This is just a quickie follow-up to a post I wrote here on Tuesday in which I reported that European Union countries are behind in their commitment to the United Nations to take in 50,000 UN-chosen refugees over a two year period.
First International Organization for Migration (IOM) International Charter Flight from Ethiopia Brings 154 Refugees to New Homes in Germany
(Just so you know the IOM had previously been a separate organization, but is now part of the UN. The US sends the IOM gobs of money!)
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Ethiopia organized on Tuesday its first international charter flight carrying 154 Somali refugees to be resettled in Germany.
If you see someone with a bag like this at an airport near you, you know they are refugees.
The group had been residing in Jijiga and Dolo Ado refugee camps in southern Ethiopia. They included 63 males and 91 females, 47 of whom are minors.
IOM has supported the German Resettlement Programme in their efforts to resettle 500 refugees living in Ethiopia to Germany since March. These efforts are closely coordinated with the Ethiopian Government’s Agency for Refugees and Returnee Affairs (ARRA), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Federal Government of Germany.
An additional 220 refugees will depart for Germany on a second IOM-chartered flight in mid-November. The majority of these people have already undergone the necessary interviews and health assessments.
“It is important that we facilitate the smooth resettlement of refugees by providing safe transportation,” said Milun Jovanovic, Operations Officer with IOM Ethiopia. “We are happy that refugees enjoyed this facilitated charter flight from departure to destination, with no hassles faced.”
For the past 15 year, IOM Ethiopia has been involved in relocating refugees to more than 16 countries, including the USA, Canada, Australia, Norway and the European Union through resettlement, family reunification and humanitarian admission programmes. Since 2016, the Organization has arranged 36 domestic charter flights for refugees travelling to Addis Ababa from camps throughout Ethiopia.
In 2019 alone, IOM has assisted 4,000 refugees to resettle to new countries together with UNHCR.
Late in September the word went outthat for the new fiscal year (2020) which began on October first, the CEILING on refugee admissions for the year would be 18,000 (not the zero I wanted!), and that arrivals would be delayed for three weeks.
The three weeks end on Monday, the 21st, but now comes word that more refugee flights have been cancelled and the new arrivals are expected to begin trickling in after the 28th of the month.
We also learn that the President has yet to sign-off on the 18,000!
Needless to say the refugee contractors*** are not happy.
Here is CNN where we learn a little bit more about the closed door meeting on the Hill this past Tuesday between Sec. of State Pompeo and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
More refugee flights to the US are being canceled
Flights for refugees who have been approved to come to the United States continue to be canceled, in some cases for the second time, CNN has learned.
Last month, CNN reported that travel for refugees who were told they could come to the US was postponed, due to a moratorium on travel that extended through October 21, raising concerns among refugee resettlement agencies.
The moratorium will now run until October 28, with arrivals expected to resume on October 29, according to a State Department spokesperson.
Senator Lindsey Graham appealed to Pompeo to bring in the already approved refugees—what thousands? Graham has been a long-time proponent of the refugee program.
[….]
The Trump administration has proposed capping the number of refugees allowed into the US at 18,000, a historic low. In a meeting this week, Sen. Lindsey Graham suggested to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that the US admit refugees who are travel ready, in addition to the 18,000, according to a congressional aide who attended the meeting.
Graham appeared concerned about the situation in Syria, the aide said.
The proposed 18,000 refugee cap, coupled with the situation in Syria and postponed travel has fueled concerns.
“There were cases that were re-booked in September for October 8 and then re-booked for October 22 and now trying to rebook for October 29. You’re basically inserting about a month and a half of when someone was expected to travel and when they are,” said Jen Smyers, director of policy and advocacy for the immigration and refugee program at Church World Service, one of the nine resettlement agencies.
More than 200 refugees were expected to travel to the US next week, according to a source familiar. Their flights have been canceled.
[….]
