Jewish refugee contractor, HIAS, goes to the Hill (to lobby for more refugees and more $$$)

02/21/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Last week when we were all busy paying attention to the upcoming South Carolina primary and chuckling over the Pope sticking his nose in the 2016 Election process, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society was on Capitol Hill along with the other major federal resettlement contractors looking for approval and $$$ for more refugees (paying clients!) to resettle.
From HIAS website (hat tip: Joanne):

Rachel Nusbaum is HIAS communication specialist, see here at Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelnusbaum

Today, instead of heading to the HIAS offices, I flagged down a cab and asked him to take me somewhere different. Capitol Hill, please. Senate side. [What, no subway? Are you using taxpayer money for your cab ride too?—ed]

[….]

I am on Capitol Hill right now along with not only other HIAS staff but with representatives from many of the top NGOs working on refugee issues. We’re here, pounding the pavement and filling the halls of the various House and Senate office buildings, for two days of intense advocacy organized by Refugee Council USA***, a coalition of 20 U.S.-based refugee protection NGOs.

Bringing in the “vulnerable” (and costly) ‘refugees’ (medical care for US taxpayers to pay for!):

Why is resettlement so important? Most refugees will remain in the country to which they first fled, until they are able to return to their home country. Only a very small number, about one percent, will be resettled to a third country. This small group is made up of the most vulnerable refugees, those who remain at risk even after fleeing their home country. This includes unaccompanied children, survivors of torture, LGBT refugees and people requiring medical attention not available to them in their host country. With so few resettlement spots and so many refugees, however, the need for resettlement far exceeds current availability.

It is maddening to know that, according to USA Spending.gov, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society received over $134 million from you since Obama took office, and HIAS, Inc. (its new name) has raked in another $58 million in that same time frame. Are they lobbying on Capitol Hill on your dime? I bet they are!

*Refugee Council USA is the lobbying arm for the refugee industry**.

We told you about them on many previous occasions. They supported the resettlement of 65,000 Syrians to your towns this year. Then subsequently upped the number to 100,000.
As we told you here last September, they have a lobbying kit in which they call-out RRW! HIAS also authored a report urging that I be investigated (among others) by the Southern Poverty Law Center, see here.
This is from their grassroots lobbying kit:

Anti-Refugee Sentiment

Utilizing anti-immigrant and anti-Muslilm sentiment, individuals who oppose refugee resettlement are making their voices heard louder and more frequently to policy makers. Groups like Refugee Resettlement Watch and similar local groups are calling for an end to refugee resettlement altogether, moratoriums on arrivals to their areas, and fostering unwelcoming atmospheres for newcomers. It is critical that policy makers at local, state and national levels hear from refugees themselves and community members who support refugee resettlement, so they can ask questions, learn more about the importance of resettlement, support positive legislation and oppose proposals that would harm refugees.

Go here for more on the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society one of nine major refugee contractors:

Syrians coming to NJ, Church World Service to hold gathering to educate citizens

02/21/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

If you live in North Jersey, especially in the area of Jersey City where Americans witnessed the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center across the harbor and where Donald Trump reported Muslims celebrating that day, you might want to attend this educational gathering being promoted by Church World Service, one of nine major federal resettlement contractors.
[For the record, CWS is the resettlement contractor that tried to set up shop in my county in 2007 and inspired me to write this blog!]
Mark your calendars for March 6th!
Here is the news on the event.
Syrians (mostly Sunni Muslims) are only trickling in so far, see here, but the Obama Administration is planning an “interview surge” to get more in here more quickly, here. CWS is getting ‘welcoming’ communities prepped for the surge of arrivals.

CWS Mahmoud — **Mahmoud Mahmoud**, director of Church World Service in Jersey City, will speak about ongoing efforts to resettle Syrian refugees in the New York area and ways the community can help at First Congregational Church of Westfield on Sunday, March 6, at 11:30 a.m. To register for this event, which includes a free soup luncheon, contact the church at 908-233-2494 or uccfcc@verizon.net. (courtesy photo)

Be sure to see my earlier post today on the NYT actually reporting on security screening inadequacy.
I’ll betcha now that Chris Christie is out of the Presidential race, the NJ governor won’t be talking with the same bravado, as he did previously, about not permitting Syrian resettlement in the state.
Click here for a huge archive on Church World Service.

NYT reports on serious concerns with refugee terrorists in US

02/21/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I wonder how many of you saw this story? It was in the New York Times on Friday (LOL! how many of us bother to read the NYT?), and is actually very useful and informative.

Fourteen refugees, who came in through the UN/US State Dept. Refugee Admissions Program, have been arrested in the last two years on terror charges!

kid next door — Kid next door! Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab. Photo: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3391652/Aws-Mohammed-Younis-Al-Jayabs-discussed-plans-Houston-man-join-fight-Syria.html

We learned a lot about the alleged terrorist at the heart of the NYT story, Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab, last month at the UK Daily Mail. He is an Iraqi-born Palestinian who came here as a refugee via Syria.
Longtime readers may remember that Saddam Hussein had invited Palestinians to Iraq and when his government fell, many moved to Syria and the US kindly began admitting them to the US as refugees.
This story back in 2009 was big news at the time because we don’t take Palestinians in any large numbers in the Refugee Admissions Program.
Here is what the New York Times said on Friday:

WASHINGTON — The arrest of a California man on charges that he traveled to Syria to fight with terrorist groups, then lied about it to the Department of Homeland Security, offers new ammunition for both sides in the fierce debate over the refugee policy of the Obama administration.

Conservatives and some federal law enforcement officials say the case of the Californian, Aws Mohammed Younis al-Jayab, 23, shows that the refugee program leaves the nation vulnerable to terrorism. But Homeland Security officials and Democrats in Congress contend that his arrest demonstrates that the system works.

The system worked for this guy, but how many more Mohammeds are out there?

Before his arrest, Mr. Jayab seemed like a typical young adult: He liked sports cars, studied computer programming at a community college in Sacramento and worked nights as a security guard.

Farmer015 — Farmer thought refugee screening was secure, until now!

But the federal authorities have charged that Mr. Jayab, who was born in Iraq and came to the United States as a refugee from Syria, traveled to that war-torn country from late 2013 to early 2014 to fight on the side of terrorist groups and then lied about it to the authorities.

[….]

Still, some members of Congress and security experts say the arrest of Mr. Jayab has forced them to question the screening process. Federal court documents show that at least 14 people who came to the United States as refugees have been arrested on terrorism charges in the last two years, including Mr. Jayab.

“I thought that it was very secure until I saw the arrest in California and Texas,” said John J. Farmer Jr., former senior counsel to the federal commission that investigated the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, who is now a professor at Rutgers. “Now, I have my concerns.”

Continue reading here.
P.S. Rural Montanans do have something to worry about!
John J. Farmer Jr. bio and photo here: https://law.newark.rutgers.edu/faculty/faculty-profiles/john-j-farmer-jr

***Refugee Council USA is the lobbying arm for the refugee industry.

Fourteen refugees, who came in through the UN/US State Dept. Refugee Admissions Program, have been arrested in the last two years on terror charges!

“I thought that it was very secure until I saw the arrest in California and Texas,” said John J. Farmer Jr., former senior counsel to the federal commission that investigated the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, who is now a professor at Rutgers. “Now, I have my concerns.”

*Refugee Council USA is the lobbying arm for the refugee industry**.