It is Sunday morning: Will US Catholic Bishops choose conscience or cash?

04/12/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Religious principles or Caesar’s money?

The major US refugee resettlement contractor (in terms of the number of refugees ‘served’), the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, is between a rock and a hard place.

They have been taking millions upon millions of taxpayer dollars for decades and now they are faced with a possible lawsuit from the ACLU which wants to know how their federal contracts are awarded and how the Bishops, in taking federal money, are still allowed to impose their religious beliefs on those new ‘refugees,’ the ‘unaccompanied alien minors,’ they are contracted to care for.

You knew this day was coming—-the day of reckoning for the Bishops!

From Breitbart (hat tip: Richard at Blue Ridge Forum). Emphasis below is mine:

Probably not laughing now! Bishop Eusebio Elizondo, M.Sp.S., auxiliary bishop of Seattle and chairman of the Committee on Migration of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) testified here in 2014—bring in 15,000 Syrians in 2014! http://www.usccb.org/news/2014/14-010.cfm (follow links to written testimony).

Religious groups such as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) are the target of an imminent ACLU lawsuit that hopes to order the federal government to release information about how the groups are awarded government funding contracts to assist illegal unaccompanied minors, yet refuse to allow the minors access to contraception and abortion.

According to a press release, the ACLU states, “The U.S. government has committed to providing services to meet the basic needs of these teens. Reports indicate that between 60 and 80 percent of women and girls who cross the border are sexually active.”

“Some of these organizations impose their religious beliefs on these teens by denying them access to contraception, emergency contraception, and abortion,” the ACLU continues.

Equating abortion and contraception with “health care,” Brigitte Amiri, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, said, “Religious freedom does not include the right to take a government contract that requires providing access to health care, and then refuse to provide a teen who has been raped the health care she needs.”

The ACLU’s suit comes in the wake of recent proposed federal regulations that require groups that receive federal contracting funds to assist with care for illegal minors to ensure they are provided with access to contraception and abortion. In response, however, the USCCB said such a requirement would violate religious freedom since contraception and abortion are against the teachings of the Catholic Church.

As the largest resettlement agency in the United States, the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services (MRS) reported last year that “upwards of 90,000” young illegal immigrants were projected to arrive between October 1, 2013, and September 30, 2014. MRS showed a total budget of approximately $71 million, of which nearly $66 million–or about 93 percent–has come from federal grants and contracts.

[….]

The Catholic and evangelical groups requested that ORR [Office of Refugee Resettlement in HHS] ensure their organizations are able to “remain free to act in accord with their religious beliefs and moral convictions in the area of human sexuality” when caring for illegal minors.

Phil Lawler, Editor of Catholic World News: If the Bishops stopped taking federal money they would become a recognizable Catholic charity again!

[….]

Phil Lawler, editor of Catholic World News (CWN) cautioned the bishops about relying on federal contracts, stating, “Stop taking federal contracts. President Obama doesn’t want help from the Catholic Church. Say it’s a deal; don’t give him any.”

“Imagine the chaos that would ensue if ‘the largest resettlement agency in the United States’–the bishops’ MRS office–withdrew from that effort,” Lawler wrote. “For decades, some concerned Catholics have warned that by accepting (and, more important, energetically lobbying for) government support, Catholic charities have compromised their independence. President Obama has now illustrated that point.”

Given that, from its annual report, the bishops’ MRS program would shrink down to near extinction without federal grants, Lawler concluded, “What would be left would be a recognizably Catholic charity, not a federal program administered through the bishops’ conference.”

Please go back to Breitbart for the whole article (even though I snipped a lot) for more, and because there are lots of links I have not inserted.

I can’t believe I am cheering for the ACLU! I’ve been wondering for years where they were on the ‘religious’ federal refugee resettlement contractors.

Go here for our complete archive on the ‘unaccompanied minors’ issue. The archive goes back several years, even before the latest border invasion.

Did the Bishops actually start the stampede to the border in 2013?

See especially this post from last year—the Bishops issued a report in November 2013 predicting that 60,000 children would head to the US border soon. Someone needs to investigate whether the Bishops themselves, in their 2013 visit to Central America, actually lit the fuse for the huge migration of “children” to the US border in 2014 (ORR says that 58,000 entered the US in that one year). Amazing, isn’t it, how close their prediction was to the number which actually came.

Faithful Catholics must start asking their local priests about what the Bishops are doing in your good name!

WND amplifies the news on Miliband’s demand that Obama admit 65,000 Syrians by the end of his term

04/12/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

World Net Daily reporter, Leo Hohmann, has provided (to a much larger audience than we ever could hope to have) our recent information (here and here) that British former Foreign Secretary David Miliband, now the CEO of the largest (in dollar terms) US refugee resettlement agency, the International Rescue Committee, wants Obama to supply the contractors with the next large batch of paying “clients.”

