Utah embraces refugees, will LDS church become a federal refugee contractor?

01/13/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

“Even people that live here, they don’t even know they have that many refugees in the state.”

Aden Batar, Catholic Community Services

Right now, most refugees resettled in ‘welcoming’ Utah are placed there through Catholic organizations under the umbrella of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, but the Mormon church is jumping on the bandwagon. So far they haven’t applied to become a refugee contractor (to get direct grants from the federal government), but I have been speculating about the possibility that they are in the learning stage right now working along with Catholic agencies.

Esar Met, listens to proceedings in Judge Judith Atherton's court room, at the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City, Thursday, January 9, 2014. Esar Met is accused of killing 7-year-old Hser Ner Moo, who disappeared on March 31, 2008. — Poster boy for refugee program in Utah! They will never mention the sensational trial of Burmese Muslim refugee, Esar Met, sentenced to life in prison in Salt Lake City in 2014. He brutally raped and murdered a 9-year-old Christian Burmese girl. Met was likely placed in a housing complex with Burmese Christians by one of the Utah’s resettlement agencies. Was it the Catholic agency? National media never reported the story! I’m not going to let it die! https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2014/05/15/utah-burmese-muslim-refugee-sentenced-in-brutal-rapemurder-of-little-girl/

If you missed it yesterday, you might want to read my post about the millions of tax dollars the US Conference of Catholic Bishops receives every year for their charitable (Ha! Ha!) work here.
It doesn’t surprise me that other ‘religious charities’ might want to get on the gravy train! See recent posts on the Mormon church and refugees here.
Here is a the fluffy puffy news from The National Catholic Reporter (the star of the story is a Somali refugee) about how wonderful the refugee program is in Utah.

Aden Batar’s first taste of Utah came more than 20 years ago as a high school student in his native Somalia. An agriculture team from Utah State University had traveled there to work with Somali farmers on their farming techniques. Batar was a promising student then, learning about the snow in Salt Lake City from the ag workers, studying English and planning for law school.

[….]

Now 48, Batar was the first Somali refugee resettled by Catholic Community Services (CCS) of Utah in 1994. The agency has helped to resettle close to 7,000 men, women and children in the state, the majority since 1996. That same year, Batar got a job as a case manager with CCS in part because he could speak Somali.

“Utah is home to more than 60,000 refugees,” said Batar, now the immigration and refugee resettlement director at CCS, which is affiliated with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He credits a partnership between the Catholic church and the Church of Latter Day Saints for much of the immigration work done in the state. “Even people that live here, they don’t even know they have that many refugees in the state.”

[….]

hser-ner-moo-esar-met-facebook — Hser Ner Moo: The medical examiner testified that she died in “excruciating pain” and her mother wonders if coming to America was the right thing to do.

Concerns about terrorism and the prospect of harsher immigration laws under the incoming Donald Trump administration aren’t making the work of CCS and Holy Cross Ministries any easier, but they’ve frankly got too much on their plates right now to worry much about what might happen in the future.

If it’s still a surprise that so many refugees end up in Utah, it may be even more so to learn that they are often the “most difficult to serve,” Batar said. The refugees are usually part of large families, people with medical issues or disabilities, or women who have suffered trauma and are the head of household. Utah is popular not just because housing is inexpensive there, although it is, Batar said.

We can only assume that Utah has run out of American poor people for the LDS church to serve, so they have moved on to importing poverty to the state.
Near the end we hear from Rick Scott, manager of North American humanitarian operations for the LDS Church in America and Canada:

The LDS Church had explored becoming a resettlement agency itself, Scott said, but it currently provides cash, commodities (mattresses, food, hygiene products, etc.), resources, and volunteer assistance to CCS.

Frankly, I think they still are exploring it! But, to break into the monopoly the nine volags (federal contractors) have, an organization wishing to become a direct resettlement agency must prove they have experience with refugees. What better way to get it than to partner with the largest contractor—the US Conference of Catholic Bishops—to learn the ropes.
There is a lot more that might be of interest to Utah residents, go here to read the glowing report about Utah wrapping its arms around refugees.

