…..and help yourself too!
[On refugees] right now we’re setting a very bad example.
(HIAS CEO Mark Hetfield told the Israeli press last month)
It really is outrageous. Taxpayers shelled out $24,493,743 in federal grants to the ‘non-profit’ Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society according to its most recent Form 990 available and the group is in Israel community agitating and badmouthing the Trump Admin at the same time.
HIAS (they changed their name a few years ago, dropped the Hebrew) is helping organize protests in Israel against the deportation of illegal aliens.
I’m not challenging their right to free speech elsewhere in the world, but shouldn’t there be some law against using taxpayer dollars to do it!
I’m sure they will say they have great bookkeepers working to keep their pots of money separate. However, their taxpayer funding makes up half of their budget each year and they couldn’t exist without it (and they sure couldn’t pay these huge salaries, below).
Here is news directly from the HIAS horse’s mouth:
The diverse coalition of Israeli and North American groups calling for more humane treatment of asylum seekers is gathering momentum at a critical juncture, with the first wave of deportations scheduled to begin in April.
[….]
While in Israel for a visit, HIAS President and CEO Mark Hetfield told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that he felt encouraged the narrative was finally beginning to shift back in favor of the asylum seekers.
“Israelis are beginning to realize these are people with asylum claims, and they should be given a fair asylum hearing,” he said.
“If the government is unable to set up a system that is fair, it should give these people social and economic rights until it is safe for them to go back home. We’re not talking about a lot of people anymore.” [Last figure I saw was 37,000, a very high number for a small country to absorb—-ed]
[….]
HIAS, along with partners at the New Israel Fund, T’ruah, and Right Now, organized a call-in day last week in coordination with the #LetUsHelp Campaign, urging North Americans to call their local Israeli consulates and ask them to stop the deportation plans.
In his interview with Haaretz, Hetfield spoke about the relationship between Israel’s policies and attitudes back home in the United States.
“In the eyes of the American-Jewish community – particularly the younger generation – this is very upsetting and it’s just going to cause further alienation from Israel,” he warned. [He hopes it will!—ed]
Hetfield also noted that Trump Administration’s policies may be playing a role.
“The United States often sets examples for how refugees and asylum seekers should be treated, and that’s what’s happening now. We either set a good example or a bad example – and right now we’re setting a very bad example.
And, to think that we help pay his exorbitant salary!
From that recent Form 990:
Come on Mr. President, turn off their pipeline to the US Treasury!
Looking for something to do? Contact the White House and tell the President to cut HIAS loose!
For new readers:
HIAS is one of nine federal resettlement contractors.
The original Refugee Act of 1980, that set up this monstrosity, envisioned a public-private partnership that over the years has almost completely morphed in to a federal program.
The number in parenthesis is the percentage of their income paid by you (the taxpayer) to place the refugees and get them signed up for their services (aka welfare)! From most recent accounting, here.
- Church World Service (CWS) (71%)
- Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC) (secular)(93%)
- Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM) (99.5%)
- Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) (57%)
- International Rescue Committee (IRC) (secular) (66.5%)
- US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) (secular) (98%)
- Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS) (97%)
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) (97%)
- World Relief Corporation (WR) (72.8%)