In mid March we reported that the UN’s International Organization for Migration had halted refugee travel due to the virus crisis, so imagine my surprise this morning when I checked the data for the last two weeks of March and learned we admitted 221 regular refugees and 373 Special Immigrant Visas from Afghanistan in those two weeks.
For the entire month of March we admitted 1,110 regular refugees and 844 SIVs mostly from Afghanistan that are treated just like refugees except some can choose where they want to live in the US.
So we can’t safely fly, but nearly 2,000 ‘refugees’ were being flown into the US during March.
The refugee admissions program is scheduled (so far) to resume this week after April 7th, but it never really stopped!
Here is where the 1,110 were placed in March:
Top ten ‘welcoming’ states are: TX, OH, NY, IL, WA, KY, MA, CA, MO, and TN.
Now see this map (below) for where the 221 regular refugees were placed since the supposed suspension of travel. They must have been transported across America on near empty flights.
The vast majority of the arrivals in the last two weeks are from the DR Congo (161). See my post about how many we have now taken since Obama agreed to take tens of thousands of Congolese. We are way past 50,000 but they are still coming!
More unemployed and more hungry mouths to feed as America suffers…..
Some refugees are in America for years and never learn to speak English, and indeed many arrive in America unable to read in their own language, so now refugee resettlement agencies are scrambling to get out instructions to immigrant communities while they close their own doors to avoid face to face contact with their “clients.”
Language a barrier in getting coronavirus information to all
Those who don’t speak English may have trouble getting updates about what coronavirus is and its spread. Local and state immigrant and refugee advocates are working to get resources to people in the language they speak and read.
As many Americans try to absorb all the information they can on the coronavirus and its spread in Ohio, some are left out of the conversation entirely.
Advocates for immigrants and refugees say about 200 languages are spoken in the state, and many of those advocates are working to make sure the individuals who speak those languages can get information about the rapidly spreading virus in ways they can understand.
[….]
Advocates aren’t the only ones trying to make sure that everyone is reached.
The Ohio Department of Health is linking to CDC resources in other languages on its website, coronavirus.ohio.gov, spokeswoman Melanie Amato said. The agency is also reaching out to local organizations for translation resources and the Ohio Hispanic Coalition is working to translate press releases.
At US Together, a local refugee resettlement agency, staff members began being trained last week on how to prepare themselves and their clients for the virus, Emily Locke, a communications specialist with US Together, said in an email.
The training focused on what the virus is, how it spreads and which communities are vulnerable. They also addressed how to identify symptoms, prevent the virus and prepare food and supplies to deal with the outbreak.
On Monday, the resettlement agency closed its offices to the public and said its employees will work with clients by phone, email and other technology. [So much for looking out for the newly arrived refugees!—ed]
By the way, yesterday I wondered if refugee agency volunteers were still meeting refugees at airports (new refugees were arriving up to last Thursday), but it sure looks like either the State Department has now wisely cut off the flow of new arrivals or those that do arrive are on their own!
Top Ten Languages spoken by refugees arriving in America.
It’s been a long time since I reported on this information available at the Refugee Processing Center. This is a good time to tell you about it.
Don’t forget! According to aClinton-era Executive Orderyour local and state governments are on the hook for the cost of interpreters.
(By the way, the growing cost of interpreter services, especially involving medical services, is something I never see calculated in any economic study of whether immigrants/refugees benefit the economy.)
Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken in East Africa. Kinyarwanda is a Rwandan language. Sgaw Karen is a Burmese language.
For my recent posts onCOVID-19see that I have a tag for it.
Editor’s note: As RRW approaches its 13th birthday, there are over 10,000 posts archived here at Refugee Resettlement Watch. Unfortunately, it is just me here with no staff and so it has become virtually impossible to answer all of the basic questions that come into my e-mail inbox or to RRW’s facebook page every day. I don’t want to appear rude—I simply haven’t enough hours in the day.