“We will work with our implementing partners to plan for a resumption of refugee arrivals on or after October 29,” a State Department spokesperson said, adding: “This will include rescheduling travel for those affected by the extension of the refugee arrivals pause. By law, no refugees may be admitted this fiscal year until the President determines the number that may be admitted. When the Presidential Determination is issued, we will begin admitting refugees in accordance with its provisions.”
The President has not yet signed off on the 18,000!
The canceling and re-booking of refugee flights suggests that there may be a delay in the President signing off on the 18,000-person refugee cap.
See my post from Thursday about the Hill meeting with Pompeo, here.
It is not too late! You can still weigh in bycontacting the White House. You can be sure that thousands of open borders activists are pressuring the White House any way they can.
***For new readers these are the nine federal refugee contractors that not only place refugees in towns across the country, but lobby Congress and organize publicity against this President all while sucking down millions of your tax dollars! Cut them loose from the federal teat!
Did you see the news that Democrat candidate for President Beto O’Rourke told an audience recently that he wanted to pull the tax exempt status of any religious organization that refused to perform gay marriages?
Yes Beto! Get rid of tax exempt status for some ‘religious charities’ but not for the reasons you suggest!
Well after having followed the fake non-profits hired by the feds to place refugees into unsuspecting towns and cities for over a decade, I have been thinking that we ought to pull the tax exempt status of any ‘religious’ group that operates in secrecy, gobbles up millions of tax payer dollars and then goes out and protests against the President (who is funding them!)….
….You know groups like the US Conference of Catholic Bishops,Church World Service, and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.
But holy cow! I never expected to see the Daily Caller carrying the water for those federal refugee CONTRACTORS in order to take a swipe at Beto.
The Daily Caller, called by wikipediaa right wing media outfit started by Tucker Carlson in 2010, must be trying to suck up to the Left with this distorted piece about how much religious groups do to help the poor and struggling refugees coming into the US from the third world.
Go for it, help the poor refugees (ignoring vulnerable Americans!), but do it with your own private charitable resources—NOT WITH TAXPAYER DOLLARS AND TAX EXEMPT STATUS!
[I just had a look at dozens of posts about the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and the millions it receives from the federal government and came acrossthis 2017 postwhere Tucker Carlson eviscerates the Bishop’s Washington, DC lobbyist! Clearly Carlson is ‘Tucker who?’ at the Daily Caller!]
Religious Institutions Support Refugees, But Beto Wants To Take Away Their Tax-Exempt Status
What do you mean by “but?” I agree with Beto—take away their tax-exempt status! Of course, however, the young Catholic-educated reporter is referring to his statement about gay marriage.
Here are the opening two paragraphs in a report by Mary Margaret Olohan:
2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke wants to take away religious institution’s tax-exempt status if they will not perform same-sex marriages, but religious institutions make major contributions in helping refugees.
O’Rourke sparked backlash at CNN’s LGBTQ forum on Oct. 10 when he said that religious institutions that would not perform same-sex marriages should lose their tax-exempt status. He reiterated his statements Sunday, adding that this would apply to mosques and minority churches.
And, then she uses the supposed good works of two of nine refugee contractors to make her gushing points about how they help refugees and thus it’s an outrage for Beto (who loves refugees!) to suggest these benevolent politically Leftwing groups should lose tax exempt status.
Let me say it more clearly, it isn’t just that these ‘religious charities’ help refugees with taxpayer dollars, they promote illegal immigration and they actively protest on the streets against this President while living almost entirely on OUR US Treasury!
See Ms. Olohan’s credentials! https://dailycaller.com/author/Mary+Margaret+Olohan
You can read more from Ms. Mary Margaret Olohan, the Daily Caller‘s Social Issues reporter, yourself, but since she extols the virtues of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) as an example of a ‘religious charity’ making a major contribution to helping refugees (not American poor people!), I thought I would have a look at their most recent IRS Form 990.
[I mentioned the latest finances of the US Catholic Bishops here at ‘Frauds and Crooks.’]
