Testimony to the US State Department from John in Indiana

05/29/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Editor: Yes! I know there are many more! I am still sorting my e-mail in search of the testimony you sent to the US State Department in response to the DOS request for public comment on the “size and scope” of the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program for FY2017.
The day before the deadline for submission of testimony I noticed (maybe you were all ahead of me and noticed!) that the dates were wrong in the Federal Register. I happened to see a comment sent by lawyers to the DOS asking that the comment period be re-opened because citizens, who might like to have testified, didn’t think the notice was for a comment period this year, but for last year. See here.

From John:

Ms. Anne Richard
Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration
US State Department
Washington, DC

RE: FR 2016-09267

Dear Ms. Richard:

I have to believe that you do not realize the havoc you are creating across our great nation, or certainly you would take steps to alleviate it.

Your actions are resulting in overcrowded schools with resources stretched beyond the breaking point.

Your actions are causing communities to go nearly bankrupt because their resources are not sufficient to manage the multiple problems and needs of these new people.

Your actions are creating danger in the communities because these new people cannot obtain substantial work and hence are resorting to criminal activities.

Your actions are resulting in increases in unemployment among American workers because these new people are forced by necessity to work for substandard wages when they can find jobs.

Your actions are allowing the growing group of Islamic people to become even larger with the possible potential for Shari’ah to be instituted in parts of our country, a system of life that is totally at odds with our nation of freedom.

I could go on and on but I am sure that you are receiving many comments from other concerned citizens and are becoming aware of what we are worried about. We are simply not able to absorb the masses of people you are trying to bring into our communities. We have plenty of problems in our cities and towns and our money and talents should be directed to them.

Let the other countries deal with their problems and let us deal with ours. We are not, and should not be, the savior of all nations. If America is to survive as a sovereign country this massive and ill-advised immigration program must stop.

Yours with worry and concern,

This is the eighteenth testimony in our series leading up to the deadline for comments to the Dept. of State on May 19th. Go here for where they are archived to see what your fellow citizens have said.
I intend to keep posting testimonies, a few a day, until I have exhausted my long list! I had no idea so many of you would respond to my offer! But, thank you for your hard work!

Top resettlement states in last ten years

05/29/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I was looking for something else and found this map. Don’t you just love that white hole in the middle—Wyoming!
As we have reported many times, the top states resettling refugees are Texas, California, New York, Florida and then Michigan, Illinois, Arizona and a couple of others vying for the #5 spot.
The map is for FY2006-FY2015:

Testimony to US State Department from Adrienne in California

05/29/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Editor: Yes! I am still combing through my hundreds of e-mails to find the testimony you sent to the US State Department in response to the DOS request for public comment on the “size and scope” of the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program for FY2017.
The day before the deadline for submission of testimony I noticed (maybe you were all ahead of me and noticed!) that the dates were wrong in the Federal Register. I happened to see a comment sent by lawyers to the DOS asking that the comment period be re-opened because citizens, who might like to have testified, didn’t think the notice was for a comment period this year, but for last year. See here.

It is not selfish to put America First!

To PRM from Adrienne,

States should have final control over resettlement activities within their state borders. Until there is evaluation of and FULL DISCLOSURE of the costs and other impacts associated with resettling the thousands of refugees, I am strongly opposed to continuing the Refugee Admissions Program for 2017. The program should be suspended or put on hold until the costs and impacts have been revealed to the American public.

Schools are overburdened, with some now having 75 different languages. The education of our children will be impacted as teachers try to address the additional language, learning and emotional difficulties inherent in refugee children.

There was a lot of information that should have been a red flag to those “vetting” the San Bernardino killer.

In addition to the burdens to the American people in more ways than just increased taxes, fewer jobs, and less care for our Veterans and Seniors, there is a danger in not properly vetting people from areas where there is a predominant ideology to destroy those who do not believe as they do.

I live not far from San Bernardino, where this ideology was espoused by terrorists who killed people who had just given him and his wife a baby shower! Isn’t this much like the good will extended to refugees as they settle in other towns? There was evidence from the wife’s Facebook page that she had pledged allegiance to ISIS.

Certainly we need to take the time to ensure that each individual refugee has a clean past. The vetting process MUST NOT be shortened to anything less than the 18-24 month standard. The responsibility to protect American citizens falls upon your department. Please do not let us down.

It is not selfish to put America first, because only when we are great can we lend a helping hand to those in need.

This is the seventeenth testimony in our series leading up to the deadline for comments to the Dept. of State on May 19th. Go here for where they are archived to see what your fellow citizens have said.
I intend to keep posting testimonies, a few a day, until I have exhausted my long list! I had no idea so many of you would respond to my offer! But, thank you for your hard work!
P.S. I should have mentioned it, but I have been adding photos and other images just to jazz up the plain text, I hope you all don’t mind!

Does Janesville, Wisconsin get refugees?

05/29/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The answer is no, but there isn’t any reason it shouldn’t. It is only about 75 miles from the state’s largest resettlement site—Milwaukee. (Any town within a hundred miles of a federal contractor’s office is fair game).
Janesville, Wisconsin is Speaker Paul Ryan’s hometown and a reader asked me recently, that since he is so gung-ho for refugees to come to America, does he have them where he lives?
Maybe a few have moved from other resettlement cities in Wisconsin—Milwaukee or Oshkosh, but there is no federally funded resettlement office there.
Since I checked the data for our inquisitive reader, here are a few facts about the numbers going to Wisconsin.
I started my search in the fall of 2008 (just as Obama was being elected) and ended the first of May.
Wisconsin ‘welcomed’ 7,143 in those nearly 8 years. That is a small number compared to the the big states like Texas which resettles that many in one year.