As Hillary announces her Presidential run today, remember who her friends are! Hillary yuks it up with David Miliband in 2009. Hillary: “Well, if you saw him it would be a big crush.” http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/17/hillary-clinton-david-miliband-interview

Here is what Hohmann said yesterday, but even more interesting than the news is what the commenters are saying!

Just a few snips of what Miliband is demanding:

“First … it can raise the 70,000 cap specifically to accommodate Syrian refugees over the next two years. By historical standards, the U.S. should be committing to take around 65,000 — or 50 percent — of those identified by the U.N. for resettlement by the end of 2016.”

Miliband also requests the U.S. move at a faster pace in its screening of applicants, a process that is overseen by the Department of Homeland Security with help from the FBI.

[….]

He closed the editorial by saying: “The U.S. is in a position to help by swiftly expanding resettlement and encouraging other donor states to follow its example. The moral choice is clear.”

Please go see the whole article and see especially the comments!

Make noise please!

One commenter said this (below) in response to my request to contact your Member of Congress and US Senators. I know they have been pretty hopeless, but don’t let them off the hook. Don’t let them someday say they didn’t know! After you call or write, then write a ‘letter to the editor’ of your local paper and tell them what you told your Washington supposed representatives. Spread the news on social media and at least tell your family and friends!

The Liberty Point • 8 hours ago

What is it going to do in contacting our congressmen and women? They havent done anything to stop Obama, why would they now?

Please also write to Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, and thank him for standing firm on the security concerns about a large influx of not properly screened Syrians to America. Tell him to please stand firm!

The path a refugee takes to America, note that the UN is the primary gatekeeper

04/11/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I found this flow chart this morning while researching my earlier Texas post and thought it might be useful for all of you asking what the steps are to enter the US.

Pay attention to the fact that they list war as a reason one could be a refugee, but in fact war itself is not a trigger for the internationally understood definition of “refugee” which says one must be PERSECUTED. Here (below) is the definition of refugee (the word “war” is not mentioned).

Obama bastardizing the refugee definition!

It should be noted that ‘economic migrants,’ or people fearing crime in their home country, are also NOT refugees, but Obama is further bastardizing the definition to include the “children” from Central America! (What is going to stop him from adding every poor country in the world to the program once he gets the Central American “refugee” program up and running?)

From Geneva Academy:

The Definition of a Refugee

International legal protection of refugees centres on a person meeting the criteria for refugee status as laid down in the 1951 Refugee Convention. Under Article 1(A)2, the term “refugee” shall apply to any person who:

“…owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.”

Thus, according to this provision, refugees are defined by three basic characteristics:

* they are outside their country of origin or outside the country of their former habitual residence;

* they are unable or unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted; and

* the persecution feared is based on at least one of five grounds: race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.

It is important to stress that the term “asylum seekers” refers to persons, who have applied for asylum, but whose refugee status has not yet been determined.

See also, besides the UNHCR, that the federal contractors (VOLAGs), which monopolize the program, also control one of the steps.

From the Office of Refugee Resettlement:

First Syrians arrive in North Texas

04/11/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

If you haven’t already, you will be seeing more warm and fuzzy stories like this one in your states as the Syrian refugees begin to arrive. We have taken in 682 so far. See my post of last Saturday and see which states they went to.

As the FBI says they cannot properly screen Syrians, the US State Department seems to be still telling the media that 10,000 will be here soon.

The contractors want 65,000 by the end of 2016!

From WFAA (Dallas) which implies only a handful have arrived in Texas, however, Texas has received at least 86 so far and as the top resettlement state in the nation, it will receive the most Syrians.

Doing well by doing good! Heather Reynolds is CEO of Catholic Charities Ft. Worth and is one of the leaders resettling Middle Easterners to Dallas/Ft. Worth. In her mid-30’s, Ms. Reynolds pulls down a cool $199,324 in salary and related income. In a recent form 990 we learned that this Catholic Charities office took in almost $17 million in revenue and $9 million came from you through government grants. http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2013/750/808/2013-750808769-0ae83cfc-9.pdf

No surprise that the refugee industry puts its most appealing refugees (like these cute girls) out for PR campaigns. The mainstream media eats it up!

Eight Syrian refugee families call North Texas home right now — four in Dallas and four in Fort Worth. But Basatneh [Syrian American Council] said more are on their way after the U.S. State Department agreed to accept as many as 10,000.

Watch the clip where we are told that “it is our duty” to take them in and that 1,000 will be coming to Texas within the year? Say what!

We are told the flow will be on par with the Iraqi flow which stands at 20,000 per year right now.

And, note the lovely apartment the family has received, I bet there are some needy Americans in Dallas/Ft. Worth who would love a place like that!

So who is doing the seeding of refugees in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area?

Four of the nine major contractors have divided up what must be a large flow to Ft. Worth:

CWS (Church World Service)
TX-CWS-04: Refugee Services Of Texas, Inc.
Address:
1801 Circle Drive
Fort Worth, TX 76119
Phone:
817-413-3772

LIRS (Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service)
TX-LIRS-03: REFUGEE SERVICES OF TEXAS, INC
Address:
1801 CIRCLE DR.
FORT WORTH, TX 76119
Phone:
817-457-8110

USCCB (US Conference of Catholic Bishops)
TX-USCCB-06: Immigration & Refugee Services
Address:
249 W Thornhill Drive
Fort Worth, TX 76115
Phone:
817-289-2819

WR (World Relief)
TX-WR-01: World Relief Fort Worth
Address:
4059 Bryan Avenue
Fort Worth, TX 76110
Phone:
817-924-0748

And, here are the four biggies which have divied up Dallas:

CWS (Church World Service)
TX-CWS-02: Refugee Services Of Texas, Inc
Address:
12025 Shiloh Road, Suite 240
Dallas, TX 75228
Phone:
214-821-4883

IRC (International Rescue Committee)
TX-IRC-01: International Rescue Committee Dallas
Address:
6500 Greenville Ave. , Suite 500
Dallas, TX 75206
Phone:
214-461-9781

LIRS (Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service)
TX-LIRS-02: Refugee Services Of Texas, Inc
Address:
12025 Shiloh Rd, Suite 240
Dallas, TX 75228
Phone:
214-821-4883

USCCB (US Conference of Catholic Bishops)
TX-USCCB-05: refugee And Empowerment Services
Address:
9451 Lbj Freeway, Suite 100
Dallas, TX 75243
Phone:
214-553-9909

See the handy US State Department list of resettlement contractors where you live!

For Texans, this is your State refugee office within the Texas government.

Brit David Miliband (BFF George Soros): US should take 65,000 Syrians by end of 2016! You need to act!

04/10/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Here he goes again! The former British Foreign Secretary and CEO of the refugee resettlement contractor, the International Rescue Committee, is demanding that the US resettle the mostly Muslim Syrians that the FBI has already said cannot be properly screened for security because frankly there are no records on the hundreds of thousands who have been pouring out of Syria!

Raise the ceiling, says Miliband!

David Miliband (center) with Jonathan and George Soros. http://www.crainsnewyork.com/gallery/20131110/ARTS/111009999/2

We told you here recently that Miliband wants Obama to raise the ceiling on the total refugee numbers to be admitted to the US, something Obama can legally do in CONSULTATION with Congress!

Raising the ceiling is the only way to bring in that many Syrians since the total refugee resettlement projection for all refugees from across the globe this year, and likely 2016, is 70,000.

Do we have any hope that this Congress would even pay attention if Obama tried to pull that off?

And, is this why the resettlement contractors are out scouting (in secrecy) new potential sites to ‘seed’ with refugees?

For new readers, when Miliband arrived in New York to head the giant IRC*** he was feted by non-other than Bill Clinton, George Soros and Samantha Power which tells you all you need to know about him, here in 2013.

From AP at the Huffington Post:

BEIRUT (AP) — An international aid group on Thursday called on the United States to resettle 65,000 Syrians before the end of 2016, highlighting Washington’s slow response to the massive refugee crisis generated by the civil war.

David Miliband, the President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, told The Associated Press in Beirut that the whole international community shares responsibility for the consequences of the Syrian civil war. [Why is that?—ed]

[….]

Miliband, a former U.K. Foreign Secretary, said the U.S. has traditionally taken half the world’s registered refugees who resettle in third countries and that the United Nations says it wants 130,000 refugees from Syria resettled in the wealthier countries of the world by the end of 2016.

Half of that number would be 65,000. To date, the U.S. has resettled just 648 Syrians, less than 1 percent of that figure.

“We are calling for scale and speed in response to this crisis. The Syria crisis shows no signs of abating,” he said.

***Doing well by doing good!

We just checked the most recent Form 990 available for the IRC (one of nine major federal resettlement contractors) and see that the giant ‘non-profit’ took in 451,017,146 that year and $305,481,609 came out of your wallets! Government grant amount is on page 9.

Miliband’s salary does not yet appear in a Form 990 because he is so new, but his predecessor George Rupp took home a whopping $485,321 in salary and benefits, so we can assume Miliband must be in that same salary range.

Astoundingly, this approximately 68% funded-by-you NGO paid two other top staffers in the $300,000 range and another eight got over $200,000. Imagine how many real poor people could be helped with that kind of money! Salaries are on page 175 of the 218 page return.

Please call your elected representatives in Washington and tell them NO Syrian Muslims for your towns and cities!

Go here to see a list of approximately 190 cities and towns where resettlement contractors are already working and remember if you live within a hundred miles of their offices you could be next to receive refugees gratis these fat cats! (By the way the list is somewhat alphabetically out of order, so look carefully for your state.)