Jen Smyers of Church World Service: “The impact if Texas doesn’t allow refugee resettlement to continue will be really dismal.”
The Leftwing federal contractors *** are on pins and needles waiting to see if they can reel in their big fish—Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
Texas is their most desired catch because although Abbott tried to get out of the program several years ago, the state remains the top refugee placement state in the nation(the Left is turning Texas blue!).
Smyers told reporters that many church groups on the ‘religious’ Left and advocates for Open Borders have met with Abbott’s staff.
Abbott silent as refugee resettlement deadline approaches
The article suggests that the deadline is “looming.” It isn’t! as I explained herewhen I told you about the dumb Republican governors who jumped on the consent bandwagon prematurely when they obviously hadn’t read the guidance from the US State Department.
I wonder, did Governor Little get a call from Pompeo too? Did he get any suggestion from anyone in Washington that his MONEY depended on his consent?
Governor Brad Little joins the list of governors thumbing their noses at one of the the President’s major goals—reforming the dysfunctional UN-driven Refugee Admissions Program and reducing refugee admissions.
Although Idaho doesn’t receive the massive number of refugees that Texas does, it nevertheless has been one of the major controversial locations in the country where many citizens there do not want to see more diversity and more poverty moved from Africa, Asia and the Middle East to their rural state.
County, Little offer support for refugee resettlement, but questions over jurisdiction remain
You can read the story yourself, but I want to be sure you see the Governor’s letter to Secretary of State Pompeo:
You should consider this a weasel letter. The Governor is saying (sigh) if Twin Falls County wants it, it’s okay with me.
Twin Falls County
Three cheers for a government body that actually read the rules.
More important than the governor’s weak letter is this letter that Twin Falls County sent to the Dept. of State. In the opening paragraphs, commissioners criticize the Funding Guidancefor its lack of clarity, but toward the end of the three-page letter, they penned an important few paragraphs.
Don’t forget, this whole exercise is about whether federal contractors will get MONEY (your tax dollars) later in 2020.
Shut out of so-called ‘stakeholder’ meetings!
They want to be included in consultations in the future (having been shut out so far) and if this exercise is to be repeated they want to hold “robust public hearings.” That is exactly what should be happening across 49 states (Wyoming has never been in the program).
Don’t forget the 100-mile radius rule!
When a contractor is ‘hired’ by the feds and approval is given by, in this case, Twin Falls County (and the governor), contractors may place certain refugees in a 100-mile radius of the resettlement office.
With its consent, Twin Falls County has granted permission for refugees to be placed in these locations within a hundred miles. See radius calculator.
This region includes 11 counties: Blaine, ID; Butte, ID; Camas, ID; Cassia, ID; Elmore, ID; Gooding, ID; Jerome, ID; Lincoln, ID; Minidoka, ID; Power, ID; Twin Falls, ID
***For new readers these (below) are the nine federally-funded refugee contractors that operate as a huge conveyor belt monopolizing all refugee placement in America.
Church World Service poster girl!
For decades they have decidedin secrecy where to place refugees and they don’t want to lose that power because even as they pontificate about their religious convictions and humanitarian zeal, they are Leftwing political activist groups working to change America by changing the people and using your money to do it!
And, they do not limit their advocacy toward only legal immigration programs, but are heavily involved in supporting the lawlessness at our borders.
The question isn’t as much about refugees per se, but about who is running federal immigration policy now and into the future?
(I plan to say this once a day from now on!)
I continue to argue that these nine contractors are the heart of America’s Open Borders movement and thus there can never be long-lasting reform of US immigration policy when these nine un-elected phony non-profits are paid by the taxpayers to work as community organizers pushing an open borders agenda.
If you wonder why more local elected officials aren’t brave. See what the Leftists do to those who go against them—mayors like Springfield, Mass Mayor Sarno!
Mayor Sarno has been trying tor years to get the State Department to stop the pipeline of refugees to Springfield.
The Open Borders Leftwingers are ruthless and this is the type of in-your-face agitation they have no fear of launching, but LOL! I think this one backfired.