Tennessee lawsuit challenging refugee program could be filed by end of January, Kentucky may join

01/12/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Faithful readers know that this is a long time in coming, but we now see movement with the legal challenge that has the best shot of success in pushing the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program toward reform.

haslam4 — Tennessee’s Republican Governor Bill Haslam fought the legislature on this issue. He welcomes more refugees to the state. Tennessee’s two US Senators (Alexander and Corker) also have done nothing to control expansion of the program in Tennessee.

The case, to be litigated by the Thomas Moore Law Center after the Tennessee legislature voted to sue and the governor agreed to hire them, involves the so-called Wilson-Fish provision that many believe is being used to unlawfully place the refugee program in a non-profit groups’ hands in states where the state government has opted out of the federal program.
In other words, one of the questions to be resolved is can a non-profit group (working with the feds) say how state taxpayer funds are spent, which is essentially what is happening in states that have withdrawn from the program?
States that could join Tennessee are those that recently withdrew including Texas, Maine, New Jersey and Kansas. The older Wilson-Fish states, in addition to Tennessee and Kentucky, are also possible litigants, depending on the structure of their program, and include: Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Vermont.
Here is the news from The Tennessean yesterday:

Tennessee’s lawsuit against the federal government over refugee resettlement could be filed by the end of the month, a proponent of the effort said Tuesday.

Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, R-Collierville, said a team of legal experts was coming to Nashville to discuss the forthcoming lawsuit, which was approved by the legislature last year.

“We will be working on the complaint that we intend to file I hope before the end of the month,” he said, while indicating that there has been interest from some in Kentucky about joining the lawsuit.

Norris said any lawsuit would be filed in the federal court in Nashville or possibly in Washington, D.C.

Tennessee’s lawsuit will be the first of its kind in the nation, given that it will challenge the federal government for noncompliance of the Refugee Act of 1980 based on the 10th Amendment.

[….]

The basis of the lawsuit centers on based on several arguments, including that the federal government has failed to consult with the state on the continued placement of refugees; the cost of administering the refugee resettlement program has been shifted to the state without officials specifically authorizing the appropriation of funds; and that the ongoing placement of refugees is a violation of the 10th Amendment.

Last fall, legislative leaders signed off on the selection of the Thomas More Law Center, a Michigan-based legal group that has taken on several conservative legal causes in recent years.

For our extensive archive on Tennessee, click here. Go here for all of our reporting on Wilson-Fish states.

Congress must tighten Tuberculosis testing and reporting requirements for refugee flow

01/12/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Michael Patrick Leahy writing at Breitbart published one more report in his series that extensively analyzes the Tuberculosis problem in the US refugee population. Here we learn that in Illinois, 8 cases of ACTIVE TB were discovered in newly resettled refugees.

tb-symptoms-treatment — If you volunteer with a resettlement agency and spot any of these symptoms report it immediately and protect yourself.

This report demonstrates one of my greatest concerns and that is: how long are refugees with active TB wandering around your towns and cities, going to school, shopping at Walmart, and otherwise interacting with the community before anyone even tests them?
Here is Leahy:

The Illinois Department of Public Health has confirmed that eight refugees were diagnosed with active tuberculosis (TB) “during the initial health screening or within 90 days of the refugee arrival” in the four years between 2012 and 2015. [Within 90 days! So they are walking around with active TB for months!—ed]

This data was not included in the Reported Tuberculosis in the United States documents published annually by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) between 2012 and 2015. Those reports confirmed 1,565 cases of active TB diagnosed among refugees in the 46 states that reported immigration status upon first arrival among foreign-born residents of the United States diagnosed with active TB.

Illinois is one of four states that do not share this data with the CDC. Arizona, Virginia, and Washington are the other three states.

