Numbers USA: True Champion for the American worker, Sen. Jeff Sessions, named chairman of Senate Immigration Subcommittee

01/23/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Chris Chmielenski at NumbersUSA sent out this important announcement today:

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) was named chairman of the Senate Immigration, Refugees and Border Security subcommittee this week, giving significant control over immigration legislation to Congress’ top champion of lower immigration levels and American workers. Sen. Sessions has already renamed the subcommittee “‘Immigration and the National Interest,’ as a declaration to the American people that this subcommittee belongs to them,” according to a statement on his website.

Congratulations Senator Sessions! Our first ray of hope in a very long time!

“The financial and political elite have been controlling this debate for years; this subcommittee will give voice to those whose voice has been shut out … the voice of all Americans who believe we must have a lawful system of immigration they can be proud of and that puts their interests first.”

— Sen. Sessions

Sen. Sessions’ record on immigration speaks for itself. He was the most ardent opponent of the Senate’s Gang of 8 mass amnesty bill in 2013 and has consistently spoken out against Pres. Obama’s executive actions on immigration. Earlier this month, his staff hand-delivered a 25-page memo he wrote to all House GOP in advance of their retreat, making the case for lower immigration levels and increased enforcement.

The appointment could prove to be extremely significant should new Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stick to his pledge to return the Senate to “regular order”. It would mean that every immigration-related bill would have to pass through Sen. Sessions’ subcommittee before it could reach the Senate floor for a vote.

The subcommittee’s vice-chair will be another immigration-reduction champion, Sen. David Vitter (R-La.). Both Sessions and Vitter have NumbersUSA Career grades of A+.

Senate considers its options

Thank you to all of our activists who placed thousands of phone calls to Senate offices this week pushing for passage of the House-passed DHS spending bill that would defund most of Obama’s executive actions. Your calls reminded lawmakers of their midterm campaign promises and that voters won’t forget pledges to do everything in their power to stop Pres. Obama’s executive actions on immigration.

The Senate is not in session today, but will return on Monday. Debate over some bills is running longer than expected, so it’s still uncertai n when Sen. McConnell will bring the House-passed DHS spending bill to the Senate floor. But, Politico is reporting that GOP Leaders are looking for alternative solutions to stopping the President’s executive overreach should the DHS spending bill not pass.

“Top Republicans are exploring ways of escaping their political jam on immigration, with steps that could avoid a funding cutoff for the Department of Homeland Security while letting conservatives vent their anger at President Barack Obama.”

— Politico, “GOP seeking Plan B on immigration”, Jan. 21, 2015

NumbersUSA President Roy Beck protests that thinking:

We aren’t interested in venting anger; we’re interested in results that protect American workers and their families from the wage depression of Mr. Obama’s actions.

We can’t let Members of Congress off the hook! We’ll be coming to you next week with more phoning and faxing opportunities as we continue to pressure Congress to uphold its promise to stop Pres. Obama’s executive amnesties and work permits for millions of illegal aliens.

Border bill moving quickly through the House

Earlier this week, the House Homeland Security Committee passed an amended version of Rep. Michael McCaul’s (R-Texas) border bill, the Secure the Border First Act.

The bill purports to require completion of the 700-miles of double layered fencing that was authorized by the Secure the Fence Act of 2006, but in fact, counts vehicle barriers and single-layer fencing in the 700 miles, even though they don’t comply with the requirements of the law. It also requires implementation of the biometric entry/exit system that has been authorized by Congress and funded on at least six separate occasions and requires DHS to achieve “operational control” along the Southern border. But the bill allows 5-7 years for these provisions to take effect, letting the Obama Administration off the hook for its lack of enfo rcement over the last six years.

The bill’s title, however — the Secure the Border First Act — suggests that Congress should take no further actions on immigration, including guest worker programs and amnesty, until the provisions are implemented and the border secured.

It’s been pointed out by both Sen. Sessions and Jessica Vaughan at the Center for Immigration Studies that the bill throws lots of resources at the border but doesn’t actually change the current administration’s policies, including catch-and-release. Thus, this administration and future ones could intercept every person crossing the Southern border illegally, but if they’re simply issued notices to appear an d relocated to the interior of the country, it wouldn’t really stop future waves of illegal border crossings like the one last summer. So, in reality, the bill really doesn’t do anything to reduce illegal immigration.