The Interfaith Council of Springfield Massplaced a full-page ad in the Sunday edition of a local paper to shame the mayor—they don’t want Springfield to be the first city in America to say NO! to more refugees.
(If you are confused, according to the US State Department’s Funding Guidance it is county governments that must officially opt-in or opt-out of refugee resettlement under the President’s plan, but the Open Borders activists are going after cities probably because they think that mayors are an easier target. For the record, the first county to say NO is Appomattox County, Virginia.)
Here is the news, and then I’ll get to why the resettlement contractors’ (in this case primarily HIAS***) aggressive action, via the local Interfaith group, is backfiring! (I’ve warned you before about ‘Interfaith groups’as primary promoters of refugee resettlement.)
Interfaith Council challenges Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno on refugee resettlement
SPRINGFIELD – A full page taken by the Interfaith Council of Greater Springfield in the Sunday Republican today is requesting that Mayor Domenic J. Sarno bring unity rather than refusal around the issue of refugee resettlement in the city, saying in what it calls an open letter “no human is a burden.”
“Springfield is now the first city in the country whose mayor has refused to issue a letter of consent to allow refugee resettlement to continue,” reads the council’s letter.
“This is not a distinction we bear lightly.”
The statement, whose dozen signatures include those of the Western Massachusetts Conference of the Evangelical Church of America, Sinai Temple and the Islamic Society of Western Massachusetts, adds, “Instead of assigning blame to a small and already marginalized group, what if we were to bring people together – across our divides – to create real solutions? If, as the Mayor suggests, neighboring communities need to do more, one wonders what can be done to bring people together around such a solution. Many or us are ready to step forward.”
Following a unanimous City Council vote Dec. 16 supporting local involvement in refugee resettlement, Sarno issued a statement of opposition and in a Dec. 18 letter to MassLive and The Republican outlined why he would not issue a letter of consent permitting refugees to be resettled in the city.
[….]
In his letter explaining his refusal to do so, Sarno said, “It’s time for other much more affluent communities to take on their fair share.”
“My position has been very clear on that this issue taxes our city and school services and calls into question the accountability and follow-through aspects of refugee agencies, who not too long ago, placed a number of refugees in condemned housing units,” Sarno wrote.
“We have a number of residents in Springfield who need assistance and that will continue to be the concentration of my efforts. Springfield has proudly done more than its fair share on this issue.”
In an Dec. 18 interview about its work with refugee resettlement, Maxine Stein, president and chief executive officer of Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts, the largest area agency doing such work, said, “Refugees are not taking services from our city.”
[…..]
JFS is the oldest and largest refugee resettlement agency in Western Massachusetts and works in partnership with the Hebrew Immigration Aid Society or HIAS and the State Department in what, prior to the Trump administration, had been resettling some 240 refugees annually in the area.
HIAS is among the organizations that have filed suit against the administration over Executive Order 13888. [We expect that case to be heard in a Maryland court in early January—ed]
As of this writing there are 98 of them, and based on a quick look the vast majority are in support of Sarno.
And, this is the ‘peoples’ republic of Massachusetts.’
Here are some screenshots of just a few recent ones (there are many more, but I had to quit for the sake of time!) Go read them yourself and maybe consider adding a few more.
If Allwornout is referring to refugees, they are here legally. Readers need to understand that our LEGAL immigration system is massively flawed and must be reformed. The UN/US Refugee Admissions Program in my view should be entirely repealed. We must not in the future turn over the power to place refugees where un-elected fake non-profits (funded by taxpayers) choose.
***Don’t miss yesterday’s post where I explained that this exercise is all about MONEY for the contractors.
It is kind of funny, in the Bible Belt, the contractors are using Leftwing Evangelicals to carry their water. In Minnesota it is Leftist Catholics and Lutherans, but in the more liberal north east they turn to extremely Leftwing Interfaith groups symbolizing multicultural mush—love and peace for one and all.
