Category: Changing the way we live

RRW Weekly Roundup for week ending June 20, 2015

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I should have done this over the weekend, but simply no time.

Idaho controversy was the star of the week!

And, I definitely didn’t want to miss this one because the controversy we have been reporting on from Twin Falls, Idaho has brought new readers in by the droves!  Much to my surprise, the readers most interested in the Idaho refugee controversy were from Germany!
If you missed it, one interesting turn of events from Twin Falls is that a lawyer for the local newspaper told me I must remove the text I had snipped (here and here).  You know this can’t be for commercial and economic reasons because I bet we sent them a boatload of readers (to see their advertisements).
In case you hadn’t noticed, we don’t make a dime from our work of writing and reporting on refugee controversies here and around the world, so they can hardly say they were economically hurt. Copyright law does allow some use of others’ work for the purpose of commentary, and that is what bloggers do!
CLEARLY we hit a nerve!  Clearly, the newspaper in Twin Falls is biased in favor of changing Idaho by adding diversity, why?  Wouldn’t you think a newspaper would be happy with controversy and public discussion, doesn’t that sell papers?  Maybe they want to silence regular American citizens like me!

Or, could there be some other reason they have an interest in tamping down the controversy about more refugees coming to “Magic Valley” Idaho?  Who is the paper really working for?  We will be trying to find out!

Don’t miss my latest on Idaho here (what citizens need to do!)  and here (meatpacker coming to Boise explains need for cheap, captive! immigrant labor).  Follow the money!

Top Posts!

So, without further ado here are our Top Three posts from last week (Top daily posts are in the right hand side bar).  The Idaho news was the top story by a mile!

1.  Idaho: more controversy surrounding refugee resettlement in Magic Valley

2.  Sudanese refugee shot and killed in Louisville; why are we colonizing America with people like this?

3.  Did your city welcome Syrians in the first 6 months of 2015?

Top Countries!

Here are our Top Ten countries from which readers arrived at RRW last week.  Surprise! for the first time ever, Germany beats out Canada, Australia and the UK for the number one spot!
 

Germany

UK

Canada

Australia

Austria

Switzerland

Netherlands

France

New Zealand

Norway

For new readers!

Since we get new readers every day, here is my usual spiel with two points I need to continue to make:
First, we do screen our comments (sometimes I don’t get to them right away!) and I don’t post any that threaten any kind of violence or ones filled with foul language.  An occasional expletive might slip in if the comment is otherwise a good one.  You are always free to disagree with our point of view if you follow those two simple rules.

And the other thing I want to mention is about e-mails that come to you every time we post.  They come directly from wordpress to subscribers.  We don’t send out e-mails.  So, if we are posting too much for your e-mail inbox, then just unsubscribe and visit RRW when you have the time.  I understand completely about too many e-mails!  You might want to simply follow us on twitter or on facebook (below).
This is where you can find information (in addition to our fact sheet). We have over 6,500 posts.

*  See our categories (left hand sidebar)
*  See the tag clouds (right hand sidebar)
*  Also, we have a great search function and since neither the categories nor the tags go all the way back to our first posts more than seven years ago, use the search window with a few key words.  You might want to first try your city, state, or country to see what we have reported from there over the years.
Readers from Europe should search for key words ‘Invasion of Europe’ for all of our many posts on the migration crisis on the Continent.
By the way, our category entitled ‘where to find information’ is filled with reports and documents, but with 354 posts archived there, it is pretty unwieldy now.
Past weekly roundups can be found in our category entitled ‘blogging.’
If you wish to be notified when we post, consider subscribing or follow us on twitter (@refugeewatcher) or facebook (RefugeeInfoResource).  ‘Like us’ on facebook! (We are no longer posting every story we write at RRW to facebook so as not to overload your facebook feed either.)  We also have some content on facebook that isn’t posted here first, so like us and follow us (I do have a volunteer helper at facebook—Kelly Monroe Kullberg).
And apologies to all who e-mail and comment, sorry if I don’t respond much, there are just not enough hours in my day!
Thanks to all of you for following RRW.  The subject is on fire (maybe you have noticed)!
P.S.  I have added two photos of myself to our About page, if you need one for any reason.

