Day: December 2, 2019

Refugee Council USA Provides Handy Toolkit for Refugee Advocates

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 5 Comments

As I have said innumerable times over a dozen years, the Refugee Council USA is the lobbying arm of the refugee industry.  The nine federal refugee contractors*** are at the heart of it, and all funding for it flows through Church World Service. (See CWS and CAIR, here)

See all of their member organizations, here.

Don’t forget! The refugee contractors, like Church World Service here are not just refugee placement contractors, but are political advocates for the entire Open Borders movement. They shouldn’t be receiving any of your tax dollars!

Needless to say they are mobilizing their networks of Open Borders Activists to defeat Trump’s refugee slowdown and September Executive Order by getting your governors and local government officials to go on record saying they welcome more refugees.

If you are just learning the news that the President is attempting to make a fundamental change in how the US Refugee Admissions Program has operated for nearly 4 decades by giving some say to local and state governments about whether they want more refugees (that will be costing state and local taxpayers millions of dollars to take care of) here are some recent posts you should see.

Contractors sue Trump, here.

Refugee Advocates take aim at local government, here.

Governors are sending letters of support for more refugees, here.

88 Mayors say they want more refugees, 100,000!, but no letter yet, here.

Are you near a resettlement site, here?

Now that you are up-to-speed, see that the Refugee Council USA whose members have a huge financial stake in continued large scale refugee migration to America are working to generate action by their grassroots (and media lackeys) to follow the recent funding guidance from the US State Department.

(Although they claim the EO is illegal and are suing, they tell their followers to do this anyway!)

RCUSA’s Handy Tool Kit should be handy for you too!

Their financial future depends on ginning up their followers, see what they are telling their people to do….

Toolkit link is here.

 

Toolkit for Engaging Elected Officials on the “State & Local Resettlement Ban” Executive Order

 

Background: On September 26, the White House issued an Executive Order (EO 13888) that may drastically reduce, if not entirely stop, the resettlement of refugees in your community. The EO is already creating chaos and confusion about where refugees can be resettled, will lead to family separation for refugee families, and will leave refugees, former refugees and United States citizens without supportive services. To make matters worse, the administration proposed a refugee admissions goal of 18,000 refugees for the next year, a shamefully abysmal number for the world’s most powerful nation that stands in stark contrast to the historic average goal of 95,000 refugees. 

 

Together, these actions are likely to destroy the bipartisan refugee resettlement program for years to come. It’s critical that we work together to demonstrate nationwide, bi-partisan support for refugees and ensure our state and local officials publicly declare welcome for refugees. We need you to make your voice heard at the local level and reach out to your governors, mayors, and county officials and ask them to support refugee resettlement. 

 

Why is the EO harmful? The EO fundamentally alters the structure of the U.S. resettlement program by transferring decisions about who can resettle and where from the federal government to state and locally elected officials. Not only will this ultimately lead to a patchwork of conflicting policies running contrary to the purpose of a national resettlement program, but it will also leave thousands of refugees, former refugees, and U.S. citizens without consistent and routine access to integration services and other supports. The EO subjects families and our community members to the whims of politics and exacerbates uncertainty for refugee families and communities alike by requiring local officials to provide written consent before refugees can be resettled. This is an unprecedented and harmful procedure, particularly given that resettlement agencies already consult regularly with state and local stakeholders regarding community needs. In addition, U.S. citizens, immigrants, refugees, and visitors alike are constitutionally allowed to move freely between cities and states. We do not need explicit permission from cities to travel – or relocate.

 

What We Know: Governors and local officials must provide written consent to opt into resettling refugees in their states and localities. Resettlement agencies are responsible to obtain written governor and local consent – the administration will not be communicating directly to governors or local officials. Consent letters will be publicly available on the State Department’s website. Consent is needed from the governor of a state in order to continue refugee resettlement anywhere in that state. If a governor gives consent but a locality does not, refugees may be resettled in a different locality where consent is provided. Some family reunification cases that use the “follow to join” Visa 93 process may be exempted from parts of this EO. The EO does not directly apply to Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders.

 

In terms of local consent, the administration has referred to the county or county-equivalent. In some cases, there are no counties, and in others, counties do not have the authority. Ultimately, the administration will defer to local community’s determination of who has authority. If you have already reached out to a mayor’s office, please continue to get that consent letter. Our understanding is that in many places, that will suffice. When at all possible, please also obtain consent from a county official as well. The administration is requiring that a list of cities/towns that fall under the jurisdiction of the local body be included within or attached to the letter of consent. This can be prepared by the resettlement office or the official providing the letter, but it must be certified by the consenting official. 

Your State & Local Officials Need to Hear From You

 

When you engage your local officials, we encourage you to educate them about the existence and content of the EO and ask whether they will provide written consent to resettle refugees. Here are the top two ways to take action:

 

 

  • Tell Your Governor to Declare Welcome for Refugees: Click here to contact your governor and tell them to declare that they welcome refugees in your state. Ask them to provide the necessary written consent to the federal government stating that refugees are welcome. A template letter that can be adapted to your state is available here.

 

 

 

 

 

Letters should be addressed to: Secretary Michael R. Pompeo, U.S. Department of State; and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Carol T. O’Connell, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, U.S. Department of State.

 

The following language should be included in order to provide consent: “As [Governor/Mayor] of [state/city], I consent to initial refugee resettlement in [state/city] as per the terms of the Executive Order. This consent is valid unless or until withdrawn.”

