I’ve been meaning to mention Minnesota ever since I saw a Star Tribunearticle that describes how the taxpayer funded resettlement contractors divvied up the state’s counties in order to put lobbying pressure on elected officials there.
Because Minnesota is such a hot resettlement site, the state has ‘enjoyed’ the presence of a majority of the nine federal contractors.*** At one point only HIAS didn’t have an office there. The others were busy as one critic joked—“bidding for bodies” as the contractors are paid by you and me on a per head basis.
According to the Minnesota Department of Human Serviceswebsiteat the present time, five subcontractors are placing refugees in the state:
Hereis the Star Tribune about how the five have divided the counties in the state to lobby for permission to place refugees. They claim they are aiming to convince 24 counties (of 87) to grant permission to be resettlement sites this next year, but I’m sure they are out scouting for any easy pickin’s among the remainder of counties.
Local approval for refugee resettlement sparks heated debate in Minnesota counties
Ben Walen, director of refugee services at the Minnesota Council of Churches, said it seemed like county governments were “being put in a political bind.” The council is one of the state’s five refugee resettlement organizations. Those agencies [funded with taxpayer dollars.—ed] are splitting up the work of soliciting letters of consent from about two dozen of Minnesota’s 87 counties that have a recent record of resettling refugees.
I’m thinking putting county governments in a political bind is a good thing. Don’t want political binds, don’t run for political office!
BTW, as of today, December 13th, the governor has apparently not sent in his formal letter to the US State Department. See those consents that have come in already, here.
***For new readers these (below) are the nine federally-funded refugee contractors that monopolize all refugee placement in America. For decades they have decided in 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 the ‘religious Left’ political groups working to change America by changing the people and using your money to do it!
By our count twelve governors have told the US State Department (or at least told the media) that they want more refugees. (See my right hand sidebar.)
The contractors*** have been claiming that 16 or 17 have agreed.
(The contractors are pressing governors to agree by Christmas so they, the contractors, will have time to get their grant applications in—this is all about them getting their $$$.)
However, get this, the US State Department websitewent up today and only 9 governors have so far sent in their paperwork.
Only a tiny number of local jurisdictions have sent in the required consent, and it looks like there is some confusion because it is our understanding that it is county governments that must agree.
Below is what the DOS has at this time (not terribly impressive!).
***For new readers these (below) are the nine federally-funded refugee contractors that monopolize all refugee placement in America. For decades they have decided in 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 groups working to change America by changing the people and using your money to do it!
The President made it clear when he campaigned in 2016 that he wanted to see the number of refugees reduced if elected President especially from countries where the majority of its citizens hate us. He has been doing that with each year.
Church World Service, a federal refugee resettlement contractor, is a Religious Left organization that not only wants more refugees, but is a key player in the Open Borders movement—as you can see in this photo of one of their street activists. This is not just about a few poor refugees as they would like you to think—they want to fundamentally remake America.
And, this year he took one more step to answer the concerns of immigrant-overloaded towns and cities and has offered the opportunity for county elected officials and state governors to either opt-in or opt-out of the refugee admissions program later this fiscal year. This would give their taxpayers a breather since it is local and state taxpayers who must support the low-skilled and largely uneducated new arrivals.
Trump’s new system, that we have been writing about every day for the last couple of weeks, would go into effect in June 2020, but would likely have to be repeated in the fall as the determination for 2021 must be made by October 1.
The Open Borders ‘Religious’ Left has turned Trump’s efforts to give some control back to state and local officials into one more anti-Trump campaign.
One such group are the supposed “evangelicals” featured in this headline from something called theChristian Post.
2,600 evangelicals urge governors to continue refugee resettlement after Trump order
A reader very familial with the evangelical movement tells me that this is “fake news.”
He said he is “furious” and went on to explain,
“if you look at the actual letters, it appears that as many as 25-50 percent of the signatures have zero connection to the Evangelical movement. They are Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, Anglicans and even a few Catholics. Shame on the Christian Post. Instead of saying “Evangelical Christians” their article should have said “Liberal Christians.”