Ryan cartoon — A cartoon circulating on twitter last night. Sorry there is no cartoonist identified.

In Ryan’s 1st District, none went to Janesville, but a tiny number, about 30 went to Waukesha, just outside of Milwaukee. Only a handful went to Racine.
Of the 7,143 who went to the state of Wisconsin, the breakdown is as follows: Burmese (4,029), Iraqis (1,083) and Somalis (811), in addition to smaller numbers of many other ethnic groups.
According to the Washington Post the impact on his family might not be so great anyway since his kids all attend private Catholic School.
Schools are where ‘welcoming’ towns first experience the cultural and economic pressure a few years after opening their doors to the UN/US State Department Refugee Admissions Program.
What? No mosque, no interfaith group as we learned about this morning in Charleston, WV pushing for Syrians to be seeded into Janesville?
So, why not Janesville? Maybe there is a cheese factory nearby in need of cheap immigrant laborers?
Endnote: Republican Paul Nehlen is hoping to upset Ryan in the upcoming primary there on August 9th.

West Virginia you are up next as expanding federal refugee program looking for fresh territory

05/29/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

And, West Virginia is fresh indeed! It is one of the states the UN/US State Department program forgot (until now). Other states with tiny refugee populations are Joe Biden’s Delaware, Bill Clinton’s Arkansas, a few states in the deep south and of course Montana and Wyoming. I always assumed that Democratic Senator Bobby (“Sheets”) Byrd had kept the program out of West Virginia, but he is gone.

Islamic Assocition of West.jpg&MaxW=332&imageVersion=SoftCropArticlePictures — The Islamic Association of West Virginia (a mosque) is expanding its space. They are involved in the local ‘Interfaith’ group looking to bring Syrians to Charleston. http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/20160409/muslims-outgrow-mosque-in-south-charleston

I just now checked the State Department data and since 2008, West Virginia ‘welcomed’ 156 refugees with the largest number being Iraqis (59), Burmese (46) and Eritreans (40). Tiny numbers of course compared to states which receive in the thousands each year. Guess the low-wage refugee workers will now be competing with out of work coal miners.
Here is the news from the Charleston Gazette-Mail (emphasis is mine):
They all think that economic boom times will follow the refugees (it doesn’t, all of you citizens of West Virginia, please learn from what happened in Utica, here).

As Charleston’s population continues to decline, a refugee resettlement service is considering opening an agency in the city that would assist hundreds of refugees in moving to the area.

Episcopal Migration Ministries [one of nine top federal contractors—ed] a refugee-resettlement agency, sent Jeffrey Hawks and Allison Duvall to Charleston to learn more about the city this week. Hawks is a consultant for the organization, while Duvall is an employee.

The West Virginia Interfaith Refugee Ministry [remember my warning about these ‘interfaith’ groups!—ed] a group that started to create greater understanding of the plight of Syrian refugees, is working to turn Charleston into one of the Episcopal Migration Ministry’s “resettlement communities.” The ministry has 30 of those communities in cities throughout the United States.

The agencies work with local organizations in each city to assist refugees with translation, food, clothing, housing, education, mental health support, medical services, job training and community orientation.

Anti-Muslim sentiment is rampant throughout the country. Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for president, has called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States. Many have called for preventing Syrian refugees, fleeing the carnage of civil war in their country, from entering the country. A West Virginia lawmaker even started a petition to ban them from West Virginia.

However, a group of Charlestonians sat in a meeting room at St. John’s Episcopal Church Thursday afternoon and took turns trying to convince Hawks and Duvall that Charleston would be an ideal place for refugees from Syria and other places to live…

More evidence that the federal contractors are out looking for fresh territory in which to seed Syrians (and other refugees).

But they didn’t have to do much convincing. Episcopal Migration Ministries has already researched Charleston and decided it would be a good fit for refugees. Ultimately, whether the city can be selected as one of the ministry’s resettlement communities will be up to the U.S. Department of State, Hawks said.

Now check this out! The local Islamic Center is one step ahead of you all with their propaganda campaign (gotta fill that new building!):

Hawks and Duvall met a friendly crowd Thursday evening as well. They attended “The Refugee Experience” at 7 p.m. at the Islamic Association of West Virginia, in South Charleston. At the community event, refugees spoke about their experiences resettling in Charleston.

And, then this is new! I have never heard of a federal contractor expecting up front money from a wannabe subcontractor. They must really be stretched to get Obama’s 85,000 refugees in here by the end of the year and be ready for his proposed 100,000 for next year.

…those in Charleston organizing the effort will need to raise about $90,000 for upfront costs. They will need to pay for the salary of at least one employee of the agency for every 75 placements.

Continue reading here.
I can’t guarantee that Trump can save us, but I know for sure that Hillary Clinton will put the refugee program on steroids if elected in November!
P.S. It is Sunday morning, maybe it’s time for any of you Episcopalians reading this to have a word with your priests and church leaders about what they are doing in the name of your faith!
An afterthought: It occurred to me right after I hit ‘post’ that this story might bring in new readers who don’t know that we have been writing about several new sites to be colonized including Missoula, MT, Ithaca, NY, Reno, NV, Rutland, VT and Fayetteville, AR. Many more will be popping up soon as they prepare for the new fiscal year which begins Oct. 1.