The bill will come before the House Rules Committee on Monday and then move to the House floor during the week.

Maybe we can persuade the new Sessions subcommittee (Immigration and the National Interest) to have a look at the Refugee Resettlement Program! After three decades it needs a review!

Construction of new mosque in Twin Falls, ID the result of Muslim refugee influx

01/23/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Throughout America mosque construction is underway due to the ever-expanding population of Muslim refugees that the US State Department is tucking away in the most unlikely places. Recently we learned that Muslims in Anchorage, Alaska were building a new mosque. Now comes this news from Twin Falls, Idaho (Magic Valley!)….

Does the State Department understand that, as they create Muslim enclaves, they are facilitating the Hijra–the Islamic Doctrine of Immigration—which says it is the responsibility of all Muslims to migrate?

(The story is from AP and published at Seattle.pi.)

You should know at the outset that the refugee program in Idaho is a Wilson-Fish program which means the state of Idaho government itself (including elected officials) have absolutely no say in the program.

In truth, no states can veto anything the feds and their contractors do (I don’t know any that have tried!), it’s just in Wilson-Fish states the secrecy surrounding resettlement is even worse. Refugee resettlement is a complete abrogation of State’s rights under the US Constitution, but has never been challenged as far as we know.

Bye! bye! Magic Valley.

Seattle.pi:

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (AP) — One recent Friday, men took off their shoes and placed them in a shoe organizer near the entrance of the Islamic Center of Twin Falls.

They walked across green carpet into an area no bigger than a living room and paused, facing northeast toward Islam’s holiest city, Mecca. Several kneeled, heads bowed, while others sat in front of their imam, Bakhritdin Yusupov.

The room quickly filled until four lines formed before Yusupov. As many as 60 men gather to pray in this room on Fridays. In many countries, Muslims get Fridays off from work to go to their mosque, much as Christians have Sundays off to attend church.

Women also use the Twin Falls mosque, but jumu’ah, or Friday prayers, are required only of men. Sometimes the mosque is so crowded that people stand outside the door.

On Dec. 9, members of the Islamic Center of Twin Falls applied for a special use permit to expand and erect a new building on their site at 455 Addison Ave. The permit was approved the same day. [Chickens feared to speak post-Paris?—ed]

The next step is to get a building permit. But the nonprofit might need two or three years to raise $200,000 to build its 2,500-square-foot structure, said Imad Eujayl, center spokesman.

Recent terrorist attacks in Paris, Belgium and elsewhere have drawn much attention to Muslims, and stereotypes abound.

Indeed, two Muslims who frequent the Islamic Center here declined to be identified in the Times-News, saying public knowledge of their religion could hurt their business. [Interesting! Could there be other reasons they wouldn’t give their names?—ed]

But many others said they feel secure in Twin Falls, a city noted for its Refugee Center and constant influx of foreign immigrants. An estimated 1,000 Muslims live in the Magic Valley.

Read on if you feel like it. The article, written post-Paris terror attack, seeks to make readers feel better about Muslims.

More on “welcoming” Idaho by clicking here. Refugee Center website is here.

The Netherlands is full up, rental housing virtually non-existent

01/23/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

More in our ‘Invasion of Europe’ series….

The town of Almere in the Netherlands has a 6-year waiting list for “social housing.” Photo: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Almere,_the_Netherlands_2004.jpg

From NLTimes.nl (emphasis is mine):

Rental market tough as refugees pile in

More than a quarter of Dutch municipalities are facing problems in providing housing for the people who want to live there. There will be more refugees to the Netherlands and the result is that waiting time for anyone on a waiting list will increase, according to a survey of 326 municipalities. The questionnaire, created by regional broadcasters and NOS, could not get 67 additional municipalities to take part.

Last year there were over 25,000 asylum seekers to the Netherlands which is 10,000 more than the year before. Most of them come from Syria, Eritrea and Somalia and many of them may stay for humanitarian reasons and must be placed from refugee centers in to ordinary housing. [Seems to me that they should just keep them in refugee centers. Duh! If they are offered government subsidized ordinary housing more will come!—ed]

There is an increasing pressure on social rental market, hardly any apartment turnover, housing corporations are selling some of their inventory and fewer rental houses are being built, says Aedes, the national association of housing corporations in the Netherlands.

