Day: October 22, 2017

Trump Admin. rumored to be tightening refugee screening; announcement could come this week

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

“When you put in additional security checks you can basically halt the system.”

Bob Carey

When I say “rumored” in my headline, it is because there are bureaucrat blabbermouths obviously reporting to former Obama Administration officials who are then taking the news to the likes of Reuters, here.

We learn that the bureaucrat(s) can’t speak on the record, but….

We have Bob Carey speaking on the record, former director of Obama’s Office of Refugee Resettlement.  Not mentioned here is the fact that he was also (and may be again) a senior Vice President of the International Rescue Committee (the revolving door between contractor and government is alive and well!) one of nine major federal resettlement contractors.***

Screenshot (1000)
From Dutch citizen(?) Hans Van de Weerd‘s facebook page. He wears two hats. In addition to his job at the IRC, he is Chairman of the DC lobbying arm of the refugee industry that recently joined CAIR in their protest of the Trump Admin. See his bio here:    http://www.rcusa.org/staff/

Then we have Hans Van de Weerd weighing in who works for the IRC now.

So bureaucrats blab to Bob and Bob gets Hans to talk to Reuters.

But, frankly Trump is at fault for still not placing his own people in the State Department and DHS thus letting the blabbermouths run free.  Here is yet another story on that subject which I don’t have time to write about today.

Back to Reuters and the latest round of leaks and wailing from the refugee industry (in and out of government) about what could happen this week as the 120-day refugee ‘moratorium’ ends.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – President Trump’s administration has drafted a plan to pause a program that allows family members join refugees already settled in the United States until they can undergo increased security checks, two sources with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.

The measure is one of several being considered for refugees, the sources said.

The administration also may expand the use of intensive security checks by multiple federal agencies, called “security advisory opinions” (SAO) to apply to women from countries designated as high-risk by the U.S. government. Currently there are usually only mandatory SAOs, as they are called, for men from those countries, the sources said.

The administration is also considering expanding the categories of refugees required to be fingerprinted, the sources said.

The proposals, if implemented, could significantly slow down refugee admissions and leave refugees who thought they were headed to the United States in perilous situations abroad, say refugee advocates and former officials.

[….]

A 120-day temporary ban on refugees, put in place to study current procedures, expires on Oct. 24.

The sources, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak about the plans before they are announced, said the new measures could be announced at the end of the temporary ban.

[….]

“Reports on the type of vetting measures being considered for our refugee resettlement program are disturbing,” said Hans Van de Weerd, the Vice President of U.S. Programs at the International Rescue Committee. [I previously did some research on ol’ Hans here and he earlier was reporting he was a Dutch citizen. Seems that little nugget is missing from his bio now.—-ed]

[….]

“When you put in additional security checks you can basically halt the system,” said Robert Carey, the former director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement under former President Barack Obama, a Democrat.

“Every check is only good for a finite period of time and they expire and the whole process has to start all over again,” he said, adding that the level of scrutiny is higher for refugees than most any other visa applicant to the United States.

More here.

Looking for something to do?

If every one of the thousands of you who read this post took 2 minutes to write to the White House and tell the President to tighten security screening for all refugees, you might actually succeed in hitting a nerve at the White House.

Click here.

Update!  I did not find that link above to work! Try here.

***For new readers, these are the nine federal refugee contractors that monopolize all refugee resettlement in the US. Go here and see my latest financial report on all of them. The more refugees admitted to the US, the more funding they get from you!

The IRC is the largest financially (the Catholic Bishops place the largest number of refugees in your towns) and pays out some whopping big salaries. David Miliband, CEO of the IRC, is not a US citizen and he is raking in annually just short of $600,000 partially supplied by you—US taxpayers!  Doing well by doing good! And, changing America to boot!

 

Lutherans on the offense in St. Cloud, plan propaganda webinar

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

LIRS logo

Readers, I do have news from elsewhere that needs to be posted, but the St. Cloud upcoming council vote is shaping up to be a pivotal event.

What I truly don’t understand is why Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota (a subcontractor of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service headquartered in Baltimore) is so hell bent to bring more third worlders, especially Somalis, to a town where they (Somalis AND LSS) face such a backlash.

You would almost think the Lutheran resettlement contractor is benefiting financially beyond its per head payment for the refugees they place in Minnesota communities.

Now they plan to put on a webinar in mid-November to supposedly tell the public that refugees don’t cost taxpayers a dime just when a member of the city council wants a REAL economic assessment of what resettlement is costing the community beyond the trouble in schools and neighborhoods and the general social and cultural upheaval that comes with cities being rapidly changed demographically.

When you look at their list of handpicked webinar speakers (below from the St. Cloud Times), see who is represented and who isn’t:

No one from the police department is listed

No one from the school system

No one to explain the costs for interpreters in the criminal justice system and in hospitals etc.

No one who can speak to the amount of remittances being sent out of St. Cloud and back to Africa

No one to address the issue of jobs that refugees take from low-skilled American workers….

And, how about they put a representative of the Minnesota Meatpacking industry on the panel to explain how they need the Lutherans to supply their cheap labor!

Of course they won’t do that, and they won’t do this ‘fact finding’ in a public meeting because here they can control the information, who registers and what questions are asked in this webinar format. (Ha! Ha! wouldn’t it be fun to have a counter webinar that same day and time!)

Teresa Bohnen
The presence of this panelist explains much. Teresa Bohnen is not only President of the St. Cloud Chamber of Commerce, but also Vice Chair of the state chamber and works closely with the US Chamber of Commerce that lobbies for amnesty for illegals and for more refugee laborers. If only they would all be truthful about their wish for a steady flow of migrant labor. Come on just say it! We work for the meat industry! http://www.sctimes.com/story/money/2016/02/05/bohnen-elected-state-chamber-board/79840982/

Here is the St. Cloud Times announcing the webinar:

A group hopes to distinguish between fact and myth about refugee resettlement with a public webinar in November.

Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota will have a webinar from 3-4:30 p.m., Nov. 14.

Panelists, including staff and state and local leaders, will talk about how resettlement works and the costs and benefits of the program in the St. Cloud area.

Panelists include:

Yusuf Abdi, director of refugee services, Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota.

Karin Blythe, resettlement supervisor, Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota.

Teresa Bohnen, president, St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce.

Melissa Huberty, human services administrator, Stearns County Human Services.

Mary Zelenak, health protection and promotion supervisor, Stearns County Public Health. [Be sure to ask her about TB rates in Minnesota immigrant population!—ed]

Rachele King, state refugee coordinator, Minnesota Department of Human Services.

The discussion over the cost of refugee resettlement in St. Cloud has been reignited recently, as a St. Cloud City Council member announced a plan to temporarily stop refugees from resettling in St. Cloud.

Jeff Johnson, who represents St. Cloud’s Fourth Ward, submitted a draft resolution this week calling for a moratorium on refugee resettlement in St. Cloud.

The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations also launched a petition Tuesday urging the St. Cloud City Council to vote no on the moratorium, which the organization called a “despicable, racist, Islamophobic, and ill-informed motion targeting refugees.”

More here.

There will be discussion at tomorrow’s council meeting and the vote on Johnson’s resolution could happen on November 6th.

For new readers, I have an archive on St. Cloud that goes back to 2008, click here to learn more.