If Donald Trump continues to make no move to replace the top levels in the US State Department with people supportive of him, he has more than three years of this c*** ahead of him.
Here are some snips from the New York Times yesterday:
WASHINGTON — President Trump plans to cap refugee admissions at 45,000 over the next year, according to current and former government officials briefed on the decision, setting a historically low limit on the number of people who can resettle in the United States after fleeing persecution in their own countries.
Blabbermouth bureaucrats:
Administration officials plan to inform senior lawmakers of the decision on Wednesday, according to the officials, who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to pre-empt a formal announcement.
Mr. Trump’s decision follows a fierce internal debate among senior members of his administration. Military and foreign policy officials pressed for resettling more refugees as a national security and moral imperative, while other top officials, led by Stephen Miller, his top policy adviser, and backed by John F. Kelly, his chief of staff and former secretary of homeland security, advocated slashing the number to as low as 15,000 based on concerns about cost and safety.
[….]
But Rex W. Tillerson, the secretary of state, ultimately lowered his recommended limit to 45,000, the people said, and that was the number presented to Mr. Trump.
The White House declined to comment on the decision or on the deliberations surrounding it.
I’ve been telling you, the refugee contractors are going to scream bloody murder over 45,000, so Trump should have gone for some really significant number—heck, even zero!
Refugee assistance groups reacted with outrage to the anticipated cap, calling it a departure from the American tradition of welcoming immigrants in times of need.
Partner! Partner! (grrrrr!) Does the NYT intentionally lie or are their reporters just lazy?
NYT reporters JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and MIRIAM JORDAN*** continue….
“Today a dark shadow has passed across the great American legacy and promise of protecting refugees,” said Linda Hartke, the president of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, one of nine agencies — most of them faith-based — that partner with the United States government to resettle refugees. “The threat of a drastically low ceiling on refugee arrivals in the U.S. is contrary to American values and the spirit of generosity in American churches and communities.”
Just when I think I can’t do this anymore, I see the NYT write this deception (by omission) about the contractors and it energizes me to continue to get the truth out to you.
Here is the latest financial information on the refugee agencies (federal contractors) whose budgets are based on the number of refugees (aka “clients”) admitted each year. As the numbers decline, so too do their federally-funded budgets!
BTW, the outraged Hartke is pulling down a salary/benefits/related income package of over $300,000 a year—doing very well by doing good!
(That is a government-funded salary larger than a US Senator or a Supreme Court Justice makes annually!)
Finally, here, toward the end of the article, is the PR stunt letter I told you about in my previous post:
On Monday, 34 senators — all Democrats except for John McCain of Arizona and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — wrote to Mr. Trump pleading for a cap higher than 50,000, calling the refugee program “a critical pillar or our national security and our foreign policy.”
Read the rest of the NYT piece here.
It is not too late, Donald Trump could still suspend the program and send Hartke (WHO WORKS FOR HIM!) to Puerto Rico and help American refugees for a change!
***Update*** Jordan says on twitter that she wants to hear from you: miriam.jordan@nytimes.com