Day: November 28, 2015

Office of Refugee Resettlement threatens governors, says they can't discriminate against Syrians

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Looks like the ACLU and the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) are on the same page.
The way to solve the latest argument by the Obama Administration and the NO borders gang is to defund all refugee resettlement in the upcoming ‘omnibus’ and not single-out the Syrians for special treatment.
First Reema (from Jeh Johnson) and now this as the administration pulls out all the stops to get those 10,000 mostly Muslim Syrians resettled in your towns.
All of this activity demonstrates that the UN/US State Department Refugee Admissions Program is in the greatest crisis it has ever faced in 35 years since Senators Ted Kennedy and Joe Biden, among others, sent the bill to Jimmy Carter for his signature.

The revolving door!

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We wrote about Carey, at the IRC in 2013, out stumping for Syrians to be admitted to the US. Unfortunately, but no surprise, all links back to what Carey said have been removed and the IRC doesn’t allow you to check their employees list either. What are they hiding? https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2013/09/04/ircs-bob-carey-the-syrians-are-coming-soon-because-we-are-going-to-make-it-happen/

Before I get to ORR chief Bob Carey’s letter to governors, a little background on the revolving door for new readers (also go here to our recent fact sheet for general overview of program):
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees chooses most of our refugees.  The US State Department admits them and Homeland Security screens them (as best they can).  The State Department PRM (Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration) contracts with nine supposedly non-profit group contractors*** to resettle them through about 312 subcontractors (at one point the State Department was throwing the number 350 around) to most US states.
PRM is overseen by Anne Richard who was a former vice President of contractor—International Rescue Committee.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is in the Dept. of Health and Human Services and is the major dispenser of your money to the contractors through myriad federal grants.
The present director of ORR is Robert Carey who came over from one of the nine contractors (wait for it!)—International Rescue Committee (IRC)—where he served as a vice President.  His predecessor at ORR was Eskinder Negash who had come over from another contractor the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants.
Negash has since returned to a perch at his former employer—US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI).
Are you still following me?
Negash’s boss at USCRI, Lavinia Limon, was Bill Clinton’s director of ORR before she left to become President of USCRI.  LOL! did you get that!
Both Carey and Anne Richard came from the International Rescue Committee headed by BRITISH former foreign secretary David Miliband, bff Clinton, Soros and Samantha Power.  (We have an extensive archive on Miliband, brother of Britain’s “Red Ed.”)

Contractors enter government and become the dispenser of your tax dollars and then they leave government when administrations change and become the recipients of your tax dollars—and around and around they go!

Back to the Bob Carey letter to governors (remember he is relatively new at ORR and was pulling down a six-figure salary from the IRC before becoming the big shot now threatening governors).
From Breitbart:

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In April of this year, Carey moved from his job with super-wealthy contractor, IRC, and into the government where he dispenses your money to his former employer. Shouldn’t there be a law? http://www.acf.hhs.gov/blog/2015/05/an-interview-with-bob-carey-orrs-new-director

The Obama administration has warned states to comply with federal efforts to resettle Syrian refugees in communities around the U.S. or else find their states subject to enforcement action.

In a letter this week, the Office of Refugee Resettlement threatens states concerned about resettling Syrians with punitive responses if they refuse to accept the refugees. ORR explains that states may not refuse ORR-funded benefits for refugees on the basis of religion and national origin.

“Accordingly, states may not categorically deny ORR-funded benefits and services to Syrian refugees,” ORR Director Robert Carey wrote in the letter. “Any state with such a policy would not be in compliance with the State Plan requirements, applicable statutes, and their own assurances, and could be subject to enforcement action, including suspension and termination.” [I’m afraid of overloading you, but beware of termination because the feds and contractors may well make your state a Wilson-Fish state, if it isn’t already.  They would like nothing better!—ed]

The agency also pointed to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibiting discrimination for federally funded assistance benefits. Refugees are immediately eligible for welfare and other benefits upon admission to the U.S.

“Thus, it is not permissible to deny federally funded benefits such as Medicaid or [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families] to refugees who otherwise meet the eligibilities requirements,” the letter reads. “ORR is committed to ensuring that all refugees receive assistance and services vital to achieving their potential in the United States and becoming self-sufficient, integrated members of our communities.”

