Michael Patrick Leahy is writing (again) about Twin Falls, Idaho and how Washington, DC insiders are deciding the future of small cities in the American west. Leahy:
Thousands of Muslim refugees are flowing into the small Idaho town of Twin Falls because of closed-door decisions made by a group of self-serving advocates in and around Washington D.C.
One key player is Lavinia Limón, CEO of the U.S. Committee on Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI). That’s a government-backed group that is paid to place migrants in Americans’ towns. Her group is also called a “voluntary agency,” or ‘VOLAG.’ The group’s local affiliate, the College of Southern Idaho, has already placed 1,000 Iraqi refugees in Twin Falls.
Continue reading here about the life and times of Lavinia Limon formerly Bill Clinton’s Director of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement. Click here and see if USCRI is working in your town. We know they are the major contractor working in Rutland, VT and they are planning an office for Reno, NVas well.
If you missed it this morning, be sure to see the latest news on the rape of a little girl in Twin Falls, here.
I can hardly believe it! I have been on the road for 3 weeks today, have made stops in 8 states and have put over 4,000 miles on my car! In nine more days I’ll be home in Maryland.
The trip to see some refugee overloaded towns (and some proposed resettlement sites) has been beyond my wildest expectations in terms of confirming things I already suspected and for learning some new things as well.
I haven’t figured out yet how best to report, but here are a few impressions (broad generalizations!):
Refugee resettlement is largely being driven by money! In most places where refugees are deeply entrenched they were directed to a particular site by some industry looking for cheap legal labor.
Very often local elected officials are in on it because they too are looking for financial rewards.
Those local officials who object are left pretty much in the dark (they don’t know about R & P Abstracts or stakeholder meetings).
We have some great activists investigating, comparing notes and becoming ‘community organizers.’
Those promoting refugee resettlement have basically two weapons: the first is secrecy in the way they operate. The other weapon they have is that they hide under the white hat of humanitarianism and blast any opposition as racist, haters and just plain mean-spirited.
There is fear among people in some of these communities (besides fear of being called racists)—fear for their safety and fear for their children and grandchildren.
And, finally one other common thread in many places I visited is that neighborhoods are being changed as Muslims buy up property and put mosques in suburban neighborhoods.
Now to the top three most-read posts of the last week:
By the way, top daily posts (those trending are in the right hand side bar).
For new readers!
I had planned to list some resources here at RRW for those of you visiting for the first time, but I am now out of time because I will be hitting the road again this morning.
If you are new here, visit my FAQs (frequently asked questions) above on the header. Click here. There are important links there to help you figure out what is happening near you. See especially ‘Ten things your town needs to know’ here.
Also, be sure to use the search window! Type in a few key words (start with the name of your state) to see if we’ve previously reported on things where you live. For past weekly and monthly reports go here.
Apologies as always! I don’t want you to think I am rude, but I can’t answer all the e-mails I receive!
This is no surprise, since resettlement contractors like Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service are given millions of your dollars every year (more than 90% of their funding comes from you!) to bring refugees to your towns, they spend a lot of time pressuring Washington for more moola! Editor’s update/clarification! Read carefully! This is a post about the the funding we object to, it is not a post in support of their desire for more of your tax dollars!
Below is what their head-honcho (Linda Hartke) is saying on their website. Thanks to a reader ‘domstudent11’ for sending it.
Linda Hartke: Waaahhhh! We need money for the 100,000 (mostly Muslim) refugees Obama promised for next year.
The days left on the Congressional calendar are numbered, and yet, funding provisions to respond to the greatest humanitarian crisis of our lifetime have not been allocated. Congress has from now until September to pass funding bills for Fiscal Year 2017 that ensure critical funding for refugee resettlement. However, the draft text cripples the U.S. Refugee Admissions program and reduces resources for refugees at a time when our commitment to serving uprooted men, women, and children is needed most. With more displaced people today than ever before, funding for refugees programs cannot afford a spending cut. The United States has signaled commitment to resettle 100,000 refugees in Fiscal Year 2017, a mere fraction of the global need, yet the proposed funds would cap refugee admissions at no more than 75,000. At least 25,000 vulnerable refugees will spend another long year without the life-saving protection they deserve.
Furthermore, the funding cut fails to reflect the outpouring of support and welcome for refugees you all have demonstrated across the country. With over 75 years of experience resettling and providing integration support to refugees, we know there is ample community support to help 100,000 refugees rebuild their lives in the United States in FY17.
