My first thought when I saw this news was, everywhere we are told by the likes of Michael Bloomberg’s New American Economy that refugees are working and bringing economic boom times to dying cities, so why do they need more taxpayer dollars?
And, my second thought was, why can’t a bunch of entertainers like Stiller pool their excess cash and donate the $5 million. Why should the hardworking families of NY state, scrimping and saving for their kids’ college educations, have to pay anything for refugees?
Oh, but it isn’t really for the refugees, it is to keep the phony-baloney non-profit groups afloat.
Actor Ben Stiller joins advocates urging aid for New York refugees
ALBANY — Actor Ben Stiller’s latest role is no laughing matter.
The “Zoolander” star joined lawmakers and advocates Tuesday in the capital in calling for more money for a state-funded refugee program.
Stiller is an ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. How many refugees has he welcomed to his home?
“New York has a great history of doing this,” Stiller said. “These programs need to keep going. There’s institutional memory that needs to stay alive and as the refugee flow is lower right now at some point it’s going to come back up and these institutions need to be up and working when it happens.”
He means that they expect to oust Trump and then go back to full steam ahead with 100,000-200,000 annual refugee admissions (compared to Trump’s 18,000 this year).
And, as for this next bit, in my analysis of six of the nine major federal resettlement contractors, five are doing financially as well or better under Trump as they did under Obama.
Federal funding for refugee resettlement services has dropped significantly in recent years as Trump administration policies restricted the number of people being granted asylum or refugee status each year.
[….]
The New York State Enhanced Services to Refugees Program has received $2 million each year in the budget since it was formed in 2017 in response to the changes at the federal level.
But advocates say the state needs to step up and ensure funds are available to non-profits assisting the thousands of refugees already here.
[….]
The 14 resettlement agencies in the program, the Fiscal Policy Institute, and the New York Immigration Coalition joined Stiller, Ryan, and other lawmakers in calling for at least $5 million set aside for the program. [They have salaries to pay, after all!—ed]
Gov. Cuomo included no funds for the measure in his fiscal proposal earlier this year.
Cuomo trying to balance his budget to slow the bleed of taxpayers leaving the state?
But, heck, a state full of fully employed refugees and immigrants paying taxes should keep the state budget flush, right?