If nothing else comes out of this, we are pleased to say that the American taxpaying public is being educated about the huge costs this program places on our welfare system—nationally and locally!  The contractor’s job is to get refugees their welfare benefits and then they move on to the next paying batch of refugee CLIENTS.
***Nine major federal contractors which like to call themselves VOLAGs (Voluntary agencies) which is such a joke considering how much federal money they receive:

New study: Refugee children arrive with many health issues, diseases

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

For all of you in the medical field and who are also concerned about refugees, more information is available.
This is from US News.  Maybe we should be suspending the refugee program for the health risks it poses that might in the end be greater than the terrorism risks!

TB screening
Family waits for TB screening in hospital in Thailand. Photo: https://www.iom.int/news/iom-calls-inclusion-migrants-tb-prevention-and-treatment-strategies

Almost the last line was the shocking part.  The article suggests that health screening should be done before the refugee enters the country.  I thought that is what was ALREADY happening!
The news is from a new report published Nov. 12 in the American Journal of Public Health.  I didn’t search for the full report, but you should. Remember we (taxpayers) are paying for their medical treatment!  Emphasis below is mine.

FRIDAY, Nov. 27, 2015 (HealthDay News) — The main health problems of refugee children from Asia and Africa when they arrive in the United States are outlined in a new study.

Based on screenings of more than 8,100 young refugees between 2006 and 2012, the top health concerns were hepatitis B, tuberculosis, parasitic worms, high blood lead levels and anemia, the study found.

The refugees, all younger than 19, were from Bhutan, Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Iraq and Somalia. The screenings were conducted shortly after they arrived in Colorado, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Washington state.

In general, these conditions were more common among children from the [African countries—ed] Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia and Somalia, and lower among those from Iraq, researchers said. [Although we haven’t talked about it because Middle Eastern refugees are making the news, Obama’s 2016 plan calls for our African numbers to increase by 7,000 this year.—ed]

Among refugees from Myanmar [aka Burma—ed], those who came to the United States from Thailand had more diseases than those who came by way of Malaysia, the researchers found.

“Understanding the health profiles of children from different countries allows us to provide better counseling for parents, prioritize specific tests and ensure that we give children a healthy start here in the U.S.,” study lead author Dr. Katherine Yun, a pediatrician in the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s PolicyLab and Refugee Health Program, said in a hospital news release.

The findings may have a number of implications.

Obama-Obamacare-Meme-11
It’s a good thing we have Obamacare to take care of all of these “New Americans!”

“Our data suggest that the existing [U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] medical screening guidelines remain relevant and hold great value,” Yun said.

“We also recommend that multistate public health collaborations monitor the health of newly arrived refugee children, along with resources available to them,” she added.  [Refugees move, sometimes shortly after arrival and this would imply those diagnosed, with say TB etc., may not be tracked.—ed]

Health officials should analyze these data in a timely manner, because refugee populations change significantly over time, she said.

Also, it may be more cost-effective to conduct health screenings of refugees before they leave their countries, Yun said.

Asylum seekers NOT screened upon arrival!

I did spend a few minutes visiting the CDC website and came across this (below).  Remember I told you here the other day that we now have tens of thousands of asylum seekers coming across our borders illegally or overstaying a visa and we grant asylum to about 25,000 a year (they are given all the rights of refugees we fly in once granted asylum).
The legal process can take a year or more, so asylum seekers are in your communities and unscreened for serious medical issues for months and possibly years.
From the Centers for Disease Control on Asylees:

Asylees are persons who meet the definition of a refugee but are already in the United States or are seeking admission at a US port of entry. From 2000 to 2010, the top ten countries of origin for people granted asylum in the United States were China, Colombia, Haiti, India, Ethiopia, Iraq, Armenia, Albania, Iran, and Somalia. Those who are living in the United States or are seeking admission at a US port of entry when they apply for asylum are recommended to have a domestic medical exam once they have been granted asylum status. When an asylee applies for adjustment of status, an I-693 medical examination (including vaccinations) by a civil surgeon is required. Once an asylee has been granted asylum status, their family members may follow to join them in the US, and therefore these family members would undergo the required medical examination overseas, prior to immigration.

Currently, there are very little data available about the health problems of asylees after they migrate to the United States. Many asylum seekers originate in, or transfer through, countries with public health issues similar to those facing refugees arriving through the US Refugee Admissions Program. Therefore we recommend that medical providers screening asylees apply the same screening and treatment recommendations in the CDC Refugee Domestic Guidelines when performing a medical evaluation of an asylee. For individuals who have been in the United States for more than one year, special attention should be paid to diseases with long latency and associated severe morbidity such as tuberculosis, hepatitis B, and Strongyloides infection.

See also our previous 288 posts in our ‘health issues’ category.  A lot of information is archived there on the mental and physical health problems refugees bring to America.  Gee, isn’t it grand that we have Obamacare!