We need your help to call on appropriators to echo our commitment through robust funding. During the Congressional recess from now until Labor Day, you can take the following actions:
Meet with your Members of Congress in your district (Here’s the how-to toolkit.)
Tweet at your Senator and Representatives:
“.@SENATOR/REPRESENTATIVE, show that #AmericaWelcomes by supporting increased funds to resettle #refugees! #RefugeesWelcome”
Call your Members of Congress using this script:
“As Congress considers Fiscal Year 2017 funding, I urge Congress to increase funding for the Office of Refugee Resettlement and the Department of State’s Migration and Refugee Assistance account to support refugee assistance that appropriately responds to the global need. As a person of faith, my community welcomes refugees. I urge your office to reflect my commitment to welcome refugees by increase funding for refugee protection and resettlement.”
Don’t allow Congress to let time slip away before they enact sufficient funding for refugees and other vulnerable populations. Call on Congress to be Good Samaritans who support those in need of life-saving protection.
Editor: Our reader suggests you change the words in the appeal to Congress in #3 above and ask your Member of Congress to “decrease” funding instead!
See LIRS most recent available Form 990 here. In 2014, LIRS had a total revenue of $59 million and $55 million came from government grants (from you!). Hartke pulled down a comfortable $235,000 salary and five other employees were in 6 digits.
If you want to know if LIRS is resettling refugees where you live, click here, find your state and see the abbreviations in the left hand corner of the entry. Look for LIRS.
One more thing, although Hartke is whining about being short on funds to resettle 100,000 refugees, remember that the Refugee Council USA (the lobbying consortium for the contractors) is calling for 200,000 next year (which begins Oct. 1, 2016).
And remember that September is crunch month as Obama does his UN gig and sends his final determination (for how many refugees we will take) to Congress.
Because the ‘story’ doesn’t fit the narrative the No Borders Left has developed over the years of refugee children (Muslim children in this case) as literally the hope of the world, the mainstream media (including Fox News) has been silent about this dreadful story made worse by the attempts at the local government level to silence the critics. Thanks to brave local citizens, the case will not be swept under the rug. Families of the boys accused in the alleged rape of 5 year old girl sit outside Twin Falls detention center. http://www.wnd.com/2016/06/muslim-migrant-boys-accused-of-assaulting-idaho-girl-5/
For new readers our archive on the case is here. See especially posts on how the US Attorney for Idaho attempted to intimidate citizens who were demanding the case be thoroughly investigated. Here is Lee Stranahan at Breitbart:
TWIN FALLS, IDAHO – In a shocking and exclusive interview with Breitbart News, the father of a five-year-old girl that was allegedly raped by refugee children reveals that he watched 30 seconds of a video of the assault taken by one of the three boys charged with the crime. The father also revealed that the parents of the refugee children had urged him not to call the police when he first learned of the attack.
Additionally, new allegations against a ten-year-old boy who was involved in the June 2 attack were revealed in court on Thursday afternoon, alleging the boy both anally and orally penetrated the five-year-old, in addition to urinating on her, as revealed by the father in the clip below. Previously, it had only been known that a seven-year-old boy had orally penetrated the girl and urinated on her.
The little girl’s parents, concerned about biased media coverage as well as their own personal safety and that of their daughter, have not been interviewed on videotape until this Thursday’s interview with Breitbart News.
Continue reading here.
We have been reporting on the controversy surrounding Twin Falls, the refugee program there and the role Chobani Yogurt is playing in changing Twin Falls with its desire for cheap immigrant labor ever since a new mosque was built there in January 2015. See our Twin Falls archive here. Twin Falls represents the same pattern I am seeing throughout my western road trip. Big corporations looking for cheap immigrant labor are supplied with workers by the US State Department and its refugee resettlement contractors. Local governments are often complicit (money!) as the character of small and medium cities are changed forever. Citizens who object are labelled racists etc. Do not be fooled the US Refugee Admissions Program is not about compassion for the poor and downtrodden! Endnote: The resettlement contractor in Twin Falls is a subcontractor of USCRI, learn more about USCRI and Lavinia Limon, here.
Michael Patrick Leahy is writing (again) about Twin Falls, Idaho and how Washington, DC insiders are deciding the future of small cities in the American west.
I can hardly believe it! I have been on the road for 3 weeks today, have made stops in 8 states and have put over 4,000 miles on my car! In nine more days I’ll be home in Maryland.
