Month: March 2017

Federal refugee grants to special ethnic groups "to promote community organizing"

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Community organizing for their group of people gratis the US taxpayer!

This morning, I was going to write about how elder refugees (yes, we admit many over 65 years old) are eligible for SSI, but I stumbled on the $millions in grants taxpayers give to ethnic groups across the country so they can help “their” special ethnic group of people integrate and become civically engaged.

Buffalo Imam Yahye Y Omar is listed as the agent for an ORR community organizing grant. Photo: https://www.hiiraan.com/news4/2017/Jan/140081/trump_crackdown_on_refugees_hits_home_for_somali_community.aspx

These grants previously were gifts to ECBOs (Ethnic Community Based Organizations) for which I had created a  whole category a few years back, see here.
I likened them to mini-ACORNS.
Do you remember ACORN which taught poor Americans how to get their stuff (welfare) and then organized them to vote, etc?  These groups are like that!
Now they are called Ethnic Community Self-Help groups (not really self-help are they if you are funding them?).
Because many are for specific ethnic groups, I believe they foster non-assimilation as they identify their people as somehow in need of special treatment by the government.
Here is what the Office of Refugee Resettlement says about these grants and groups.

Program Goal

The objective of this program is to support ethnic community based organizations in providing refugee populations with critical services to assist them in becoming integrated members of American society.

General Background

Throughout the history of the United States the involvement of refugees and refugee community based organizations in refugee resettlement has been critical to refugee integration. Today, these organizations continue to enhance the provision and effectiveness of services available to refugees. They allow the refugee experience to flow into refugee resettlement plans and decisions. For refugees, their active participation in resettlement is generally empowering and plays an important role in the integration of the entire refugee community.

Program Description

This program provides assistance to refugee community based organizations and other groups that address community building, facilitate cultural adjustment and integration of refugees, and deliver mutually supportive functions such as information exchange, civic participation, resource enhancement, orientation and support to newly arriving refugees (and other refugees that maybe in need of such assistance regardless of their resettlement date) and public education to the larger community on the background, needs and potential of refugees. In short, the purpose is to promote community organizing that builds bridges between newcomer refugee communities and community resources.

LOL! Building bridges to community resources=finding taxpayer-funded welfare goodies!
I thought the refugee contractors‘ job was to ‘orient’ new refugees and take care of their ‘needs,’ but nevermind, there is a whole cottage industry of non-profit groups sucking from the federal teat for their special ethnic ‘community.’
Here is a screenshot from the 2015 ORR Annual Report to Congress showing the $6,096,190 in grants sent out that year.

Sure hope the Trump team targets these for de-funding!



Homework assignment!
You should find out more about any of these special groups for special people (you fund them!) working near you.
The last one on the first page jumped out at me.  I wondered what is Helping Ensure Africa Looms International Inc. I didn’t even find a website or any description of what it does, just this NY state charity profile.  There I learned that the principle agent is one Yahye Y Omar of Buffalo.
We assume he is the same Yahye Y Omar who is the imam at the Buffalo Islamic Community Center who is quoted in this Buffalo News story entitled:

Refugees and immigrants reminded of legal rights at Buffalo event

Guess he is busy “community organizing!”
I didn’t have any intention of going farther with this, but be sure to see a recent Form 990 for ‘Helping Ensure Africa….’ Pretty much the only money they take in is from ORR and almost $70,000 went to salaries and $10,000 + went to rent.
But, I was still not ever able to find out what exactly the recipient of $170,103 in 2015 actually does!

Hawaii judge thumbs nose at AG Sessions: yes, my order applies to refugee ceiling/moratorium

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

You probably heard on the news over the weekend that the Department of Justice sought clarification from Obama’s friend, Judge Derrick Watson, in Hawaii and asked if he really meant to include a stop order on the President’s 120-day moratorium on refugee admissions and the FY17 ceiling reduction when he was aiming at the travel freeze.
The travel issue and the refugee admissions issue are two separate things. For the time being, take the so-called ‘travel ban’ from six countries out of your mind. It is not the main subject of this blog or what I want to try to make clear to readers (and the lazy, ignorant press).