And, I will add: Liberal Christians looking for more Democrat voters!
Here is some of what Christian Post reporter Samuel Smith says in this deliberately deceptive report:
Over 2,600 evangelicals called on their state governors this past week to consent to resettle refugees in their borders following an executive order signed by President Donald Trump requiring approval from state and local officials before refugees can be resettled.
The evangelical refugee resettlement agency World Relief and the Evangelical Immigration Table [Soros-linked!—ed] a coalition of evangelical organizations seeking comprehensive immigration reform, led an effort this past week to send joint letters to 15 state governors.
The letters call for the officials to permit the continued resettlement of refugees through the U.S. refugee admissions program in accordance with Trump’s Sept. 26 executive order giving states and localities the ability to block refugee resettlement.
So far, 17 of the nation’s 50 governors have indicated that they will continue to allow refugee resettlement in the U.S., according to World Relief.
We have only seen 11 governors go public so far, so we don’t know where they get 17. Are 6 additional governors hiding? See my right hand sidebar to see which governors have said yes so far.
These consenting governors have effectively said: send my state more poor people (we have run out of our own vulnerable citizens to care for). We look forward to the day when all the immigrants will vote and we can have just one big Democrat socialist party in America!
Will Governors who are prime targets for the Religious Left (Texas, Tennessee and Georgia) abandon Trump?
The Christian Post continues…
The letters received a combined total of 2,669 signatories, including 659 on the letter to Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee, 340 on the letter to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and 231 on the letter to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
[….]
One state of concern in Texas, which is among the leading states in terms of refugees resettled in the past decade.
Texas has resettled over 80,000 refugees since 2002, according to Pew Research. Texas joined liberal states California, New York and Washington in hosting about a quarter of the refugees resettled in the U.S. in the fiscal year 2019.
As a conservative governor, Abbott hasn’t offered any indication so far on whether or not he will consent to refugee resettlement.
Another state of concern is Georgia, which resettled 1,000 refugees in the fiscal year 2019 as the Atlanta suburb of Clarkston, Georgia is home to thousands of refugees.
The states the Religious Leftwing letter writers are specifically targeting (they want to get their consent by Christmas) are Arizona, North Carolina, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.
Only four years ago 30 Republican governors were telling Obama they didn’t want any Syrian refugees (the big group Obama wanted to admit) and now Trump gives them an opportunity to slow the flow and allow the massive migrant population we already have to assimilate, they are turning tail and running and you know its because they are afraid of being called names by the Leftists (or are in the pockets of giant global corporations clamoring for cheap labor!).
The extreme Left that makes up Open Borders Inc. is so extensively organized (and largely using our tax dollars to help them organize!) that regular citizens like you and me have very little power against them.
One thing this Trump initiative will do is help us identify who are the real America Firsters controlling governor’s mansions.
Have you taken 15 minutes to call your county commissioners and governors?
The Religious Left is on the rise, if you are a true evangelical, please make that clear when you call or write!
Not a surprise that Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar would be a member of the Refugee Caucus.
When I told you in my previous postabout “grass top” organizer, Anne Richard, and some of the goals the refugee industry activists are working on, I noticed the reference to a House of Representatives “bipartisan” caucus organized to promote more refugee resettlement.
Hmmm? Who are they?
Before I get to who they are, I need to tell you about Leftwing ‘non-profit’ groups (501(c)3 organizations) and how they influence Congress.
They give themselves a warm and fuzzy sounding name, create a special logo and everyone thinks it is one more ‘humanitarian’ group when they are all just the same open borders activists recycled.
NPNA, a consortium of Open Borders groups (I have never figured out where they get their money!), has created a spin-off—‘We are all America’—which helps confuse casual observers, a standard operating procedure for the Left.
