I don’t know whether to roll on the floor laughing my head off or scream when I see brazen fundraising appeals like this one from Linda Hartke (who makes over $200,000 a year as CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service).
Here is what she said in a recent appeal to followers about travel loans:
Today, refugees from Syria, Burma, the Congo, and other conflict-ridden countries are looking to you … will you please provide welcome and support for people in desperate need with your gift today?
All refugees pay their own travel fees to come to the US. If they are unable to pay, they are extended an interest-free loan and brought to the US on the condition that they agree to repay every dollar spent on their transport. [So you are probably thinking, great! they repay their taxpayer-funded travel loans—ed]
Fortunately, refugees are not alone — not even in this!
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service compassionately manages the loan repayment of the travel expenses for every refugee we help resettle, so they can thrive. [I am speechless, who the h*** wrote this sentence? Compassionate? Manage the loan?—ed]
As Raghu [the poster child for this fundraising appeal—ed] and his family worked to establish themselves in their new community, they also relied on your support to help them manage the repayment of their travel loans.
So what is my problem, you ask?
The majority of refugees arriving in the US receive a TAXPAYER-FUNDED travel loan—none of them have the thousands and thousands needed for airfare if they are truly impoverished “refugees.”
The contractors, including Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, act as the collection agencies to attempt to wring the cash out of newly arrived refugees and then THEY POCKET 25% OF WHAT THEY COLLECT (Judy says that using caps means someone is shouting—I am, and in red type too!). That 25% does not return to the US Treasury!
So Linda Hartke is trying to raise even more money from supporters claiming they need it to “manage” the loans! Don’t get me wrong, I am all for private people paying for this, but the over $1.5 million they get of your taxpayer dollars a year is not enough to “manage the loans?”
Don’t believe me, go to this audited financial statement (p.12) for LIRS for 2012 and 2013 and check this out!
LIRS earned $1.7 million in 2013 and $1.6 million in 2012 as “service fees” for collecting those travel loans of your money! I bet this little “service fee” deal they have with the State Department isn’t even legal!
Page 12 (emphasis is mine):
LIRS acts as an agent for the collection of transportation loans for refugee resettlement through the International Organization for Migration (“IOM”). Collections are remitted to IOM net of servicing fees earned which are 25% of loan collections. Included in servicing fees, LIRS earned fees of $1,763,296 and $1,630,183 as of December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively.
IOM is another federal contractor!
And, by the way, the figures I have been using for LIRS income need to be updated—they have risen significantly according to this same financial audit.
Are you sitting down?
I gave you figures for their finances in 2011, here, and reported that they received $30 million from US and state taxpayers. Now get this. This audited financial report tells us the following information for years 2012 and 2013: In 2012 they got $40.4 million from government grants and in 2013 it jumped to $46.4 million!
Page 6 (be sure to check out the less than $1 million they received from parishes).
2012 income from government: $40,417,752 and total income was $41,757,818 making it 97% that you supplied them via your tax dollars.
2013 income from government: $46,414,735 and total income was $48,393,131 making it 96% from you!
Endnote: I am not saying that all Lutherans are money-grubbers but these ones sure are! And, on the travel loans they are not alone. I haven’t the time to check the numbers, but last I looked the US Conference of Catholic Bishops was raking in over $3 million in this same travel loan kickback scheme.