional representatives. Among others, the organizations, using federal and self-generated funding, help refugees find housing and work as well as enroll in English classes and get vaccinated.  [The reporter could very easily have put a qualifier in this sentence that told readers that MOST of the money they spend is federal money—ed]

How much is federal and how much is private CHARITABLE money?  Truth please!

The USCCB is 98% supported by tax dollars and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service is 97% supported by public money.  Another galling thing we never hear about is that these federal contractors were lobbying for the Senate’s Gang of Eight amnesty bill! On our dime?

Since Jordan quotes from the whiners at Lutheran Community Services Northwest, let’s just have a look at their finances!

Here is their Form 990 for 2013 (year ending June 30th, 2013):

They received income that year of $21,604,804 and $19,557,224 came directly from US taxpayers as government grants.  There are other categories of income that are also possibly streams from public money as well. But, assuming just the government grants, that means they are 86% funded by you!

Their CEO, Roberta Nestaas, retired on June 30th of this year and was pulling down a salary and benefits package worth $221,935.  Presumably new CEO David Duea will do just as well (by doing good).

Their expenses include $13.7 million in wages and another nearly $2 million in “employee benefits.”  Their current officers and directors compensation was $371,575.

Office expenses and occupancy were over $2.3 million.

Travel: $389,574

Meetings and conferences:  $219,353

They even have an expense called “Volunteer expenses” which came to $176,510 in that one year.

So now why do you think there is all this wailing going on from quasi-government/quasi-religious supposed non-profits who want more of your money?

Come on!  How about some real investigative reporting for a change!

All of our coverage of ‘unaccompanied minors’ is here (the archive goes back several years).  Were the US Bishops partially responsible for the surge?  We think so!