Suck-up Jim Justice hugs the President, but follows the dictates of the ‘religious Left’ opposing the President on refugee resettlement for his poor state. Guess they have run out of poor Americans in WV, they will now import more from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Jim Justice the West Virginia governor who has been a Republican, then a Democrat and now a Republican again, not only joined the fab-15 dumb governors who came out of the chute long before they needed to and declared their support for more refugees, but also foolishly embraced (in writing) the leading activists in the West Virginia Open Borders Left with plans to include them in mapping out a future for the state “in the interest of all West Virginians.”
West Virginia has gotten only a tiny number of refugees over the years.
So I guess the governor plans to change that—so much for supporting one of Trump’s major campaign promises of 2016 to rein-in the dysfunctional UN-driven Refugee Resettlement Program.
WV won’t get its MONEY?
By the way, the word is that the governor thought he must consent ASAP in order to get his funding. Funding for what—is there a rat in the administration telling governors that some funding will be cut off if they don’t agree to ‘welcome’ refugees. What exactly is that funding?***
Here below is the text of the governor’s press releaseearlier this month:
Gov. Justice responds to presidential executive order concerning refugee resettlement
CHARLESTON, WV – Gov. Jim Justice today sent a letter of consent to Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo in response to an executive order issued by President Donald J. Trump on Sept. 26, 2019, concerning enhanced state and local involvement in refugee resettlement.
“I am grateful for the Trump Administration’s consideration of states’ rights with this Executive Order and with other policies that impact what happens in West Virginia,” Gov. Justice said in the letter.
“Further, I understand that refugees who come to West Virginia will have been vetted and approved by the appropriate federal agencies, including the Department of State, and be granted legal entry to make a new home in America before settling here. [This is your usual refugee contractor lingo. He didn’t write this on his own!—ed]
“West Virginia has had great success with our refugee resettlement agency, which has been in operation since 1978. Refugees who have resettled here have become productive citizens and are welcomed into our West Virginia family. Therefore, as Governor of West Virginia, I consent to refugee resettlement in West Virginia, as per the terms of the Executive Order.”
Gov. Justice has reached out to Catholic Charities of West Virginia, The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, The Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia, The West Virginia Council of Churches, and Temple Israel and Congregation B’nai Jacob in Charleston to set up a meeting in the coming weeks to further determine the best way to move forward in the interest of all West Virginians.
Does the good Mr. Justice think it is in the “interest of all West Virginians” to invite third world poverty and cultural tensions to West Virginia?
I have an extensive archive on West Virginia, click here, to see how patriots there have held back the tide so far.
***On this issue of losing federal funds, if you live in a state where your Republican governor has caved, see those governors here, try to find out if they were threatened with the loss of some sort of funding. Clearly WV gets a tiny number of refugees—none in the last year—so they surely weren’t being threatened with any loss of federal money for refugees.
Before Christmas I told you about how Leftwing Evangelicals were playing the‘Jesus card’ in Tennessee and I guess because Leftwing Evangelicals are in short supply in Minnesota we have the Leftwing Catholics and Lutherans pressuring local governments to welcome more “strangers” from the third world, but lacking in their demands for Christian charity is any mention of the fact that money is involved!
Governance by contractor is BAD GOVERNMENT!
This entire exercise we have been writing about for weeks is about MONEY-—MONEY for the nine refugee contractors*** that monopolize all refugee placement in America.
Let me say at the outset, that the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program is the ultimate example of bad government!
You simply can’t have taxpayers funding un-elected non-profit groups, many masquerading as ‘religious charities,’ making decisions about which UN-chosen refugees will be placed in your town while spending your MONEY to do their supposed ‘charitable’ work.
And, then adding insult to injury, lecturing us and elected officials about our Christian duties—duties that are not the role of government!
The President’s Executive Order issued in September is the first attempt in forty years to give voice to local elected officials on the issue that will effect all of our pocketbooks—medical care, education, housing, food—to care for tens of thousands of imported poor people. What! No American poor people left to care for?
Rules to get MONEY!