Lobbyists for NPNAthen do the legwork on the Hill. First they find a few friendly members who agree to help form a ‘caucus,’ but it is the lobbyist(s) for NPNA who runs around the Hill, and talks to staff to find more of their ideological ilk to join the seed group.
In case you are wondering, those of us who want to see the Refugee Act of 1980 repealed (I don’t believe it is salvageable) have no such lobbyists.
Hang in there, I’m getting to the Republicans who are part of this Pro-More-Refugees-For-Your-Town gang. (Hint! See photo below right!)
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington 5th District) is obviously opposing the President on the refugee issue!
Here is what ‘We are all America’ says about the mission of the “Bipartisan” Refugee Caucus NPNA created:
The Bipartisan Congressional Refugee Caucus is critical to affirming the need for the United States to demonstrate leadership both in terms of refugee resettlement and overseas refugee protection.
This has never been more important, given the global refugee crisis and the Trump Administration’s attacks against the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. The decisions made by the Administration and Congress in regard to refugee protection and resettlement will continue to have profound impacts on refugees’ lives, on the American communities that welcome them and thrive because of them, and on the ability of the United States to serve as a beacon of hope to refugees in the future. The Caucus will bring together Members of Congress who care about refugees, refugee protection and refugee resettlement and will provide opportunities for collaboration around this important population and the policy issues impacting them.
Overall Refugee Caucus Goals
~Demonstrate bipartisan support for refugee resettlement
~Affirm the importance of refugee resettlement in terms of foreign policy and diplomacy
~Assert Congressional oversight to ensure the resettlement program is being implemented as stipulated by the 1980 Refugee Act
~Coordinate caucus members in actions that elevate refugee issues in Congress, media outlets, and the public narrative
~Educate and engage other Members of Congress around refugee protection and resettlement
~Support adequate funding for the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the Department of Health and Human Services and the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) within the State Department
If you are interested in joining the caucus, please contact Stephanie D. Stephens at stephanie@partnershipfornewamericans.org. [Notice Ms. Stephens works for the Partnership for New Americans, clearly as a lobbyist.—ed]
Go here to see the members of Congress who are opposing the President on refugee resettlement.
Seven Republicans joined 50 (hard Left!) Democrats so they can say a bipartisan group of legislators is fighting the President on a key 2016 campaign promise.
Is your Republican member in this group? Time for a primary challenge?
Longtime readers know that Anne Richard(originally a Vice President at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), one of the nine federal contractors*** that monopolize all refugee resettlement in America), was Barack Obama’s Assistant Secretary of State for Population Refugees and Migration. (Trump, btw, never chose anyone to fill that spot).
For inquisitive readers, we have an extensive Anne Richard archive, here.
Yesterday she penned an informative pieceat Georgetown University’s Berkeley Center where she describes how she is energized by all of her gal pals working to advance refugee resettlement in US towns and cities.
By the way, since Richard references the women leaders in her piece, I wondered where are all the men in her industry who are making the big bucks as CEOs of the ‘non-profit’ contractors? Weren’t they at the confab she describes?
Refugee Experts Express Hope for Refugee Resettlement in America
Anne Richard
As the moderator of a panel on “The Future of U.S. Refugee Resettlement Policy” at the “Current Challenges in Refugee Policy” conference, I asked a stellar lineup of experts the sad question:
Is there a future for Refugee Resettlement in America?
They and I knew that the number of refugees being resettled in this country has dropped drastically under the Trump administration.
[….]
Jen Smyers “Where prayer meets politics”
Jen Smyers, director of policy and advocacy for the immigration and refugee program with Church World Service, pointed out that 18,000 is an historic low point for the program and pronounced the Trump policy “shameful,”noting: “this is being done in the worst displacement crisis that the world has ever seen….There are more than 70 million people who are displaced across the globe, including more than 25 million refugees.” [And, so why is this our problem?—ed]
Jenny Yang, vice president of advocacy and policy at World Relief, reported, “Last month in October it was the first month in over 30 years that we didn’t receive a single refugee, which is a startling statistic.”