Please take time tovisit RRW (don’t just read posts in your e-mail) and use the search window in the right hand sidebar and see if you can find the information you need. Also see my series that I wrote in recent months entitled Knowledge is Powerwhich explains some basic principles of how Refugee Resettlement is carried out in the US.
And, lastly, I don’t write that much every day, so if you made a habit of reading my posts here on a daily basis, you would eventually catch on to what is happening because I do link back to previous posts as much as possible. LOL! Thank you for helping me not go crazy!
Do you see that big red spot in the center of Africa? That is the DR Congo where the largest group of US-bound refugees have been coming from in recent years.
Since we are now blocking Europeans from entering the US, the logical next question is are refugees being blocked from entry, or are they at least being tested?
(By the way I recommend a great post today at Gatestone on the extent of the virus crisis in Europe.)
As of three days ago the UN High Commissioner for Refugeesreported that so far there had been no cases of refugees being infected with Covid-19, but all that has changed as at least one refugee In Iraq and another on the Greek island of Lesbos are reported infected. (And, I suspect we are not hearing the full story).
And, here is a story from The Guardian that was published only a day after the UNHCR spoke. Lesbos is a Greek island overrun by Middle East refugees.
Lesbos coronavirus case sparks fears for refugee camp
I’m sure there will be more reports like these in the coming days and weeks.
In the US, the first question I’ve seen about whether refugees are being tested comes from Tennessee where the criticism against Republican Governor Bill Lee has been intense for his eagerness to welcome more impoverished (costly for taxpayers) refugees to the state.
Are Bill Lee’s Refugees Being Screened for Coronavirus?
Good question!
So dear Mr. President, are we testing refugees coming into the US since much of the world is now infected?
Editor’s note: As RRW approaches its 13th birthday, there are over 10,000 posts archived here at Refugee Resettlement Watch. Unfortunately, it is just me here with no staff and so it has become virtually impossible to answer all of the basic questions that come into my e-mail inbox or to RRW’s facebook page every day. I don’t want to appear rude—I simply haven’t enough hours in the day.
Please take time to visit RRW (don’t just read posts in your e-mail) and use the search window in the right hand sidebar and see if you can find the information you need. Also see my series that I wrote in recent months entitled Knowledge is Powerwhich explains some basic principles of how Refugee Resettlement is carried out in the US.
And, lastly, I don’t write that much every day, so if you made a habit of reading my posts here on a daily basis, you would eventually catch on to what is happening because I do link back to previous posts as much as possible. LOL! Thank you for helping me not go crazy!
Too bad that this decision is at least ten years too late. But maybe just in time. Perhaps one of the primary driving forces that saw the UK vote to get out of the European Union was a desire to control their own borders.
And, when I say it might be just in time, when I saw this news from Gatestonethis morning all I could think of was what the heck is Europe going to do if the Coronavirus spreads to Africa—will panic set in and will millions (more) try to make it to Europe where medical treatment would surely be better?
The case involved Africans breaking into Ceuta and Melilla, Spanish territory that joins Morocco.
Spain: European Court Approves Summary Deportations of Illegal Migrants
In a landmark decision that will have potentially seismic implications for immigration policy in Europe, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Spain acted lawfully when it summarily deported two migrants who illegally tried to enter Spanish territory.
Attempting to set foot on European soil, African migrants have been for years rushing the border fence between Morocco and Spanish territory.
The Strasbourg-based court — which has jurisdiction over 47 European countries, and whose rulings are binding on all 27 member states of the European Union — ruled that in order for migrants to benefit from certain human rights protections, such as access to lawyers, interpreters and the right to remain in Europe, they must first enter European territory in a legal, as opposed to an illegal, manner.
The ruling, which effectively authorizes European governments summarily to deport illegal migrants immediately at the border, transfers some decision-making powers on immigration back to European nation states.
The ruling is being viewed as a major victory for those who believe that sovereign nation states have the right to decide who is and is not allowed to enter their territory.
I’ve been thinking about this in recent days so this is a good time to mention it. What happens if (when) the Coronavirus reaches Africa (beyond Egypt), will panic set in? Will there be a rush to find better medical care?
