I haven’t seen anything official yet from the bigwigs in the refugee industry other than their campaign I told you about here to pressure Congress into pressuring Trump to make a determination this month that would increase refugee admissions to 95,000 for fiscal year 2021 which begins in three weeks.
But, I ran across a paperwritten by a student (published in May of this year) in which she interviews underlings at several of the nine major federal resettlement contractors. I’ve snipped just this section of an interview with Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC) staff, but the whole paper has some informative nuggets for refugee policy wonks.
I was mostly interested in discussions of the upcoming Presidential Determination, so didn’t spend a lot of time on all of the gory details about what Trump is doing to them.
The staffers in the Chicago office (the Ethiopian Community Association of Chicagois a subcontractor of ECDC) say they fully expect zero refugees in FY2021 if Trump is reelected. They say they are financially strapped, but when I checked USA SpendingI found that they were still getting millions of your tax dollars. For what, I want to know?
“[Don’t] Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor…” a Study on the Trump Administration’s Unprecedented Reforms to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and their Implications
Rebecca Zellelew and Aklilu Adeye: ECDC – Chicago, IL
(Personal interview, 02/21/2020)
Rebecca Zellelew and Aklilu Adeye serve as a case manager and the executive director of the Ethiopian Community Development Council in Chicago, respectively.
This interview was conducted with both of them engaging in answering the questions simultaneously.
Zellelew and Adeye said for the FY 2020 PD, the administration is shifting its priorities and focusing mainly on religious minorities such as Ukrainians.
Aklilu Adeye
Because of this administration’s differing priorities and continuous cuts to the USRAP, the ECDC Chicago office has shrunk in staffing since 2017, they said.
They did not specify how many staffers had left or been laid off. Adeye said the office is having to shift to be a different kind of nonprofit offering different services, and also are not able to afford to refill positions of those who decide to leave or who are laid off. Adeye called this season a process of “soul searching” for his office, in order to rebuild from the damages the Trump administration’s cuts caused.
Adeye mentioned focusing on “revenue makers” several times as the office is shifting to focus on other programs that serve the already resettled communities in Chicago that can pay for ECDC extra services such as continued language classes, job training, after school and children’s programs, etc. Adeye said especially in the context of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, he is going to give refugee resettlement “one more year” before they decide to make any big decisions regarding changing the office’s services.
Adeye and Zellelew explained together why they think the cuts are being made, and that it is largely due to “othering rhetoric becoming mainstream” and “identity politics.”
Looking for a picture of Zellelew I came across this one and assume it is the same person interviewed in this paper. It appears that Zellelew was arrested a few years back as a “diversity warrior” (arrested for disorderly conduct). I don’t see her on the staff roster now, so maybe she has gone back to street action. http://mu-warrior.blogspot.com/2015/06/self-righteous-marquette-diversity.html
Zellelew said President Trump is a “mouthpiece” to address the group that has made immigration an “ideological” issue and “easy target.”
She said President Trump will do “whatever will get him the most votes” and “momentum.” Zellelew said Trump is able to make politically uninformed groups go vote based on his energized nationalism.
Adeye called these cuts a “difficult wound,” and that the administration uses refugee resettlement as a “flashpoint” for conversation, “just like abortion and healthcare.”He backed this up by saying he’s observed this as new because the refugee program wasn’t demonized until recently, not “even after 9/11,” when American fear of outsiders was at an all-time high. [Where has he been, yes, it has been criticized long before Trump came along, to that I can attest.—ed]
Zellelew said the underlying factor of all of the Trump administration’s immigration policy, refugee resettlement cuts included, is “racially motivated.”
She said that his administration “shows a history of racist policies” and she takes this into account since refugees are often people of color, not Anglo-Saxon European like a stereotypical looking ‘American.’
Regarding the future, Adeye said it matters who wins the election in November, but that it will take at least two years to rebuild the capacity of the program since all of these cuts have occurred. If Trump wins, Zellelew said, a zeroing policy for FY 2021 is “inevitable,” and the program infrastructure will completely collapse.
On a positive note, Adeye said there has been a big “awakening in society” and that there will be “lots of future policy change” after we “get over this rut we’re in.”
More here if you are interested in what the refugee contractor staffers have to say about the President and his policies. One of the resettlement agency staffers in Arkansas says that Republican governors and other “conservatives” are supportive of refugee resettlement, but keep quiet about it.
But, gee no mention of the riots and crime having a thing to do with it?
I’m not crying for New York City and you likely aren’t either!
The Wall Street Journal is boo-hooing about the reduction in population on-going for NYC. Even the WSJ is into the Trump blame game.
Maybe the city can figure out how to get more African Americans in the workforce there.