The Executive Order is directly tied to the funding for the nine contractors*** and that is why they are now in high dudgeon—they are fighting tooth and nail for their federal boodle!
If you take a few minutes and read the US State Department’s Funding Guidance, yes Funding Guidance resulting from the President’s reform initiative, you will see that in order for the contractors to get their MONEYfor later in 2020, they must line up support from local governments (and governors).
However, you would never know that this is about MONEYwhen you read the screed being sent around to local elected officials in Minnesota.
Taking care of the “stranger” is the role of Christians, but surely Jesus never expected Caesar to do that job.
I can’t speak for Jesus (like some of these men and women of the cloth believe they can!), but I feel sure he meant for good people to share from their private pocketbooks, and give their private time, not steal from others and call it Christian charity.
But, that is not how the Leftwing Catholics and Lutherans of Minnesota see it! (My comments are in brackets throughout!)
Resettlement policy: Create a welcoming society, not more barriers, for refugees
A message from Catholic and Lutheran bishops in Minnesota. By CATHOLIC and LUTHERAN BISHOPS OF MINNESOTA
December 23, 2019 — 5:43pm
“I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Matthew 25
In this holy season, as we prepare to welcome friends and family into our homes, we are given new reason to reflect on our calling to welcome the stranger. Specifically, what is our calling to welcome immigrants and refugees?
The question has taken on new urgency this year as a result of Executive Order 13888, issued on Sept. 26.
The order requires consent from state and local governments for federal resettlement of refugees in their area.
Consent must be given within 90 days — by Dec. 25.
[Actually no, read the Funding Guidance, they were just telling this little fib to get elected officials signed up quickly because their funding proposals are due in late January and they wanted enough time to write their location-specific proposals so they could get their MONEY without delay—ed].
Author of this polemic is Ronald Pagnucco, Ph.D, Associate Professor Department of Peace Studies, College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University. What! The bishops found a community organizer to write their emotional appeal for MONEY? Do they think that if they dress up the refugee industry in religious garb no one can criticize them? https://www.csbsju.edu/peace-studies/faculty/ronald-pagnucco-phd
The new order seems to unnecessarily politicize what has been a humanitarian program [funded by federal and state taxpayers—ed] rooted in our nation’s long history of resettling families fleeing from life-threatening dangers. We are also troubled by the decision to set a limit of 18,000 refugees in 2020, the lowest number in 40 years.
[Of course they are because when your MONEY from the feds is based on the number of paying clients coming in, aka refugees, there is no incentive to ever take a breather and slow the flow. They have salaries to pay after all!–ed]
We are saddened [Sniff!—ed] that as Christians prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ — who himself experienced life as a refugee when his family fled to Egypt — our nation may be creating even more hardships for vulnerable refugee families. We, the Lutheran and Catholic bishops of Minnesota, invite our members, our political leaders and all of goodwill to prayerfully consider the following reflections.
In our traditions, Advent is a time to prepare for the coming of Jesus both at Christmas and at the end of time.
But it also challenges us to welcome him when he comes to us in other ways, particularly through the people we encounter every day.
[Yeh! Like what about poor Minnesotans?—ed].
Every human person is created in the image and likeness of God and therefore imbued with a sacred dignity [so they can be employed in Minnesota slaughterhouses.—ed] we must respect and protect. This is especially true when it comes to the poor and vulnerable.
[Yeh, as I said, like poor Minnesotans.—ed]
We acknowledge that resettlement can bring new challenges for our communities.
That uneasiness is real.
Yet, the world is experiencing the largest displacement of persons in human history. Our nation’s refugee policy is one way to demonstrate our values by following a common moral exhortation in the Bible: to welcome the stranger in our midst.
[As long as we get our federal MONEY-–ed]
We fear the executive order will create further hardship for refugees by delaying the resolution of their cases, dividing extended families and placing additional strains on the resettlement system. While we support local engagement, refugee resettlement agencies are already working closely with state and local officials as well as community stakeholders to facilitate this process, and we foresee a host of practical problems would arise [like their MONEY might be unavailable!—ed] if states and municipalities were given a veto over refugee resettlement.