 

An important note / disclaimer: Since we do not want our communications to imply that we endorse or agree with the EO, it would be helpful to include the following disclaimer in correspondences: “Communication about, or participation in, the implementation of Executive Order (EO) 13888 is not an endorsement of the legality of the EO.”

 

Steps to Organize Meetings with State & Local Officials

 

Template Letter to Officials: Click here for a template letter from community members, click here for a template letter from faith leaders, click here for a template letter from businesses and click here for a template letter from Members of Congress, to governors and state and local officials to invite them to declare welcome for refugees.

 

Step-by-Step Guide: Click here for guidance on how to prepare and organize meetings with governors, mayors, county executives, and other local officials. 

 

Bring Handouts: Bring copies of this letter that is collecting signatures from state and local officials – governors, mayors, state/local legislators, etc. You can also adapt this template letter for your state and local officials for your meeting. 

 

Provide Feedback: Don’t forget to tell us how it went! Click here to fill out a survey with feedback from your meeting. Contact Elissa Diaz at ediaz@cwsglobal.org if you would like help in preparing for and/or following up with your meetings with officials.

 

Additional Resources to Help You Talk to State & Local Officials

 

Talking Points and Messaging Guidance: For talking points on the executive order and the proposed refugee admissions goal of 18,000, please visit our Talking Points primer: http://bit.ly/EOPDTalkingPoints. Additional resources debunking the administration’s harmful “resettlement vs. asylum” narrative is available here: http://bit.ly/PDFactsheet. 

 

EO Factsheet: Click here for a one page backgrounder and here for analysis about the EO and its impact.

 

Power Map: Who can make the decision you need to influence (your primary target)? Who influences them (your secondary targets)? Who uses influence for/against this decision? A power map is a simple yet powerful tool to map decision makers and focus your energy where it makes the greatest impact. Click here for a basic template to construct your power map, and click here for some tips on how to research and map targets.

 

Letters from State & Local Officials: A template letter from state and local officials to the administration that can be easily adapted to your state / locality is available here. Feel free to reach out to Elissa Diaz at ediaz@cwsglobal.org for help crafting a tailored letter for your specific officials. In addition, we are still seeking state and local officials – governors, mayors, state/local legislators, etc. – to sign on to this letter. Here are additional statements declaring welcome for refugees by Governor DeWine (R-OH) and Mayor Ben Walsh (I-Syracuse, NY).

 

Local Resolution Template: Template resolution language for local municipal, county, or other government bodies that authorize, support, or otherwise give a nod in favor of continuing to resettle refugees in response to the refugee EO can be found here.

 

Social Media Guidance: Check out our rapid response toolkit on the refugee admissions goal for sample social media posts, graphics, and more: bit.ly/EOSocialMedia. 

 

*** For new readers, these are the nine federal refugee contractors:

 

 

No Wonder the Refugee Contractors are Sweating Trump Order!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 3 Comments

We’ve been reporting daily (just scroll back and see what I mean!) about the President’s September Executive Order that requires that refugees be placed in cities/counties where the elected officials have said in writing that they welcome more refugees, or in the case of new sites where the city or county wants a new site.

It is no wonder the federal resettlement contractors heads are exploding! They are going to have to work really hard to get their federal boodle!

I’ve been wondering how they are going to accomplish this goal by a deadline supposedly later this month.

In fact, I’ve been seeing a reference to a June 1 date that had me scratching my head. What happens then?

This morning, I opened my alerts to yet another sob story about how refugee families are suffering because they were expecting to bring their whole families here soon and now face a longer wait because of that meany in the White House.

The story is this one from Missoula, Montana—which hosts a very new resettlement site operated by the filthy rich International Rescue Committee.***

(I mentioned it here just last week!)

Today’s story is here:

‘You pray, you pray’: Trump refugee cap places strain on Missoula families

It contains many column inches of stories the Left loves to tell—the stories that count on moving people emotionally. But, it also contained this brief paragraph:

Trump also signed an executive order, set to take effect next summer, that requires resettlement agencies like Missoula’s IRC to obtain state and local government consent before accepting more refugees.

So what is that all about?

There must be guidance published somewhere on how the Executive Order is to be implemented.

Sure enough, here it is and it is evident that the reason for the contractors hitting the panic button is that their FUNDING AFTER JUNE 1 IS TIED TO THEIR COMPLIANCE WITH THE EXECUTIVE ORDER.

FY 2020 Notice of Funding Opportunity for Reception and Placement Program

They must jump through a lot of hoops!  They have to explain how they involved the public in their decision making about who and how many they want to place in a community; they need to say how much private money they have collected toward the project; and of course must have letters from the governor AND the local elected officials apparently by Christmas.

The funding guidance mentions the 50-100 mile radius around each resettlement site that I referenced in my post yesterday.  If you missed it be sure to go back and see if you live near a site.

You are going to have to read the guidance yourself, and I’ll see what I can do to get a lawyer’s opinion on what appears to me to be a massive bureaucratic undertaking for the contractors. Boo hoo! It is about time they are being made accountable!

No wonder they are suing to stop the President!

Just so you know, I don’t think there can ever be real reform of the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program until this entire contracting system that relies on nine Leftwing ‘non-profits’ largely funded by taxpayers (and who hate the President!) to place refugees throughout America.

 

***Note to Montanans!  You must put pressure on your governor because you know the refugee industry there is mobilized!  Additionally, if Missoula is lost, see what you can do to put some political pressure on county government.