All of us recognized that deep cuts in the numbers of refugees would translate into resettlement offices being forced to shut down across America. These closures would mean letting staff go, reducing services to refugees already here, cutting long-term relationships with schools, employers and landlords—and would be exceedingly hard to reverse.
[….]
I figured the panelists were, like me, utterly demoralized. So, I was taken aback when each panelist in turn talked about the energy now being devoted to defending the program and fighting back against efforts to kill it.
Smyers mentioned a three-pronged approach, based on (1) rebuilding bipartisan support in Congress, (2) organizing at the local level so that refugees can share their stories with Congressional district offices, and state and local officials, and (3) escalating tactics, such as a recent protest and coordinated act of civil disobedience at the U.S. Capitol,which included the arrests of 18 leaders including Amnesty International USA Executive Director Margaret Huang and yours truly.
Jen mentioned the Bipartisan Congressional Refugee Caucus in the House of Representatives and multiple letters signed by both Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Senate as evidence that the White House did not speak for all elected officials. [I’ll have a follow-up post on the Congressional Refugee Caucus—ed]
[….]
Jenny Yang explained the work World Relief is doing with evangelical churches in many communities across the United States. Over 1,400 local volunteers that have signed up as Good Neighbor Teams that are “walking alongside” these refugees that are coming in, and helping them transition into their communities. In 2017, more than 9,000 evangelical pastors signed on to a World Relief petition supporting refugees. World Relief later issued a letter showing evangelicals in every state in the country support refugees and immigrants.
[….]
Ash: Refugee Admissions Program benefits businesses.
Nazanin Ash, vice president for public policy and advocacy at the International Rescue Committee and a visiting policy fellow at the Center for Global Development, shared how over 100 pieces of anti-refugee state legislation have been defeated.
I have no idea what she is talking about — where were 100 pieces of anti-refugee state bills defeated?
Ash went on to describe growing numbers of advocates. “Alongside traditional community organizations and faith groups…,” she said, “what’s been wonderful to see are strong and emerging partnerships with business, strong and emerging partnerships with the national security sector.
Because big global corporations are on the hunt for cheap labor, your community will be changed forever! Likewise, since some of our military leadership is demanding we hand out more tickets to America to Afghans, Iraqis and soon Syrians, we are expected to stay silent as our rural towns and small cities are transformed (big cities are gone already!).
These new sectors that…declare their support and talk about how the refugee admissions program benefits business, makes America stronger, promotes our values, and serves our humanitarian leadership goals, and our strategic interests. She went on to describe a network across the country in red, blue, and purple states which is now approaching 250,000 people.
The states where she sees the largest constituencies of advocates include Texas, Florida, Arizona, and Idaho.
[….]
“I really do have a lot of hope,” said Ash, “and that’s in no small part due to the panel I’m sharing here with this group of really extraordinary women, and their really extraordinary organizations and communities and constituencies that they represent, and the way in which this community has come together and has joined forces with broader advocacy groups, human rights, immigration, business, military, a growing constituency of grass tops [WTH?—ed] and grassroots, who have been given the opportunity in this oppositional environment to plant their flag for refugees and for humanitarian leadership, and they really are.”
And, of course, they hide their desire to change America by changing the people behind their supposed humanitarian do-gooderism and do it with your tax dollars!
***For new readers these (below) are the nine federally-funded refugee contractors that monopolize all refugee placement in America. For decades they have decided in 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 groups working to change America by changing the people and using your money to do it!
Ben Walen, director of refugee services at the Minnesota Council of Churches, said it seemed like county governments were “being put in a political bind.” The council is one of the state’s five refugee resettlement organizations. Those agencies [funded with taxpayer dollars.—ed] are splitting up the work of soliciting letters of consent from about two dozen of Minnesota’s 87 counties that have a recent record of resettling refugees.
By our count twelve governors have told the US State Department (or at least told the media) that they want more refugees. (See my right hand sidebar.)