A co-plaintiff in the case is Imam Ismail Elshikh. Is he even a US citizen? Photo and story here at a very unusual blog that I had never heard of: http://hlaoo1980.blogspot.com/2017/03/egypt-muslim-imam-suing-trump-for.html

The confusion comes from the fact that the first judge on the original order left the refugee admissions pause and ceiling portion of the EO intact and so did the Maryland judge last week.

It appears that Judge Derrick Watson believes he has the authority to set the ceiling for refugee admissions each year.

He emphatically does not have that authority.  He can’t make the Dept. of State resume overseas processing of refugees. He can’t make the Administration and Congress spend money on refugees.
The President has the explicit power in the Refugee Act of 1980 to set the CEILING (as we said here). In most years the President (Bush and Obama) has been well under the CEILING!
As I have said recently, the big mistake the Trump team made was putting the refugee pause in to an Executive Order.
They have the power to slow the flow and stay under a proposed CEILING without an explicit order.  The only thing I can see that they should have done (maybe they did it) was to notify the House and Senate Judiciary Committees that they were lowering the ceiling.  However, the original act only gave Congress the power to ‘consult’ not stop the President. (In 1980, Ted Kennedy, Joe Biden and Jimmy Carter put a lot of power in the President’s hands when it comes to refugee admissions!)

If the controversy continues, more taxpaying Americans will be educated!

That said, there could be a silver lining.  The Trump State Department can keep the flow low (or at zero) for months to come, and because the refugee ceiling is in Watson’s case (a case that surely will now work its way through the courts), the subject of the US Refugee Admissions Program will continue to be in the national news.  Thus more and more Americans will be learning the facts about what they have been paying for since 1980!
(See my right hand sidebar where I will attempt to keep you updated every few days on refugee admission numbers for FY17.)

Bill Frelick of Human Rights Watch: “…there is no requirement that the U.S. resettle a single refugee….”

As for the contractors***, they would have been better off just shutting up and taking the 120-day (16 week) pause because 7 weeks have already passed since the original EO was announced on January 28th and they would be on their way through the slowdown.
Before you read the latest news about the Judge sticking by his original decision last week, see what refugee advocate and longtime expert Bill Frelick (Human Rights Watch) said in November after Trump was elected and the refugee industry went in to shell-shock:

“In the U.S., there’s not a quota that has to be filled. The U.S. has a budgeted amount of money to do refugee resettlement, but there’s no requirement that the U.S. resettle a single refugee, and there’s no legal obligation to do it.”

Here is one of many stories (this one at Fox News) this morning about Judge Watson telling the DOJ—no way, not changing a thing!

The federal judge in Hawaii who halted President Trump’s new, revised travel ban denied the administration’s request for him to limit the scope of his ruling Sunday so that the United States can immediately stop taking in refugees worldwide.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson on Thursday issued a temporary restraining order on Trump’s order that prevents travelers from six mostly-Muslim countries entering the U.S. and suspends the United States’ worldwide refugee program.

Justice Department attorneys argued in a motion Friday that Watson’s temporary restraining order was essentially based on the argument that the ban appears to unconstitutionally target Muslims.

They questioned whether his ruling was limited to the part of Trump’s March 6 executive order that temporarily bans visas to travel from the six countries into the U.S., and not to the temporary refugee ban.

Watson responded Sunday by saying there was nothing unclear about the scope of his order and that the ruling remains unchanged.

More here.

As I said above, keep it up! The more public controversy surrounding the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program the better because then more American taxpayers will be educated!

For a laugh, don’t miss the news that Hawaii has taken only a tiny number of refugees for the last 14 years!
*** Here (below) are the nine major federal refugee contractors who now will see their budgets slashed (because they are largely funded by you, the taxpayer).  They know this judge is on thin ice on the President’s power to determine the number of refugees being admitted to the US.
Are they hoping that Watson can bully his way through and singlehandedly re-write the Refugee Act of 1980 turning a ceiling in to a target/goal—something the refugee industry has wanted for a long time!
By the way, for new readers, you need to know that your local resettlement agency will be a subcontractor of one of the nine fake charities that monopolize the federal refugee contracting system listed here:

 

Hillary's Libyan legacy still responsible for invasion of Europe as Italy panics

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Invasion of Europe news….
I’m not going to let you all forget that it was Hillary and her girls who were responsible for the overthrow of Libyan strongman Muammar Ghaddafi that resulted in the opening of the flood gates from Africa to Europe for tens of thousands of mostly economic migrants from the heart of Africa to countries like Italy geographically on the frontline of the invasion.
Even Obama didn’t have the stomach for the slaughter of Ghaddafi.  I followed the whole sorry tale from its earliest days here at RRW.