Idaho: Get ready for Somali refugees as county approves huge meatpacking plant near Boise

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update June 22:  Twin Falls, ID newspaper editor attempts to silence RRW, here.   And, Boise Mayor welcomes third world to Idaho, here.

One more piece of the puzzle has been found!  Idaho will ‘welcome’ refugees because big industries need cheap labor (for jobs Americans won’t do, right!).

BIG MEAT changing America! Filling those wide open spaces with a massive meat processing facility and bringing in refugee labor to fill the jobs! Watch for it!

Reader Dave saw our post yesterday about Twin Falls and the Chobani Yogurt plant, and now gives us hot news that Ada County is going to get a meatpacking giant!  Kuna, in Ada County, is less than a half an hour from Boise (the largest refugee resettlement site in Idaho).

We have for years told you that since Bill Clinton supplied the first refugees for Iowa meat processors (here), that BIG MEAT was changing rural America with the help of the UN/US State Department and its ‘religious’ resettlement contractors acting as head hunters for big business.

This is one of literally dozens of posts here at RRW about the role meatpackers are playing in changing America.
Remember readers, it is all about the money!
The Somalis, in particular, move around the country as meatpacking jobs become available, but surely the welcome wagon in Idaho expects Congolese, Burmese, and Bhutanese slave laborers to help fill the employment needs.  Mark my words, no matter how high the meatpacker says the salaries will be, they will be too low for anyone other than immigrants and refugees whose families are being subsidized through generous welfare gratis the US taxpayer!
Before reading on, see BOISE MAYOR ROLLS OUT WELCOME MAT FOR REFUGEES!  I want to barf every time I see our elected officials sell out America with the help of the refugee resettlement ‘do-gooders.’
From KTVB.com:

KUNA, Idaho — There are hundreds of new jobs coming to the Kuna area, thanks to the county’s approval of a meat processing facility near the small town.

Right now, there’s a field East of Kuna that’s home to some whistlepigs and a little bit of heavy machinery. But, business leaders say by next year, it will be home to 600 jobs.

Thursday night, along with his fellow Ada County Commissioners, Dave Case approved the building of a 380,000 square foot, $100 million meat processing plant. “Obviously, it will be good for the economy.”

They haven’t broken ground yet, but crews are already doing some prep work. It’s a joint venture between the J. R. Simplot Company and a Texas meat packing company, Caviness Beef Packers. Kuna Mayor Greg Nelson says it will be a huge economic boost for the bedroom community, which has few jobs of its own right now.

There is more, read on.    These county commissioners are dumb enough to think that lots of locals will find work cutting meat.  Or, maybe they know better and are lying to the public!
Neighbors and members of the public are worried about smells and environmental problems, but they will have a lot more to worry about when the Somalis come to town!
By the way, do you remember that Senator Jeff Sessions fingered the meatpackers in 2013 as one of the big industries lobbying for amnesty, here.
Endnote:  I would be interested to know who made a killing selling this land to the meat giant?

Something smells in Twin Falls, Idaho; what is going on with the refugee program there?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update June 21:  Now it’s meatpackers to Boise, guess these big industries need cheap immigrant labor!

Some ideas on what concerned citizens must do to save Idaho are below!

Readers, yesterday I received a letter from an attorney telling me I had to take down the snips I had posted from a publication (MagicValley.com) from Twin Falls, Idaho.  The two posts are here and here.
In place of the snips I had used to illustrate my posts, I posted this:

Editor: The article has been removed at the request of an attorney for the newspaper which is clearly unhappy with any of their articles being partially posted here at RRW.

This is just further demonstration of how local newspapers are attempting to silence critics presumably because they are in the pockets of the federal government, the refugee contractors and the big businesses that need this cheap immigrant labor. Who is driving the cheap labor needs in Twin Falls?

