Australian press thinks its unlikely US will take rejected 'refugees' off their hands

11/23/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Mr Trump! Forget Syrians for a minute! Are we going to suspend resettlement of all ‘high-risk aliens?’

Here is a story from Sky News Australia which links Trump advisor Kris Kobach’s proposals to Trump last weekend in NJ as evidence that the deal might well be dead on arrival. See my earlier post this morning about a letter from two powerful members of Congress who want the fishy Australia deal stopped now!

Sky News titters about photo that reveals some of Kobach’s suggestions to the Trump team on immigration:

An apparent bungle by US president-elect Donald Trump’s hardline immigration adviser shows just how difficult Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s US refugee re-settlement plan will likely be to pull off.

Kris Kobach, tipped to head the US Department of Homeland Security in the Trump administration, was clutching documents as he stood with a smiling and waving Mr Trump on Sunday in view of the media.

A photo taken by Associated Press, when zoomed in, shows the top page of the document is headlined ‘Department of Homeland Security. Kobach Strategic Plan for First 365 Days’.

It lists aggressive proposals aimed at ‘high-risk aliens.’

‘Reduce intake of Syrian refugees to zero, using authority under the 1980 Refugee Act,’ Mr Kobach’s plan states.

The plan also calls for ‘extreme vetting questions for high-risk aliens: question them regarding support for Sharia Law, jihad, equality of men and women, the United States Constitution’.

Mr Kobach was one of many potential Trump administration hires who met with the president-elect at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey on the weekend.

More here at Sky News.

Readers, I am starting to get nervous about whether Trump’s closest advisors on immigration fully understand the US Refugee Admissions Program.
In my previous post I said that if Trump picks Romney in combination with Nikki Haley at the UN (where the UN has plans for who comes to your towns!), we shouldn’t expect any major shakeup of the RAP.

Let’s talk about HIGH-RISK ALIENS!

There has been enormous national attention on the fact that FBI Director Comey testified to Congress that Syrians cannot be vetted because they come from a failed state where records are not obtainable. And, it is understandable that the focus has been on the Syrians, but…..
….if you are a longtime reader of RRW you know this is also true for the vast majority of Somalis (tens of thousands) we have admitted over the last two-three decades. In fact, in 2008 the State Department (DOS) cut off family reunification for Somalis because they discovered wide spread fraud—-Somalis lied about their family connections! Family reunification was closed for years (all documented here at RRW). See the most recent news on Somalis who thumbed their noses at your generosity.
The DOS and DHS say they can vet the Iraqis. But, they screwed up big time a few years ago and Iraqi refugee Al-Qaeda supporters were arrested and convicted on terror charges in Kentucky. One of them actually had fingerprints on an IED shard in US government hands and no one ever made the connection. That IED killed American service men. These two had lied on their refugee application.

And, how are we possibly screening the Rohingya Muslims who have fled Burma, many on boats that ended up in Malaysia and Indonesia. We are taking thousands of them! They don’t have ‘papers’ from the government of Burma (a Buddhist government that is all too happy to get rid of them)!
Other countries that produce unvettable (new word!) Muslims are Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Sudan and Uzbekistan. Just those few countries mentioned above account for probably half of the flow to the US right now!
So, Mr. Trump and Mr. Kobach! Stop focusing on only Syrians! The problem is much much bigger!

Grassley and Goodlatte blast Obama Admin on secret Australian 'refugee' deal

11/23/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Got guts! This is a good sign from Congress (a sign perhaps that Trump’s victory is providing some backbone!).

Senator Chuck Grassley and Rep. Bob Goodlatte chairmen of their respective Judiciary Committees have sent a strongly worded letter to the Obama Administration telling them to release to the public information on a secret deal to admit to the US rejected asylum seekers held in Australian offshore detention centers.
We reported the news here and here last week.
Remember readers, these are mostly Muslims (who attempted to break into Australia by boat) who have had their asylum claims rejected—Australia does not want them!

Here is the letter dated yesterday (hat tip: Richard at Blue Ridge Forum):

screenshot-67

Setting precedents!