Immigration to New York City Declines, Amplifying Economic Concerns
New York City’s economy depends on immigrants, but at a time when it needs all the help it can get, the flow of new residents from overseas is slowing.
Immigration to New York City dropped 45% between 2016 and 2019, with about 34,000 immigrants moving to the city last year compared with 62,000 in 2016, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau population estimates by William Frey, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. City officials and immigration advocates say tighter federal immigration policies and delays in processing visa applications during the pandemic have reduced the flow of transplants.
Immigrants make up about 45% of the local workforce and own more than half of the city’s businesses, according to a 2019 report by the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.
“I am worried that declining rates of international immigration will hurt not only future economic growth in New York City but the stability of New York City’s tax base,” said Michael Hendrix, director of state and local policy at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank.
Immigration has traditionally offset the departure of New York City residents to other parts of the U.S., according to Frank Donnelly, a geospatial-data librarian at Baruch College. The recent slowdown in arrivals from other countries, however, contributed to an overall drop in the city’s population the last three years.
[….]
President Trump has restricted legal and illegal immigration since taking office, including banning travel from several Muslim-majority countries, reducing the number of refugees allowed to enter the country and imposing a public-charge rule that critics say will prevent immigrants from poor countries from moving to the U.S.
By the way, you should know that very few refugees have been placed in NYC for a very long time and that is primarily because the resettlement agencies couldn’t find enough cheap housing.
“We reiterate that the only strategy to combat ‘irregular’ migration is to open legal, safe channels, managed at the European level.”
(Paolo Naso)
The Leftist Open Borders Evangelicals do not represent all Evangelicals. I hate it when the media makes it sound like Leftwing political Christians are somehow representative of all Christians. But that has been the game for decades as the cultural Marxists work to bring about the (yes I’m saying it) the new world order.
We pay attention to Europe because what is happening there is a warning to us! See my complete Invasion of Europearchive.
Italian Evangelicals Call for Open Channels of African Migration into Europe
ROME — A prominent Protestant leader in Italy has called for streamlined channels of immigration from Africa into Europe after some 370 migrants arrived on the island of Lampedusa Saturday night.
Paolo Naso, coordinator of Mediterranean Hope, the migrant and refugee program of the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy, said Sunday that the current situation on Lampedusa is “undeniably unsustainable” both for migrants and residents, while calling for the immediate activation of “even temporary networks for the immediate reception of the most vulnerable subjects.”
“For our part, we are engaged in assisting the landings to help associations and institutions to manage the first moments of the arrivals of these people,” Mr. Naso said. “As Protestant churches we are ready to collaborate with institutions and other associations to seek solutions related to this emergency.”
“We are facing an emergency that was, however, entirely predictable, given the conditions in Tunisia and Libya,” he added.
Matteo Salvini
Opposing efforts by Matteo Salvini’s Lega party to control immigration by securing ports and borders, Naso insisted that the only real solution is to open regular channels of legal immigration.
“We reiterate that the only strategy to combat ‘irregular’ migration is to open legal, safe channels, managed at the European level,” he said.
Banners of demonstrators included messages such as “Stop Immigrants,” “Close Lampedusa Welcome Center,” and “Criminal Government.”
Matteo Salvini, leader of the populist Lega party, has blamed the leftist coalition government of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte for the recent surge in illegal migrants.
Last month, Mr. Salvini noted that “landings have tripled since last year, with illegal immigrants being recovered even near Maltese waters, while Lampedusa is collapsing and hundreds of immigrants flee the reception centers who risk spreading Covid-19.”
I promised over the last few months to update readers about what was happening in refugee camps with COVID, and as of this morning I can report NOT MUCH!
(In addition to the post linked above, see some of my previous postshere, here, and herefor example.)
I’m not planning to spend hours trying to find articles hidden in the dark recesses of the world wide web that might prove that the virus has developed into a “grave threat” for hundreds of thousands of refugees (living in close quarters without masks!) as the mainstream media was predicting for months.
There are many articles including this one below that discuss how the UN and other agencies have kept refugees safe, but they make me chuckle.
Since they can’t report some horrifying death toll, they are now taking credit for keeping the virus at bay in camps where dozens of people share latrines for their daily excretions, soap and water are not plentiful and they live in crowded huts (so much for social distancing).
You know if the case numbers and death toll was high we would be hearing about it from the front pages of the WaPo and the NYT!
Bangladesh, 24 August 2020: The global death toll from the coronavirus has crossed 800,000 as confirmed cases surged past 23 million, with Bangladesh overtaking Pakistan to become 15th on the list of countries with most COVID-19 patients. While the country has crossed a grim milestone, there are so far fewer causalities in the densely-populated Rohingya camps that have been and still are considered one of the most vulnerable places to the ongoing pandemic.