Susan Rice, Hillary and Samantha Power. Hillary admitted that in 2011 Obama was reluctant to follow Europe’s lead and get involved in Libya, but that she marshaled the forces (including Susan Rice and Samantha Power) to persuade Obama to help overthrow Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Ultimately, she said, it was the President’s decision thereby tossing blame back on Obama when the results of her actions have proven so disastrous. https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2015/10/23/hillary-and-the-girls-are-to-blame-for-libyan-hellhole-european-invasion/

 
Of course the Europeans made that fatal mistake in the earliest days of the invasion by not turning back (using safe methods) the first boats that were launched from the Libyan coast. Now they rescue each one sending a signal to people smugglers to keep ’em coming!

Here is the latest news from Middle East Monitor:

Italy panics as North Africa migrants surge

Italy will host a meeting between European and North African countries next week in a bid to strengthen support for an agreement it struck with Libya to fight people smuggling as migrant arrivals surge.

The prime minister of the UN-backed government in Tripoli, Fayez Al-Seraj, will meet with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and interior ministers from eight European countries including Germany and France on Monday.

Last month, Italy pledged money, training and equipment to help Libya fight people smugglers, a deal that was endorsed by European Union member states.

But Libya is still far from stable. Two governments are vying for power – in Tobruk to the east and Tripoli to the west – and the country remains mired in factional fighting and lawlessness.

The authorities in eastern Libya have rejected the deal struck between Rome and Tripoli.

“I’m not so naive as to not understand the situation there,” Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti told reporters. “But we cannot remain immobile and wait for the country to stabilise.”

He said the Libya agreement and next week’s meeting were not just “talk”, but strategic steps toward managing mass migration to Europe.

So far this year more than 16,000 migrants – a 36 per cent increase on the same period last year – have been rescued at sea and brought to Italy after Libya-based people smugglers piled them onto flimsy boats.

Don’t miss Hillary cackling about her success in killing Gaddafi. She looks like an absolute loon here:

 
Another version of Hillary’s  looney laugh, is here. Don’t you think it might be too early for her to come out of the woods!
Our archives on the ‘Invasion of Europe’ are here.

If SD governor willing to do this, why not take next step, join the Tennessee States' rights case?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

First, South Dakota is already a Wilson-Fish state which means a private non-profit group determines (along with the US State Department in Washington) how many refugees are placed in the state and where in the world they come from. Elected officials have little say over the process.
In SD they are trying to get some control.

Citizen activists should push the Governor to join the Tennessee lawsuit! https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2017/03/14/tennessee-files-suit-against-federal-government-over-cost-to-state-of-refugee-program/

Here we learn that the state legislature passed, and the governor signed, a measure in to law that restricts South Dakota’s Department of Social Services (aka welfare agency) from entering agreements with feds and their agent in the state—Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota.
From the Tenth Amendment Center:

PIERRE, S.D. (March 17, 2017) – South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard has signed a bill into law repealing the authority of the state Department of Social Services to enter into agreements related to the Refugee Act of 1980.

A coalition of 12 Republican representatives and senators sponsored Senate Bill 124 (SB124). Originally, the bill would have required the state legislature to approve refugee resettlement in the state, effectively giving it a veto over future resettlement. An amendment in the State Affairs Committee stripped away the approval requirement. But the law did strip the authority of the state Department of Social Services to unilaterally enter into agreements with the federal government for refugee resettlement by repealing SD Codified L § 28-1-47 (2015). That provision allowed the department to “enter into agreements with agencies of the United States for the purpose of participating in the Refugee Act of 1980.”

Increasing reporting requirements is important….

The new law also increases reporting requirements for private agencies in the state assisting with refugee resettlement. Agencies must report information including services provided, demographics and the number of refugees assisted from each country.

But…..