See where it is this week (and notice that it is not contained to only cold places of the world, since it is hot in Australia at the moment).
I don’t know how I could have missed this dreadful murder case!
The crime happened in 2018, but on Friday Richard Segabiro, a refugee from the Congo who has been in the US since 2005, was sentenced to spend what really amounts to the rest of his life behind bars being taken care of with your tax dollars.
Richard Segabiro raped and brutally “butchered” his niece.
Your tax dollars also paid to bring him here almost 15 years ago, and will likely now help support his family in Connecticut. So much for robust screening and for the idea that refugees benefit America.
The sentencing, which happened on Friday, was delayed last month when it was revealed in court that the teen victim’s mother was still alive in the Congo which begs the question, how much investigating went on back in Africa before the whole bunch was admitted to the US?
Segabiro’s attorney had argued that he suffered from PTSD from his years in wartorn Congo. (Mental health care needed for refugees, something rarely discussed!)
Conn. Man Sentenced to 45 Years for Killing Teen Niece
Read it yourself.
Here is the story from last month about how the sentencing had been delayed. From the Connecticut Post:
Convicted killer’s sentencing halted after claim victim’s mother may be alive
BRIDGEPORT — A convicted killer facing nearly half a century behind bars got a sentencing stay Friday after the sudden announcement that the mother of the young murder victim, once believed dead, may in fact be alive and hiding in the jungles of Congo.
“I am very cautious that I should not go forward (with the sentencing) because of the possibility the mother is alive,” said Superior Court Judge Joan Alexander. “I would like the opportunity to give the mother a chance to make an impact statement.”
Richard Segabiro is facing 45 years in prison for butchering his 15-year-old niece, Francine Nyanzaninka, with a multi-tool in the bathroom of their Fairfield Avenue apartment in February 2018.
Segabiro, his lawyer, Public Defender Joseph Bruckmann, and state prosecutors had all believed the girl’s mother had been killed along with the rest of her immediate family by Congolese rebels.
But as the sentencing hearing began, Segabiro’s wife suddenly stood up in the back of the courtroom and called out in her native Swahili that not only was the girl’s mother alive but she had spoken to her by telephone.
A Swahili interpreter told the judge Segabiro’s wife told him she had located Nyanzaninka’s mother, her sister, in the Congo and briefly spoke to her on the phone. She said the call was brief because of the isolated location but she intended to call her again to get her opinion about the sentencing.
They have been here for 15 years and still can’t speak English? CT taxpayers are paying for the interpreter!
BRIDGEPORT — Standing on his porch, soaked in his teenaged niece’s blood, Richard Segabiro told police he stabbed the girl to death because he has Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome as a result of his escape from war-torn Congo. [Sounds like he had his excuse ready!—ed]
But an autopsy showed the 15-year-old girl had been sexually assaulted by Segabiro. [Was it the first time? Or, is it possible she finally stood up to him?—ed]
“The state would not be able to prove whether that occurred post mortem or prior to the murder,” Senior Assistant State’s Attorney David Applegate said in court Wednesday.
[….]
Segabiro had fled tribal violence in the Congo with his wife, three young children and his niece, Francine Nyanzanika in 2005, settling in a second-floor apartment on Fairfield Avenue here with the help of a refugee agency. [The media never names the refugee agency, but here are eight listed in CT–—ed]
Shortly after 11 p.m. on Feb. 19, 2018, 911 operators received a call from Segabiro that he had just killed someone.
Police said when they arrived at the home, they found Segabiro standing on the porch, covered in blood. They said he told them he had just killed his daughter because he had PTSD and believed she was trying to poison him.
Applegate said police found the girl lying in a pool of blood on the bathroom floor. He said she had killed by a sharp object and nearly decapitated.
By the way, these are apparently ‘Christian’ refugees so the next time you say we should bring only Christian refugees to the US, think about this case.
It’s been a long time since I reported on this information available at the 