First take a trip down memory lane andsee this postabout LIRS I wrote on Valentine’s day 2018:
Lutherans announce departure of CEO Hartke amid claims of financial irregularities, poor management
During the Obama years LIRS was 95% federally funded. According to the most recently available Form 990 (2018) they have slipped some and only received 87% of their funding from the US taxpayer—$41 million!
But here is the stunner! CEO Hartke was getting the heave-ho that year, but look at the salary she got going out the door! Over $400,000! That is about $80,000 more than the previous year! Pay-off?
This is largely your money!
Screenshot of a portion of the salaries page at LIRS 2018 IRS Form 990
What good is it if we have “right wing” media doing propaganda for Open Borders Inc?
So, I suggest Ms. Olohan do a little more research before picking which ‘religious charities’ to use as examples of virtue. And, btw, where was her editor?
Endnote: I don’t want to sound like I’m whining, but I’ve just spent a couple of hours (I don’t get paid!) doing research that salary-collecting reporters should be doing.
The transgressions of LIRS have been widely reported for years and even if she couldn’t find my work because WordPressdotcom killed RRW,Breitbartdid do a bunch of stories on the financial scandal surrounding Hartke’s departure.
On Tuesday while representatives of the Refugee Industry did their “civil disobedience” stunt and got arrested, see here, a legally required consultation occurred with Secretary of State Pompeo and Acting USCIS Director Cuccinelli meeting with the leadership (or at least one leader) of the Senate Judiciary Committee to formally tell Congress that refugee admissions for FY2020 will be capped at 18,000.
Not from any media publication, but only from a press release from Senator Dick Durbin’s office where he chastises the Trump team for being late with their consultation.
I know this is likely boring as heck for most of you, but there is a process required by the Refugee Act of 1980 that has been given short shrift for decades.
For years there was only a perfunctory consultation, often in the closing days of September, where members of Congress never suggested any changes— indeed why bother when both Democrat and Republican presidents were proposing hefty refugee admission numbers.
The House and Senate Judiciary Committees are required to hold hearings as well. However, only Senator Jeff Sessions ever held any type of real substantive hearing on the program in the last decade.
So it is rich that here (press release) Durbin is so obsessed with a process that few on the Hill ever cared a wit about (before Trump!):
In Consultation After Legally-Required Deadline, Durbin Presses Trump Administration On Dismal Refugee Resettlement Goal
In A Meeting With Secretary Pompeo And Acting USCIS Director Cuccinelli, Durbin Called Out Trump Admin’s Decision To Further Erode U.S. Role As Worldwide Leader On Refugees
U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, today met with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Acting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Ken Cuccinelli to press the Trump Administration on its dismal refugee resettlement goal of merely 18,000 to the U.S. in the coming year.
Prior to any presidential determination on the number of refugees to be admitted in the upcoming fiscal year, the law requires that Cabinet-level officials representing the President engage in an in-person consultation with Senate and House Judiciary Committee leaders.
The law is clear that the consultation must occur before the start of the fiscal year. This consultation, on October 15, is after the start of the new fiscal year and in violation of the statute. For the third year in a row, the Trump Administration willfully disregarded the law regarding their obligation to consult with Congress prior to the end of the fiscal year.
Reason, as many of you know is a Libertarian operation.
HereReasonsenior analyst Shikha Dalmia makes the argument that we (America, you, the taxpayers!) could save the Kurds (Sunni Muslims) from the Turks by resettling them in our towns and cities.
Let the Kurds Come to America
Shikha Dalmia
America could safeguard Kurdish lives by offering them a quick way out and arrange their evacuation. There are less than a million Kurds in SDF-controlled Syria.
Even if they all came to the U.S., America could absorb them without breaking a sweat. And not all of them would even come. Kurds have been fighting for their own homeland ever since the European powers carved the Kurdish population into several pieces after World War I, handing each to Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran. So many of them won’t abandon their struggle and flee. But Kurdish fighters may appreciate a safe haven for their spouses and children. The least America can do is give them that option.
Of course that will require Trump to lift his “Muslim” travel ban and revive America’s near-dead refugee program.