There are many important concerns in this letter, but one issue in particular caught my eye—the idea of setting a precedent which is something I’ve been hammering for years.
Deals like this are going on elsewhere in the refugee program and it is wrong.
I’ll direct you to the issue of Malta and the FACT that we have been admitting aliens who arrived on the EUROPEAN island of Malta from Libya and other African hellholes (surely undocumented with only their personal stories to rely on!) by transforming them into refugees and placing them in your American towns ever since the Bush Administration.
These are Europe’s illegal aliens and not our concern! (just as this new batch is Australia’s problem).

Congress and the new President can quickly plug this hole (See our 8-year-old Malta archive here), and we must stop these foolish “deals” wherever they are occurring.

Of course, deal implies we get something in exchange, but what we get is never clear!
For new readers, this was point #7 in my ‘Ten Reasons there must be a MORATORIUM’ on refugee resettlement (first published in 2012!).
Our Australia category is here.

Trump transition needs to weigh-in on Obama's Australian 'refugee' deal

11/14/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

What is to be gained by admitting over 1,000 rejected Australian asylum seekers—-mostly Muslims?

Why are they our problem?

We have been writing about this stunning revelation for a couple of days, but it looks like it is going forward as Obama sends officials to the island of Nauru to start processing Australia’s rejected asylum seekers.
Update thanks to a reader: ‘Refugees’ from Nauru wouldn’t arrive until after January 20th. I don’t see this as necessarily a good piece of news because as I read it, the processing will proceed which puts Trump in an even worse position and that is denying entry to ‘refugees’ that the Obama Admin. has screened and given promises to. See the story here, what do you think?
See our previous posts here and here.

bannon-trump-priebus — Can they do anything to stop the DEAL? Remember the so-called ‘refugees’ failed Australia’s asylum application process.

Another news story from AP gives us more details.
Apparently we asked Australia to take some illegal migrants that were parked in Costa Rica. WTH! Why are those migrants in Costa Rica our problem? I will bet a million bucks these aren’t even legitimate refugees but economic migrants:

Turnbull announced at Obama’s Leaders’ Summit on Refugees in September that Australia would participate in the U.S.-led program to resettle Central American refugees from a camp in Costa Rica.

It makes me wonder if Australia is trying to save itself from too many Muslims so is willing to take the Central Americans instead.
This deal smells and is emblematic of an issue I haven’t written about since 2015 when I last posted my Ten Reasons for a Moratorium on Refugee Resettlement, see that post by clicking here.

I was making the point that there is ample evidence that the UN/US State Department Refugee Admissions Program is being used for extracurricular activities of the State Department, not (as advertised!) to help poor downtrodden people who are pawns in these deals.
Why did we admit thousands of Meskhetian Turks to America when Russia didn’t want the Sunni Muslims in their midst (those who came to my county had to sell homes in Russia when they resettled here)? They could hardly be ‘refugees.’
Why did we airlift Uzbek Muslim extremists to America in the Bush Administration and call them ‘refugees?’
What national interest was involved in helping the UN close camps in Nepal to move nearly 100,000 Bhutanese (Nepali!) people here over the last 9 years (many did not want to come here)? I suspect we were sucking up to the UN.

Now, what is to be gained by admitting over 1,000 rejected Australian asylum seekers—-mostly Muslims. Why are they our problem?

Here is what I said in my Ten Reasons for a Moratorium….
This is number 7. Only legitimate refugees should even be considered. Moving people around the world for other reasons should be specifically prohibited.

Congress needs to specifically disallow the use of the refugee program for other purposes of the US Government,especially using certain refugee populations to address unrelated foreign policy objectives—Uzbeks, Kosovars, Meshketians and Bhutanese (Nepalese) people come to mind.

I don’t know if Trump and his team have any power to halt this DEAL before the 20th of January, but I sure hope he tries!

Sec. of State John Kerry agrees to deal, we will take Australia's rejected 'refugees'

11/13/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Think about this! In 2013 Australia, being invaded by boat people from mostly Muslim countries, declared anyone arriving illegally by boat would be turned back or sent to offshore islands like Nauru where they could submit asylum claims.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry testifies at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee while on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 8, 2014. Kerry squarely blamed Russian agents on Tuesday for separatist unrest in eastern Ukraine, saying Moscow could be trying to lay the groundwork for military action like in Crimea. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Only two more months of this guy! So how many refugees is he taking to his home?