From a practical standpoint, SB124 won’t change much, other than the reporting requirements. Currently, Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota runs the state’s resettlement program. That won’t change under the new law and it won’t limit resettlement.

But the law does increase transparency and gives the state more control over future resettlement. It will also prevent the state from directly running resettlement programs without legislative action.

Time for South Dakota to take the leap! Join Tennessee. State legislators who have led this fight should call the Thomas More Law Center to see how to join.
See our South Dakota archive here.  I traveled through the state last summer during my 6,000 mile trip to troubled refugee hotspots.  Grassroots activists there are increasingly organized.
BTW, the last I heard the Somali charged with attempted murder (who jumped bail) is still missing.

RRW Weekly round-up for week ending March 17, 2017

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I’ve been terrible about keeping up with weekly round-ups, so I figured it was about time I put one up!
For my last round-up (it was for the month of February, click here).

The Top Three Posts of the last week are these (top daily posts are in the right hand sidebar):

“Battle of Rotterdam” on eve of historic election in the Netherlands

Michigan: More confirmation that refugee resettlement is an industry

Hawaii: Muslim Brotherhood-backed imam dictating US refugee policy

And, I want to mention that another post just skyrocketed yesterday.  It is this one:

Refuting, once again, the big lie about 18-24 months of vetting!

 
BTW, I’ve added a new sidebar widget: Refugee Admission numbers for FY17.

For new readers: I wrote this little book in 2015. Although a bit out of date now, it might help you get up-to-speed on an issue that is dominating the news today. https://www.amazon.com/Refugee-Resettlement-America-Civilization-Reader/dp/1508820708/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489919128&sr=8-1&keywords=ann+corcoran

Fiscal year 2017 runs from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017.  As you know Donald Trump has set the CEILING at 50,000 for the year.  As of the March 16th, the day Trump’s 120-day moratorium on resettlement was to go into effect, we were at 38,106.
The Hawaii judge placed, illegally in my opinion, a restraining order on the refugee ceiling  portion of the order.  So, I will track the numbers every few days (assuming Wrapsnet is working) and post the latest number in the right hand sidebar.

For new (and some long-time readers): Sorry for the repeat on some of this, but I get e-mails and comments about these issues all the time!

RRW is on twitter.  I am @RefugeeWatcher.  As of this morning I have 8,996 followers.  My tweets are also in the right hand sidebar here at RRW.
RRW is on facebook, my page is here. It has 42,000 likes as of this writing.
I am here by myself, no staff, just me, so I can’t answer every inquiry I receive.  I’m sorry. I hate to look rude, but I can’t.
Subscribing:
Increasingly readers are telling me that they subscribe to RRW, get a few e-mails with new posts, then all of a sudden they don’t get them anymore.  I don’t control that, wordpress does.  First, check your spam folder to see if your e-mail server is sending them there.  Next, resubscribe and try again.  And, there is the possibility that some e-mail server is blocking RRW.
But, you can always visit RRW directly every day or so and scroll back to see what I have written in the last few days.  It seems to me that that is the best option—less e-mail in your inbox and you can then see all the other features here at RRW most especially Frequently Asked Questions in the header.
Commenting rules (for the zillionth time!):
I screen comments. I check them a few times a day.  I post NO comments threatening violence or those with foul language.
If you attack another commenter with an ad hominem attack, it won’t be posted either. You can tell them they are wrong without impugning their character.
I’m not posting conspiracies of any sort.  I deal in facts.
And, please, please stop sending ‘off-topic’ comments.  If you want me to see a link that does not relate to the story I’ve posted, you can send it, but don’t expect to see it posted as a comment.  And, I am going to have to shorten comments when you post the entire text of another article.
Search RRW for topics that interest you!
I’ve written 8,372 posts in the last nearly 10 years.  There is a lot of material here at RRW. Please use the search window, upper left, using key words that relate to your interest and see what I have said in the past on the topic.  WordPress’s search function is very good! LOL! I know because I have to use it all the time to see what I’ve said over the years!
Also, for new readers, you might want to see my first youtube video from 2015, I see it is at 2,889,554 views as of this morning, here.

And, again thanks to all of you who have sent kind words of encouragement.  Know how much I appreciate it even if, for lack of time, I don’t respond directly.

This post, and all past roundups are at my ‘blogging’ category.