[This ‘stakeholder’ meeting issue is one of their biggest lies! Across America and especially in Minnesota, citizens are barred from the supposed stakeholder meetings and I have an extensive archive of such episodes here at RRW to prove it.—ed]
We would like to address a few specific groups directly regarding their duties related to this issue:
[The nerve—a lecture from our moral superior!—ed]
To our refugee sisters and brothers: We stand with you as you start new lives in this country. You have escaped terrible situations of persecution and violence, leaving your homes and livelihoods to face an uncertain future. We know you are eager to live in safety with your families, find employment and become integral,contributing members of your local communities. We pledge our support, promise to be your advocates and trust that we will be mutually enriched as we come to know each other’s culture and experiences. We ask you to be patient with those for whom your presence presents a challenge.
[Be patient, we can help you when our MONEY comes in.—ed]
To our elected officials: We thank Gov. Tim Walz for expressing his support of resettlement, indicating that “the inn is not full in Minnesota,” and we ask our mayors and county elected officials to also publicly express support for refugee resettlement.
[If county elected officials say NO, it means the contractor doesn’t get MONEY to place refugees in that county for only a brief period in 2020, from June through September. It is not forever!—ed]
The assistance we offer refugees is repaid through the talents they share and their economic participation in the life of our communities. Rather than posing a threat to our values or our way of life, most refugees seek to build a better life and contribute to the vibrancy of their new homeland. We ask that you become their advocates, too.
Three guesses what they think of your Christian virtue-signalling!
To those who support refugee resettlement: Please don’t demonize those who are opposed.
[Little virtue-signalling by the peace professor.—ed]
We need to build bridges of dialogue instead of walls of resentment.
[These hokey lines just crack me up!—ed]
To our congregations and those of goodwill: Pray for refugees and voice your support for them to our elected leaders. Reflect on ways you or your church congregation can assist them [without being paid to do it!—ed] and other newcomers and how we can together address the fears and misconceptions that are all too common in these situations.
To those who are challenged by the influx of refugees: We invite you to seek to encounter them, learn their stories and work to see them as God sees them — as sons and daughters.
[Sure and you can help them where they live in the world!—ed]
In sum, the reduced cap on the number of refugees [reduced number of paying clients!—ed] as well as the executive order lack the mercy, compassion and justice that are not only called for by the Gospel but that also should be expected from a strong and historically diverse nation.
[Blah, Blah, Blah! who said a diverse nation is a good thing? You Lefties just make up this s*** and expect us to respond like a bunch of bobble-heads—ed]
Although we feel Executive Order 13888 should be rescinded [because we loved the power to change communities of our choosing—ed] the fact remains that the 90-day deadline stipulated in the executive order is Dec. 25 — Christmas. Although the impact [Money flow possibly halted—ed] will not take effect until several months into 2020, it is urgent that our community and elected officials respond right away.
[Because the Catholic and Lutheran contractors in Washington must get their funding applications filed in late January! There is no urgency on the part of governors and county governments! Make them sweat!–ed]
We can and must do better to create a welcoming society for those most in need.
[So do it with your own MONEY!—ed]
This article was submitted on behalf of bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: Thomas Aitken, bishop, Northeastern Minnesota Synod; Jon V. Anderson, bishop, Southwestern Minnesota Synod; Regina M. Hassalany, bishop, Southeastern Minnesota Synod; Patricia Lull, bishop, Saint Paul Area Synod; Ann Svennungsen, bishop, Minneapolis Area Synod; William T. Tesch, bishop, Northwestern Minnesota Synod.