As of now, COVID-19 situation across the camps has been tackled somewhat successfully. However, the apparent success in keeping the virus away should not hide the fact that the risks of a COVID-19 outbreak in the camps remain very high. Despite taking all the preventative measures, it cannot fully alleviate the very difficult conditions continually present in the camps.
[….]
“Close to a million Rohingya refugees are living in highly overcrowded camps in the Cox’s Bazar region of Bangladesh. So far with the collective effort of all humanitarian agencies and the government we have been able to limit the spread of COVID-19 successfully. However, the risk still remains and we need to keep working with the communities on food and nutrition security, creating health awareness while reinforcing our disaster preparedness activity”- said Ram Das, Deputy Country Director – Humanitarian Response of CARE Bangladesh.
Sure seems like the international health establishment should be figuring out why the virus isn’t spreading where it seems that it should be—in crowded and unhealthy living conditions housing the “vulnerable.”
And, that reminds me, why isn’t there a huge sick/death count in the tent cities where the homeless are congregating in Democrat controlled cities?
The Refugee Council USA (RCUSA) just completed a three-day grassroots lobbying campaign to pressure members of Congress into supporting a refugee admissions ceiling of 95,000 refugees*** who would begin arriving in the US in a few short weeks—the 2021 fiscal year begins October 1.
Of course it isn’t Congress that makes that decision it is the Executive branch as stated by law in the Refugee Act of 1980. Their campaign, that ran from Tuesday through Thursday this week, was designed for several reasons.
They want Senators and members of Congress to pressure the administration, they want the media to pay attention to an issue that has almost completely disappeared from the news, and they want to give their groupies and grassroots around the country something to do on an issue that they think makes the President look bad before November.
You cansee their “toolkit” (they love toolkits) complete with talking points and contact information for representatives in Washington.
Here is their sample script because I guess they assume their people aren’t smart enough to figure out what to say:
Sample Script: “I’m your constituent from [CITY/TOWN], and I urge you to hold the administration accountable to resettling refugees. The administration is required by law to consult with Congress by September 30th before deciding the refugee admissions goal for Fiscal Year 2021. In the last three years, the administration has cut refugee resettlement by more than 80%, from the historic average goal of 95,000 to just 18,000 – an all-time low. Our country can – and should – safely resettle more refugees and reunite more families. Refugees have contributed greatly to America in ordinary times, and have continued to show up for their new communities during the COVID-19 crisis, with many on the frontlines, including 176,000 serving as healthcare workers and 175,000 working in the food supply chain. Please do everything in your power to see that the administration meaningfully consults with Congress and builds back refugee admissions to the historic norm of 95,000. My community welcomes refugees, and I urge you to reflect the best of our nation by supporting refugee resettlement.”
In addition to contacting one’s own rep, they want their folks to contact the following members and Senators:
Sen. Graham (R-SC), Chair, Senate Judiciary Committee: 202-224-5972 / @LindseyGrahamSC
Sen. Cornyn (R-TX), Chair, Senate Immigration Subcommittee: 202-224-2934 / @JohnCornyn
Sen. Feinstein (D-CA), Ranking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee: 202-224-3841 / @SenFeinstein
Senator Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member, Senate Immigration Subcommittee: 202-224-2152 / @SenatorDurbin
Rep. Nadler (NY-10), Chair, House Judiciary Committee: 202-225-5635 / @RepJerryNadler
Rep. Lofgren (CA-19), Chair, House Immigration Subcommittee: 202-225-3072 / @RepZoeLofgren
Rep. Jordan (OH-04), Ranking Member, House Judiciary Committee: (202) 225-2676 / @Jim_Jordan
Rep. Buck (CO-04), Ranking Member, House Immigration Subcommittee: 202-225-4676 / @RepKenBuck
And, see my extensive file on theRefugee Council USA, the Washington DC lobbying arm of the refugee industry. Hmmmm! At one point Islamic Relief USAhad been removed from their membership roster, but I see it is back.
Don’t miss my post from Wednesday about the campaign to get local elected officials on board to support huge numbers of refugees for your towns and cities.
***Joe Biden says he is going to go big and change whatever Trump proposes to 125,000 for FY2021 if he is elected President. Truth be told, there isn’t enough capacity within the contractor industry to support that number, heck they can’t adequately resettle 95,000 now either.
The Refugee Council USA (RCUSA) just completed a three-day grassroots lobbying campaign to pressure members of Congress into supporting a refugee admissions ceiling of 95,000 refugees*** who would begin arriving in the US in a few short weeks—the 2021 fiscal year begins October 1.