Update April 4th: A reader directed us to the comment section at this Union Leader story (I admit I hadn’t previously read them), but here is just one of many great comments. This one is from Jeannine Richardson and sums up the feelings of many:
Rick D’Alarcao [another commenter] – I think you and Ginger should offer to take in a few of these refugees if you think we need more of them. Put your money where your alleged “do-gooder” mouth is. Liberals are always do-gooders with other peoples’ money. That should be the motto of the Democrat Party.
Just a reminder, Ms. Richardson sent testimony to the US State Department hearing last May. We published it here. So please all of you send a statement to the State Department this year!
Update: Follow-up story here.
They are turning red states blue! And, Heaven help Nashua if they are getting more Rohingya Muslims.
This story is a few days old now and I held it up because I have so much to say about this latest flare up in New Hampshire between a federal refugee resettlement contractor and the elected officials in Manchester and Nashua.
Unfortunately, this is going to have to be Part I of what I plan to say because I am out of time for my ‘charitable work’ this morning of bringing you the news about LEGAL immigration programs and problems.
Before I give you a portion of this news story, keep a couple of things in mind. These contractors have to operate in secrecy (some agencies are worse than others) because they know that once citizens fully get wind of what is happening, citizens usually object.
And, the other point that you should know is that once a resettlement agency gets a foothold in your city, they get PAID BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT to process in the earlier refugees’ family members. That’s why I call this seeding! It’s also known as chain migration!
Resettlement contractors have a huge financial incentive to keep the family reunification applications flowing, and they will sucker poor residents of a city with a guilt trip about keeping the families together. Most Americans are a soft touch and they know it.
By the way, there is no federal law that says they have to place the extended family within 50 miles of their other family members, maybe the State Department tells them that, but Congress never did. And, besides as this article points out, refugees will move anyway within a few months because they want to be with their own ethnic group.
Here is the story from the Union Leader (Ready or Not, the refugees are coming). Emphasis below is mine:
The state’s refugee resettlement program is expected to spread from Manchester to Nashua in the coming weeks, with 50 refugees headed toward the Gate City. Officials in both cities are expressing concern over the plans.
“I was talking about my concerns with the head of the International Institute*, and the next communication I have from them is to say that they (the refugees) are coming, and we’ve found housing for them,” said Nashua Mayor Donnalee Lozeau. “I asked, ‘Where? When? Who’s coming? Are there any children?’ No one has any answers. The concerns I raised were real ones, and I feel like they weren’t addressed at all.”
The International Institute of New Hampshire (IINH) has been working for months to resettle another 200 refugees in Manchester, despite a sometimes frosty relationship with city officials. Mayor Ted Gatsas wrote a letter in 2011 to the U.S. State Department, which oversees the refugee program, faulting its “complete and utter lack of consideration for the local resettlement community.”
Citing the challenges the thousands of refugees already in the city face in terms of housing, education and employment, Gatsas later sought a moratorium on new arrivals, asking the Executive Council to withhold federal contracts to IINH and other resettlement agencies. The contracts were eventually approved.
Manchester Ward 3 alderman Pat Long, who headed a commission to study the refugee problems in Manchester, said he approached IINH officials months ago about the possibility of spreading out the 200 incoming refugees to other communities around the Queen City.
“There is a stipulation that resettlement take place within 50 miles of the local state office,” said Long. “The IINH office is located in Manchester, so we were asking that they look at other communities within 50 miles of the city as well. Nashua was one of them, and when I heard there were 50 refugees headed there, I thought at first they were part of the group of 200, but that’s not the case. The IINH has applied for and been approved to receive 50 additional refugees.”
[….]
“When we’ve questioned them in the past, the IINH always points out that these are families they are trying to keep together, that the refugees have family members here they are coming to be with,” said Long. “So my concern with this is, when the institute money runs out, and this group leaves Nashua, they likely have family here in Manchester. So it’s likely they will head here as well.”
[…..]
…. Lozeau said she has many concerns.
“It’s not enough to bring them just because you have federal money and the OK to do so,” she said. “Without doing the proper due diligence work, you are setting them up to fail, and that doesn’t benefit anyone. [including the citizens and taxpayers of the resettlement city—ed]
* The International Institute of New Hampshire is a subcontractor of the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, here. USCRI is headed by Lavinia Limon, here, who ran the whole federal Office of Refugee Resettlement for Clinton. She revolved out of the government door and into the government contractor door!
For more information, type ‘New Hampshire’ into our search function for dozens and dozens of posts on problems there.
Watch for Part II about what you can do in your towns and cities!