[….]

“CDC encourages states/jurisdictions to provide as complete information as possible, but there is no requirement that they provide immigration status as part of routine surveillance,” a spokesperson told Breitbart News on Monday.

Limiting reporting of cases of TB diagnosed upon arrival, however, fails to capture the majority of the refugee TB cases which develop and are diagnosed more than a year after their arrival.

And, since we are told constantly that refugees can move anywhere they want within the US, how are those cases followed up?
Please go here to read the rest of the story.
And, to see all of Leahy’s reports, click here.

Where is Congress?

There are many things Congress can do to reform the US Refugee Admissions Program and dealing with the health issues presented by refugees who have apparently not been screened and barred from entry is a pretty easy fix.
Congress could require screening abroad and turn away all with both LATENT and definitely those with ACTIVE TB! Many with latent TB will eventually become active TB and you, the US taxpayer, will foot the bill for their meds! You are footing it right now!
And, your health and your family’s health is at risk!

Refugee contractor may have exaggerated numbers in letter promoting Rutland, VT resettlement

01/12/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Every one of you working in your local communities and questioning plans for either expanding the number of refugees in your city or where new sites are planned, pay attention! Do what this housing authority member did—don’t take the contractors word on the economic benefits that refugees supposedly bring to your town or city.
I’ve been begging for years for someone with an economic/business background to thoroughly debunk (with a focused economic study) this illogical notion that bringing more poor people to a poor and struggling city benefits the city economically! I’ve suggested Utica, NY as the case study location.

This meme along with the propaganda that no refugees have been involved in Islamic terrorism are the two major talking points the refugee industry advocates peddle.
Here is Vermont Watchdog. You too can do this!

Gail Johnson, a Rutland resident and Board of Aldermen hopeful, likes to confirm her facts. This practice grew out of necessity when, as a U.S. Navy finance officer, she was in charge of payroll for an entire naval base in Charleston, S.C.

lavinia-limon-96 — In 1996 Lavinia Limon was Bill Clinton’s Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement. After leaving government where she doled out grant money, she took the reins of one of nine major government refugee contractors receiving grant money, the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. See Breitbart’s Michael Leahy’s dossier on Limon here last August: http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/08/05/twin-falls-refugee-crisis-clinton-appointee/

Now, a member of the Rutland Housing Authority commission, Johnson continues to fact check. “Whatever I say or do, I have proof. I back it up. I expect others to do that as well,” she said.

Johnson never thought she would find discrepancies in a letter by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) to the Rutland Board of Aldermen, but she did.

[….]

In October, the Board of Aldermen sent a letter to USCRI, asking for justification of Rutland’s selection as a refugee relocation site. The agency still has not released the original grant application, which is supposed to spell out in detail Rutland’s suitability. Instead, USCRI CEO Lavinia Limon responded to the board in December, sending a letter that cited numbers of available jobs and housing.

Limon said that, as of Nov. 28, 2016, The Vermont Housing Data showed “284 housing units available for rent in Rutland City.”

Johnson noted that the 284 figure could be a result of expanded search parameters, to potentially place refugees in rent-to-buy situations, homes or condos. However, USCRI only places refugees in apartment rentals. [However, because the numbers coming in now are so astronomical, we are hearing refugees being placed (against federal regulations) in hotels!—ed]

However, when Watchdog checked the site on Jan. 11, only 23 housing locations are listed in Rutland City. Of those listed, none have availability.

[….]

“I’ve worked with people from many backgrounds. I’ve studied Arabic. Refugee settlement is a wonderful humanitarian effort,” she said.

But she said she becomes concerned when settlement agencies claim refugees will be beneficial to Rutland’s economy.

“They say that bringing in refugees is good for our economic recovery. I don’t know that that’s the solution. What I do know, in a bigger sense, is that the logic behind improving our economic recovery in Rutland by bringing in low-income people to generate business, it’s not a logical economic model,” she said.