You should know that the standard requirement of bloggers is that they may snip a modest portion of a published story and then attribute it (with links) to the original source (which I did).  The letter from the attorney (Benjamin J. Cluff, Coleman, Ritchie & Cluff) for The Times-News and Magicvalley.com was thus a pretty heavy-handed way to silence a critic of the Refugee Resettlement Program of the UN/US State Department’s distribution of third worlders to US towns and cities like Twin Falls, ID.

CSI refugees
College of Southern Idaho Refugee Programs: Changing America by changing the people!

Now my interest has been piqued! 

I thought Twin Falls was just one more small city with do-gooders driving the resettlement of refugees.  Now I don’t think so.
Someone is driving the resettlement in Twin Falls.  Is it some huge industry in need of cheap labor like Chobani, the yogurt maker who built the world’s largest yogurt plant there in 2012? 
Chobani’s Turkish founder, Hamdi Ulukaya, is a huge ‘friend’ of refugees and is pouring a vast fortune into helping refugees (hopefully worldwide and not promoting their shipment to America!).  According to wikipedia:

“On December 17, 2012 Chobani opened one of the world’s largest yogurt-processing plants in Twin Falls, Idaho.”

We know from years of writing about it that meatpackers work with resettlement contractors to get them cheap labor, do yogurt makers do the same?
Or, is it a plan being driven by the White House to colonize rural Idaho with ‘diversity’ (or both?). Note that new mosques are popping up!   I don’t know the answer yet, but I want Idaho citizen activists to continue digging!  Who wants to change Twin Falls?  Find out!
I can tell you what it is not!  It is not a warm and fuzzy humanitarian desire to give the good life to thousands of impoverished third worlders in lovely Idaho.   That is just the cover for a much more diabolical plan.  Local ‘church’ people and others thinking they are doing good works are being used.
What really got my interest this morning, prompting me to write this post, is that one of those two posts cited by the heavy-handed lawyer letter, this one, has gone through the roof overnight as hundreds of readers are clicking on it.  Why?

So what is next? 

Concerned citizens in Southern Idaho who want to maintain their Idaho (American!) culture must now get the facts, publicize them, and step up their community organizing.   Here are some of my recommendations in a list that is by no means meant to be all-inclusive:

* First, find out what big industry (industries?) in need of cheap immigrant labor is driving the resettlement?

* Then you must learn everything you can about the resettlement of refugees in Idaho (a Wilson-Fish state).  Go here to your state coordinator’s website.  Ask Director Jan Reeves for your state plan (Reeves is an Obama ‘champion of change’).

* Then find out who is responsible for resettling the refugees, not just in Twin Falls but throughout the state of Idaho.  You know who it is in Twin Falls.  It is the College of Southern Idaho Refugee Programs, here.

Note that they are an affiliate of the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) which means they get their federal payola through USCRI and USCRI sends the refugees to them (after selecting them with the US State Department).  We have written many posts on USCRI and its leader Lavinia Limon who was Clinton’s director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement and as such represents the perfect example of the government/contractor revolving door.  Last I looked the private non-profit USCRI was 99% funded by the US taxpayer.

I could not find a Form990 for the CSI Refugee Programs.  You need to dig out their financial docs!

* Next ask the CSI Refugee Programs for its FY2015 Abstract.   The R & P Abstracts are the documents sent by the subcontractor to its contractor and ultimately to the US State Department.  We have been told that all resettlement contractors have been instructed not to give them out!  Try anyway!

* Although your local government will say the refugee program is out of their hands, you must now pressure the mayor, the council or the county commission (not sure what the local government structure is in Idaho) to get involved and fess-up about what role they played in “welcoming” refugees to Twin Falls.  All local government officials are supposed to have been consulted every year.

* Find out if there is an upcoming “stakeholders” meeting somewhere in Twin Falls about now as the resettlement contractor is preparing its R & P Abstract for FY2016—how many refugees Twin Falls will get, from where, and what amenities the town has to offer the refugees.  For an example of a ‘stakeholder’ meeting see St. Cloud, MN yesterday, here.

* Someone in the community must publicize everything you find out either in a website or blog for others to learn from!  I can’t emphasize this enough! You clearly have biased reporting going on in the local mainstream media—The Times-News and Magicvalley.com.  You must go around them with alternative media!