Those rejected refuse to go back to their home countries, so guess what! The Obama Administration has agreed to take over a thousand of them to your towns and cities as full-fledged refugees with all the benefits of our welfare system available to them.
How many of our illegal Mexicans and Central Americans is the prosperous country of Australia going to take off our hands?
We told you this was in the works, here, yesterday. And, now here is news from Aljazeera that we are going to do this. (If their asylum claims have been rejected by Australia they are NOT refugees by definition.)

Australia has reached a resettlement deal with the United States for refugees being held in offshore prisons after trying to reach the country by boat.

The Obama administration had agreed to resettle refugees among a group of almost 1,300 people held at on the island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea. Rights groups have been scathing about conditions at the prison camps.

Another 370 who came to Australia for medical treatment and then refused to return to the islands would also be eligible.

[….]

US Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed that the US had “agreed to consider referrals” from the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR. [If we are doing this and are sending Homeland Security people to screen the refugees, why does the UN have to have its nose in this business? Are they getting a cut of your tax dollars as middlemen?—ed]

[….]

US Department of Homeland Security officials are expected in Australia this week to begin assessing refugees.

Turnbull would not say how many refugees the US might take, but said the most vulnerable would be given priority. [And, prosperous Australia can’t take the most vulnerable???—ed]

More here.
See our Australia category by clicking here. And, if you are interested in learning more about this practice—of the US taking illegal aliens off the hands of other countries—see our Malta archive as well.
Australia is always in the top three countries from which readers arrive at RRW.

Donald Trump, please try to stop this now! We are about to take 1,800 failed asylum seekers that Australia has rejected

11/12/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

When I wrote about this the other day, I didn’t really think our Department of State could be serious, but obviously the Obama Administration is going to shove it down our throats! How many more outrages will we see regarding refugees before January 20th when Donald Trump will be setting US immigration policy?
Watch the 2013 news about the asylum seekers, angry with Australia and the slow processing of their claims, burn down the asylum center. Link here if this doesn’t open: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoL6dASFh8M

German press (Deutsche Welle) is reporting that we are going to transform Australia’s failed asylum seekers, mostly Muslims, into legitimate refugees bound for Anytown, USA.
I would like to know, from the ‘brains’ at the US State Department, how these 1,800 boat people were vetted. And, most of all, why Australia turned them down!
Deutsche Welle:

The US has agreed to accept 1,800 refugees held at Australian-funded camps in Nauru and Papua New Guinea, according to media reports. Human rights groups have criticized the conditions in the camps. [What? And, that means because conditions are supposedly bad in an Australian camp, its inhabitants become our problem!—ed]

The Australian newspaper reported on Friday that the US and Australia were close to announcing an agreement for up to 1,800 mainly Muslim refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia on the island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull declined to comment on negotiations with the US. “There’s always speculation about these things” Turnbull said on Melbourne Radio. “And we never comment on them.”

[….]

An agreement struck with the administration of President Barack Obama could be opposed by his successor, Donald Trump who has called for tight restrictions on Muslim immigration into the US.

Human rights groups have condemned the conditions in the camps which they have condemned as an abrogation of Australia’s responsibilities as a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention. There have been street protests over the treatment of the refugees (photo).

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said this week he was looking for countries that would accept all asylum seekers bound for Australia, including those who have had their refugee claims rejected, but who refuse to go home.

Donald Trump really can’t do anything yet, but your Washington reps can!

Call your US Senators and member of Congress!

I’ve been preaching for weeks/months that there is only one place right now (before January 20th) where you can have an impact if you choose to do the work! That is Congress. Call your representatives in Washington on Monday (they should be back to work on Tuesday, but their staffs should be working) and complain about this outrage. Use it as an example of how out of control the UN/US State Department Refugee Admissions Program is.
Tell your representatives to call the US State Department (the Asst. Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration) to put a halt to this sheer insanity!
And, while you are at it, tell your members of Congress to DEFUND the RAP in the FY2017 budget that will be before them beginning on Tuesday.