Instead, Johnson contends, Rutland’s unemployment and lack of affordable housing makes bringing low-income refugee families into the city counterproductive from an economic standpoint.

Please read the whole story, Ms. Johnson found many more discrepancies in Lavinia Limon’s letter.
See my previous post on Rutland where I said Ms. Limon was setting this up (with the New York Times help) to use as a cudgel against Donald Trump should he stop the flow of Syrians after January 20th.
See our many posts on the Rutland controversy, here. And, learn more about Lavinia Limon and USCRI by clicking here.

And we almost missed it! US Conference of Catholic Bishops celebrates its National Migration week

01/11/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update January 12th: Don’t miss Leo Hohmann’s expanded news on the Bishop’s Migration Week, here.
Just now when I was writing about Catholic Charities crowing about the Somali Muslims they are placing in Minnesota, I came across this news. Sheesh! And, I almost missed it. If you are a Catholic you are likely being bombarded this week (January 8th -14th) with propaganda about welcoming the stranger.

Special Event: on “Common ground for the common good” (to mark the concluding day of the World Interfaith Harmony Week (1–7 February 2012), as proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 65/5 (A/RES/65/5)) (organized by the Office of the President of the General Assembly, in cooperation with the NGO Community at the United Nations Bill Canny - Catholic RElief Services — William Canny at the United Nations. Time to tell Catholics you are mostly funded by American taxpayers.

Longtime readers know that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops is one of the nine major federally employed refugee resettlement agencies in the US. Here the Crux tells us the Bishops are the largest of the nine:

Migration and Refugee Services of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is the largest private refugee resettlement agency in the United States and has helped to resettle more than one million refugees since 1975.

Nearly 80 Catholic Charities agencies across the country are involved in refugee resettlement work, helping refugees with housing, legal services, language proficiency, trauma counseling and employment training. [Implying that this is all done with Christian charity!—ed]

If you want to, you can read the rest of the Crux’s glowing report on what the good Bishops are doing on immigration, here.

What is missing from this long story is any mention of the MILLIONS OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS the Bishops receive to do their work!

And, guess what I learned! The Bishops don’t file an IRS Form 990 (no wonder we haven’t been able to find one). That is the tax form that non-profit organizations must file every year which is of vital importance for citizens to understand how their money is used and what salaries are paid.
The Bishops say they are a PRIVATE refugee agency (I say they are a quasi-government agency), but then use the religious exemption to avoid reporting to the IRS!

screenshot-134 — Why do you think their office is in Washington? Maybe they need to stay close to keep the pressure on Congress to keep their funds flowing!

Because we can’t get a Form 990, we have had to rely on the USCCB Migration and Refugee Service’s annual report, but unfortunately the most recent one available (that I can find) is for 2014. But, you get the gist of it—they get millions from you. And, frankly, if they would be honest with the public and their parishioners about these vast amounts of government funding, I will shut up about it.
Here is the breakdown of their income for 2014:

screenshot-136 — Federal grants is your money. But, so is the ‘travel loan.’ Makes them 97% funded by you!

Now just to impress upon you how much money the Bishops are getting from the US treasury, here (below) is a screenshot of one small portion of the list of grants and contracts they have gotten in recent years at USASpending.gov.
In the last few years the total is over $200 MILLION in grants, subgrants and contracts. And, that is just what went directly to the Bishops (when doing your own search, spell out United States Conference of Catholic Bishops).
It doesn’t include government grants and contracts for individual dioceses. You will have to look those up separately and find more pots of money.

screenshot-137 — This is just a section of one page at USASpending.gov!

So come on Bishops! Fess-up! Tell your loyal Catholic flock that this Migration and Refugee Services isn’t being funded by them, through their Christian charitable giving, but by the taxpayers of America!
And, it begs the question, when it comes down to taking moral stands on controversial social issues, will the USCCB choose government funding if it comes down to a choice between a moral stand or millions of free bucks?