* Focus your grassroots campaign on two indisputable facts about refugee resettlement in America—it is secretive and costly!

More later, this is getting way too long!

US State Department contracts with nine major refugee resettlement contractors which are not allowed to proselytize

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Recently members of the ‘church’ community in Spartanburg, SC, involved with resettling refugees there, told the media that they expected to use the opportunity of resettling the refugees as an opportunity to bring them to Jesus Christ.  See our extensive coverage on Spartanburg by going to our first post with updates, here.

However, such evangelizing is strictly forbidden in a contract prospective resettlement agencies sign with the US State Department.  

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration Affairs Anne Richard arrives for a press conference at a hotel in Putrajaya, Malaysia Monday, June 1, 2015. Richard said resettlement in a third country is not the answer to the swelling tide of boat people in Southeast Asia and called for Myanmar citizenship to be given to Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution there. (AP Photo/Joshua Paul)
Anne C. Richard, Asst. Secretary of State for Population Refugees and Migration: Thou shalt not discuss Jesus Christ with refugees (if you have signed a contract with the federal government)! (AP Photo/Joshua Paul)

I knew I had seen it somewhere (and written about it!), but this week a young researcher reminded me of where I had seen that prohibition. It is here at a US State Department website explaining exactly what contractors can and cannot do when receiving money from you and me.
This is the complete page from the State Department website (this will be filed in our ‘where to find information’ category for future reference).  There is a lot of good information here and I’ve highlighted some points that we need to remember.
Note that the unelected contractors sit down with the State Department and decide which of your towns will get the refugees.

The Reception and Placement Program

Planning for Refugees’ Arrival in the United States

The Department of State works with nine domestic resettlement agencies that have proven knowledge and resources to resettle refugees. Every week, representatives of each of these nine agencies meet to review the biographic information and other case records sent by the overseas Resettlement Support Centers (RSC) to determine where a refugee will be resettled in the United States. During this meeting, the resettlement agencies match the particular needs of each incoming refugee with the specific resources available in a local community. If a refugee has relatives in the United States, he or she is likely to be resettled near or with them. Otherwise, the resettlement agency that agrees to sponsor the case decides on the best match between a community’s resources and the refugee’s needs.

Information about the sponsoring agency is communicated back to the originating RSC, which then works with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to transport the refugee to his or her new home. The cost of refugee transportation is provided as a loan, which refugees are required to begin repaying after they are established in the United States. [A large percentage do not repay the loan money and of the money collected, the contractor gets to keep a share of it!—ed]

Once in the United States

The Department of State has cooperative agreements with nine domestic resettlement agencies to resettle refugees. While some of the agencies have religious affiliations, they are not allowed to proselytize. The standard cooperative agreement between the Department of State and each of the domestic resettlement agencies specifies the services that the agency must provide to each refugee. All together, the nine domestic resettlement agencies place refugees in about 190 communities throughout the United States. Each agency headquarters maintains contact with its local affiliated agencies to monitor the resources (e.g., interpreters who speak various languages, the size and special features of available housing, the availability of schools with special services, medical care, English classes, employment services, etc.) that each affiliate’s community can offer.

As the cooperative agreement requires, all refugees are met at the airport upon arrival in the United States by someone from the sponsoring resettlement affiliate and/or a family member or friend. They are taken to their apartment, which has basic furnishings, appliances, climate-appropriate clothing, and some of the food typical of the refugee’s culture. Shortly after arrival, refugees are helped to start their lives in the United States. This includes applying for a Social Security card, registering children in school, learning how to access shopping facilities, arranging medical appointments, and connecting refugees with needed social or language services. [The contractors are paid by you to supply these services.—ed]

The Department of State’s Reception and Placement program provides assistance for refugees to settle in the United States. It supplies resettlement agencies a one-time sum per refugee to assist with meeting expenses during a refugee’s first few months in the United States. Most of these funds go toward the refugees’ rent, furnishings, food, and clothing, as well as to pay the costs of agency staff salaries, office space, and other resettlement-related expenses that are not donated or provided by volunteers.

Though the Department of State’s Reception and Placement program is limited to the first three months after arrival, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement works through the states and other nongovernmental organizations to provide longer-term cash and medical assistance, as well as language, employment, and social services.  [They have three months to cost-shift this program and the care of the refugees to state taxpayers!—ed]

Refugees receive employment authorization upon arrival and are encouraged to become employed as soon as possible. Based on years of experience, the U.S. refugee resettlement program has found that people learn English and begin to function comfortably much faster if they start work soon after arrival. Most refugees begin in entry-level jobs, even if they have high-level skills or education. With time, many if not most refugees move ahead professionally and find both success and satisfaction in the United States.

After one year, refugees are required to apply for permanent residence (commonly referred to as a green card) and after five years in the United States, a refugee is eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship. [And these same contractors/subcontractors are being paid (by you!) to get as many through the citizenship process as they can before 2016!—ed]

If you are a new reader, here are the nine major federal contractors that monopolize refugee resettlement in America.  LOL! You could never break into this cabal of contractors because in order to get these federal grants and contracts you have to prove you have experience resettling refugees, but you can never get experience because of the way the system is set up!

St. Cloud, MN: Reader asks 'where is the transparency' from federal refugee resettlement contractor

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

In a bunch of states in America, citizens concerned about the secrecy and the expense of the Refugee Admissions Program of the UN/US State Department are asking questions and demanding answers about how their tax dollars are being spent. 
One of those states is Minnesota arguably one of the most densely refugee-populated states between those being placed there by several resettlement contractors including Lutheran Social Service of MN (see here for background) and those moving there from other resettlement cities (to be with their fellow Somalis).

Obama: ” Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing.”

When I read this letter from Minnesota resident Bob Enos in the St. Cloud Times, one of the things I wondered about was whether the US State Department and its contractor LSS got the memo from the White House to ALL FEDERAL AGENCIES (that would include the US State Department and the Dept. of Health and Human Services (ORR) right?) and their contractors!
Here is President Barack Obama:

Transparency and Open Government

Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies

SUBJECT: Transparency and Open Government

My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.

There is more here.
Enos at the St. Cloud Times (emphasis added is mine):

Lutheran Social Service recently had a meeting at the Stearns County Service Center in Waite Park.

This was a meeting of “stakeholders” involved with Lutheran Social Service’s contract with the federal government for relocating political refugees to the St. Cloud area. The meeting has not been publicized. Evidently, it is closed to the public.

Even though refugee resettlement in St. Cloud is fueled with federal tax receipts, Lutheran Social Service, as a private contractor, appears to be under no legal or moral obligation to provide transparency to the public. This is deceptive and underhanded, and it must end.

Furthermore, the public must demand a long-overdue accounting of the program, an independent audit of both the use of our tax dollars and the financial impact upon Stearns County taxpayers in areas such as social services, schools, subsidized housing, transportation and public safety.

If Lutheran Social Service ran this program with proceeds from the Sunday collection plate, that would be voluntary charity, and the public might have little say in the matter. Paying taxes, however, is not voluntary.

Lutheran Social Service must be held to the same standard of transparency as any government organization.

Doesn’t it make you wonder if Senators Ted Kennedy and Joe Biden, in crafting the Refugee Act of 1980, set up the present contracting system for the purpose of keeping the public in the dark?  I would argue that these contractors, which receive the vast majority of their funding from taxpayers, are required to follow the President’s orders!

To citizen activists:

Note to the growing groups of grassroots activists looking to bring this secretive program out of the shadows, go here to the list of resettlement subcontractors working near you, ask them for the FY2015 R & P Abstract (see two posts on abstracts before today) for the city and ask them when the next “consultation” or “stakeholders” meeting will be held.
By the way, we have learned that the Refugee Council USA (the lobbying arm for the resettlement contractors) has instructed its members to NOT give citizens any information, so don’t be surprised if you are treated disrespectfully (or they pretend they don’t know what you are talking about!) when you call.  But, do it anyway!
Demand transparency! 
Demand that Obama’s executive order be respected!