In the town of Hulst, Zeeuws-Vlaanderen region, there are 300 people waiting for an apartment and the waiting time for social housing in Almere is more than six years. Other municipalities say that there are no houses because the current residents are staying in, or because most of the residents are homeowners.

During the first half of 2014 the municipalities had to accommodate 6,500 refugees and they served over 91 percent of the asylum seekers. In the first half of 2015, the municipalities must temporarily accommodate 14,000 residence permit holders, who are staying in the Netherlands.

Go here for our Netherlands archive. And, here is our ‘Invasion of Europe’ archive.

There is no end in sight!

Cubans speeding up arrival in US, fear possible change in law

01/23/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Getting away from Muslim migrants for a moment, we have a story this morning about how federal refugee resettlement contractor (one of the big nine***), Church World Service, helps Cubans who are ECONOMIC migrants, not refugees, get settled in America.

Miguel Laguna, a caseworker at Church World Service, a refugee resettlement agency, runs an orientation class about life in the US for a newly arrived Cuban family. Credit: Monica Campbell http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-01-22/youre-cuban-youve-reached-us-boat-now-what

I’ve been wondering lately what Obama’s change in US/Cuban relations will have on the thousands and thousands of Cubans still arriving in the US under that ridiculous “wet foot, dry foot” policy.

If we normalize relations with Cuba, why would there be any “refugees” coming here? Or, will his policy simply open the pipeline completely for one and all to fly right in?

A refugee by definition is escaping persecution. People wanting a job and social services are economic migrants and not eligible for refugee status (unless you are Cuban of course).

They are coming here for American jobs! Remember! Your tax dollars pay for most of the services of Church World Service! See how much here.

Here is the story from PRI.org (emphasis below is mine):

Forget for a second that you live in the United States, that you know its laws, know English, know what a Social Security number is, let alone worrying about having one.

Now imagine that’s the wave of information you are trying to absorb, quickly, in a small conference room in Miami. That’s exactly what happens to some families when they arrive in the United States.

Miguel Laguna helps guide them through the bewildering process. He’s a caseworker at Church World Service, a refugee resettlement agency with an office in the Miami area. Most of the Miami office’s clients are Cubans. [Miami office website is here–ed]

Laguna goes over with the family how to take the bus, apply for citizenship and where to study English. It’s a lot to take in.

[….]

Ramos sits with his wife, Ailén, and his son, also named Ismael. The family tells me it took two days and two nights in a small boat to reach Florida. They got lost in the Gulf of Mexico, but eventually made it. “The GPS broke, so we didn’t know where we were for a while,” Ailén says.

They say they left Cuba because there’s no work there. Ailén says she was a gym teacher making $12 a month, a pretty typical salary in Cuba. The family thought of leaving for years, but sped up their plans for fear that the United States’ unique and controversial “wet foot, dry foot” policy might disappear.

That policy says that Cuban migrants who make it to shore — “dry foot” — won’t be sent back, and will essentially be granted US residency after a year and one day in this country. The original intent was to drain the best and brightest from communist Cuba by dangling US visas, so some Cubans worry that better US-Cuba relations will lead to a change in policy.

Only Congress can make changes to “wet foot, dry foot,” and that could take a while. But the rumors that the policy might disappear persist in Cuba, and a rising number of people are leaving the island for the US on boats or, in some cases, by land through Latin America.

[….]

Laguna does note that this family has an advantage: They have relatives living in Miami. For Cuban refugees who arrive alone, there’s a lot of uncertainty.

[….]

I ask them why they left Cuba. They all say similar thing: “the economy,” “jobs,” “no work.”

It’s an answer that fuels a growing argument: Why treat Cubans differently than Guatemalans who flee gangs and poverty? What about Mexicans wanting to send money back to their relatives back home, or people fleeing war and repression elsewhere who must petition for asylum in the United States? Why give Cubans a special pass?

Of course what they are working up to is not changing the fact that Cubans get a pass with special treatment, but they want every other person in the world who needs a job or is fleeing crime to get the same pass without that messy business of applying for asylum!

By the way, we make 20,000 slots available every year IN CUBA for truly persecuted people, they don’t have to take risky voyages! Those taking the risky trip are job seekers—economic migrants!

It was Church World Service’s role in the county where I live that is responsible for the birth of this blog.

*** For new readers, these are the nine major federal resettlement contractors: