The other day we told you about how Lutheran Social Services seemed to be gleefully announcing that a big batch of new refugees was on the way to town, see here. I wondered if Fargo had any resisters (see ‘Pockets of Resistance’) and now it seems they do.
This article just popped up in my alerts.
Note to our readers in Australia, Canada, and Europe: some of this information may be pretty ‘inside baseball’ for you, but in some ways it should also be useful information for you to know that there are Americans who are raising red flags about the resettlement of refugees in their towns and cities. They are trying to figure out how the secretive program works, digging into documents, asking public questions, informing their neighbors and hounding elected officials.
From WDAY-TV where we learn that an on-line petition has sprung up in opposition to more refugees being placed in North Dakota.
Fargo, ND (WDAY TV)-Hundreds of people have signed an online petition to send a message about the increased number of refugees expected in Cass County.
Many we spoke with said they think the petition is irresponsible and unfair.
[….]
But hundreds disagree, according to the list of signatures on the Change.org petition titled, “Stop Lutheran Social Services in Fargo!”
The document was created earlier this week and calls for an end to the flow of refugees into Cass County without a vote, as well as for information on the refugees already placed here.
Many wrote reasons for their support, including messages like:
“How can we afford to bring more people in to live off what we have, when we don’t have enough for the ones that are already here?” – James Williams, Fargo.
Mr. Williams’ comment is a common refrain we hear everywhere—why are we bringing in more poor people when we can’t take care of those already here?
Then get this! LSS CEO Jessica Thomasson says her organization has no say about how many come—the federal government is doing the picking—it is a decision made by Congress, she says! This exactly illustrates what Don Barnett said in our previous post. The media has no clue how this is all done and they simply parrot the local contractor.
WDAY-TV continues….
But the thing is, Lutheran Social Services*** CEO Jessica Thomasson says, beyond a conversation once a year about how many refugees the organizations staff can handle, they don’t have much of a say in how many people are sent here or where they’re sent from.
That’s all up to the Federal Government.
Jessica Thomasson/CEO, Lutheran Social Services: “Lutheran Social Services really just facilitates resettlement in this community, this is a decision that’s made by Congress every year that is affecting the work across the entire United States.”
Go here for more and to see the petition.
She is right that Washington is making the decisions for North Dakota (and every other state) receiving the UN-chosen refugees, but her parent organization—Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service—takes her suggestions that arrive in that R & P Abstract for how many her local subcontracting office can handle and where they will come from!
Every week or so, her parent organization sits down with US State Department employees and they divvy up the refugees partially dependent on what amenities your town has to offer the refugees in the form of subsidized housing, jobs for low-skilled people and so forth. They even take into consideration the presence of a mosque or two.
Maybe Congress should have a role, but they don’t (mostly because they have abrogated their responsibility!).
This is all done at the Administration level as the President sets the agenda every year for how many will be resettled and from what countries. He then sends his “determination letter” (2015 is here) to Congress for “consultation” where historically members of Congress responsible for this program merrily rubber stamp whatever the President says!
***LSS of North Dakota is an over $40 million a year operation with $10 million coming from government grants, see here.
Warning!
By the way, on this Presidential determination letter, the Obama Administration is working on that right now for FY2016. They will send it to Congress around Sept. 30th since FY2016 begins on October 1. I am very concerned that instead of the usual 70,000 refugees the Obama Administration has been bringing in each year, that they will dramatically increase the number for 2016 to accommodate the 65,000 (mostly Muslim) Syrians that the United Nations wants us to take. The reason I suspect a rat is that it has been very very quiet ever since the Jihad Caucus wrote to Obama. I’m guessing Obama/Kerry told them to hush-up for now because something is in the works!
Watch for it!