Also submitted on behalf of leaders of the Roman Catholic Church: Bernard A. Hebda, archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis; Michael J. Hoeppner, bishop of Crookston; Donald J. Kettler, bishop of Saint Cloud; John M.LeVoir, bishop of New Ulm; John M. Quinn, bishop of Winona-Rochester, and Andrew H. Cozzens, auxiliary bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
Ron Pagnucco, Associate Professor Department of Peace Studies
College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University
St. Joseph, MN 56374-9447
rpagnucco@csbsju.edu
320.363.5784
***For new readers these (below) are the nine federally-funded refugee contractors that operate as a huge conveyor belt monopolizing all refugee placement in America.
For decades they have decidedin secrecy where to place refugees and they don’t want to lose that power because even as they pontificate about their religious convictions and humanitarian zeal, they are Leftwing political activist groups working to change America by changing the people and using your money to do it!
And, they do not limit their advocacy toward only legal immigration programs, but are heavily involved in supporting the lawlessness at our borders.
The question isn’t as much about refugees per se, but about who is running federal immigration policy now and into the future?
(I plan to say this once a day from now on!)
I continue to argue that these nine contractors are the heart of America’s Open Borders movement and thus there can never be long-lasting reform of US immigration policy when these nine un-elected phony non-profits are paid by the taxpayers to work as community organizers pushing an open borders agenda.
Don’t miss yesterday’s post about 15 dumb Republican governors who fell for the religious Left’s schmaltzy emotional ‘welcome the stranger’ mumbo-jumbo weeks/months before they really had to weigh-in.
The Orange X marks those dumb governors who have caved to the Left and are opposing the President in his effort to slow the flow of refugees to American towns and cities.
So far, we know of15 Republican governors who have been foolish and obviously railroaded by the federal resettlement contractors*** to rush to tell their voters that they have capitulated and are opposing the President on Trump’s signature issue of the 2016 presidential election—getting the dysfunctional UN/US Refugee Admissions Program under control.
It is increasingly clear that those who have said they are consenting to more refugees and thus going against the President didn’t even read the Funding Guidance.
According to those US State Department guidelines, that the resettlement contractors must abide by in order to get their funding for the latter part of FY2020 (yes, this entire exercise is set up as part of the funding mechanism for the nine contractors), they must have the governor’s consent along with the approval in writing from the county commissioners where they want to place the refugees in order to get their payola in June.
Although there is supposed to be a January 21st deadline, on careful reading one can see that governors and counties have months until the new program begins on June 1 to say whether they are ready for more destitute third-worlders or not.
The Republican governors with the big X across their faces are the dumb governors so far who fell for the contractors’ lobbying push when they claimed the deadline was Christmas.
Is Texas Governor Greg Abbott going to play it smart? Or how about Florida’s Ron DeSantis, or Georgia’s Brian Kemp?
You can help make that happen by continuing to pound them —tell them you want no more refugees in late 2020 (the program as it has been run for decades is in effect until June!). Tell them we already have enough of our own poor and vulnerable citizens who need help.
And, if the governor is smart and doesn’t care about pandering to the Left, especially to the ‘religious’ Left, or being pushed around by Secretary of State Pompeo (I have more to say on that later, but no time at the moment), he or she will just stay silent if the answer isn’t a resounding NO right now.
This is Church World Service’s poster girl. The resettlement contractors are not just pushing for more legal refugees, but are politically active pressing for more immigration of all stripes.
***For new readers these (below) are the nine federally-funded refugee contractors that operate as a huge conveyor belt monopolizing all refugee placement in America.
For decades they have decidedin secrecy where to place refugees and they don’t want to lose that power because even as they pontificate about their religious convictions and humanitarian zeal, they are Leftwing political activist groups working to change America by changing the people and using your money to do it!
And, they do not limit their advocacy toward only legal immigration programs, but are heavily involved in supporting the lawlessness at our borders.
The question isn’t as much about refugees per se, but about who is running federal immigration policy now and into the future?
(I plan to say this once a day from now on!)
I continue to argue that these nine contractors are the heart of America’s Open Borders movement and thus there can never be long-lasting reform of US immigration policy when these nine un-elected phony non-profits are paid by the taxpayers to work as community organizers pushing an open borders agenda.
Let me say at the outset, that the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program is the ultimate example of bad government! 
