No it isn’t. Local governments want to pretend they have no role so as to get the monkeys off their backs!
St. Cloud on Monday evening. http://knsiradio.com/news/local/residents-sound-refugee-resettlement#.WYvzdZCv3y8.twitter
First, here is the newsabout citizens appealing to the city council for a study about the costs of resettlement. The council voted the proposal down by one vote and said this isn’t a local government issue.
Memory lane! In 2015 we learned that the US State Department had only begun holding so-called “stakeholder meetings” with local government agencies in 2013!
It has only been in the last year or so that we have been made aware that QUARTERLY CONSULTATIONS with community “stakeholders” were being held quietly, out of public view. In fact, I wondered why I hadn’t heard about them and now I know why!
Here Lawrence Bartlett, US State Department Refugee Program, told Senator Sessions that of course they consult communities and elected officials about numbers and impacts! https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2015/10/02/senate-oversight-hearing-on-refugee-program-very-revealing-senator-sessions-did-a-masterful-job/
The citizens of St. Cloud, MN, here and here, brought the issue of exclusion of taxpaying citizens from the meetings where the ‘non-profit’ refugee resettlement agency meets with local elected officials, fire/police, education, health departments etc. to assess how things are going with the refugees, and they discuss how many to bring in the upcoming year.
According to a State Department spokesman (unnamed!) doing a press briefing for reporters on September 11th [sorry, the briefing has been removed!—ed] we learn that they have only been doing these QUARTERLY CONSULTATIONS since 2013! WTH!
And, they are lying! “Private citizens” have not been welcome.
These agencies (‘non-profit’ resettlement subcontractors) work very hard to hold these meetings secretly and out of the view of local concerned citizens—the ultimate stakeholder, the taxpayer! Yet, we have a State Department official (why no name?) telling the mainstream media that private citizens can attend!
Such meetings are required under the Refugee Act of 1980 as succinctly outlined here at Let Freedom Ringblog (hat tip: Katherine). This is a must-read. No time to pull quotes from it because I’m going away for a few days and dashing around this morning.
There is a local government role whether the city council of St. Cloud likes it (admits it!) or not!
Sheesh! A few minutes ago we told youabout the huge US refugee contractor—the IRC—working with Starbucks to find refugee employees to make your morning coffees in the San Diego area, and up pops more news (not good news!) about the IRC there.
https://www.rescue.org/united-states/san-diego-ca
This sort of news will result in a cry for more start-up money for refugees. It will never result in formal questions being asked by Congress about whether we are bringing in more refugees than we can afford!
Three large refugee families that a local nonprofit helped resettle at an El Cajon apartment complex are being asked to move because they have too many people living in their homes.
Uh-oh!
They came forward after KPBS aired an investigation nearly two weeks ago about other refugee families who said the same resettlement agency — the International Rescue Committee in San Diego — put them into too-small apartments by encouraging them to sign leases that omitted the names of some occupants.
IRC’s national office in New York has said it is investigating the recent claims made by refugees. In an email Tuesday, a spokesman said the office is aware of the new cases, which it is also looking into, “and is supporting our clients through their next steps.”
What say you, David? IRC CEO David Miliband giving George Soros their highest award in 2013. https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2013/11/09/federal-refugee-contractor-gives-freedom-award-to-george-soros/
The three families, who moved into their two-bedroom apartments last year, said they received the 30-day notices to vacate a day after KPBS’s story was published on July 27. A manager for the complex, which is under new ownership, said only five people are allowed in a two-bedroom apartment. Two of the families have eight members, while another has seven.
Lalmir Hamdard, a refugee from Afghanistan who arrived here in September, said he relied on an IRC translator to help him sign the English-language lease. A copy of the document provided to KPBS showed five names on the lease instead of all eight members of his family.
“At the time, I didn’t understand it in English — even my daughters with little English didn’t understand,” he said in Farsi through a translator. “I only understood that it said here, ‘Write this, sign here, do this.’ And I did.”
Two neighboring Syrian families who speak Arabic shared similar stories. They would have to find a three-bedroom apartment, which would be more expensive, and they are already having trouble keeping up with rent on their two-bedroom units.However, even a larger apartment may not be big enough depending on a complex’s policy.
Nice to see some real investigative journalism for a change, but reporter needs to ask….
Where is the US State Department that oversees agreements with its contractors (the IRC is one of nine that contracts with the federal government to place refugees) which surely include rules about how many tenants are in each apartment or house?
We have a huge archive on the IRC and its head honcho—David Miliband—here. Go here to see my latest financial accounting for the IRC.
Editor: This is a repost of a repost! Since President Trump was ‘highlighting’ the storied career of Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal yesterday (so that Blumenthal today is all over the Leftwing cable news), I thought new readers might like to know more about the man.
Come to think of it, I haven’t heard Blumenthal lately asking for more Syrian refugees for Connecticut.
Here is my post from earlier this year, which is a repost itself from 2015:
Because he is all over the news today as the focal point in one more attack on President Donald Trump, I’m re-posting this story from 2015 so you know just who Senator Blumenthal is and why he must be pretty unhappy with Trump.
In 2015 Senator Blumenthal held a press conference with the director of CAIR Connecticut seeking to speed up Syrian refugees to America by reducing security screening requirements. 98% of Syrians entering the US are Muslims.
Update: Who was that man over Senator Blumenthal’s left shoulder?
Yesterday we told you that Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) is leading the charge to lessen the security screening for Syrian and other Middle Eastern refugeesand he wants to expand the so-called P-3 (fraud ridden!) family reunification program.
See yesterday’s post by clicking here. (Go there to see exactly how Senator Blumenthal wanted to make it easier for Syrians to get through the refugee screening process.)
That is CAIR-Connecticut’s Executive Director behind Senator Blumenthal. Getting pretty brazen aren’t they, or is Blumenthal just pretty dense to invite CAIR to be so prominently involved in lessening security screening for refugees?
Now we know the answer to the question I asked all of you to help answer. Looming over Blumenthal’s shoulder is none other than Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR)- Connecticut director Mongi Dhaouadi.
(When I mentioned to a friend that I had updated my post with that information (thanks to Kyle), she suggested I write a second post because as a subscriber, who received the earlier one, she would not see the update.)
But it is worth mentioning again because this is now the second time we have seen CAIR involving itself directly in the Syrian (mostly Muslim) resettlement issue (and you can bet they are not advocating for the persecuted Syrian Christians).
Clearly their interest is in boosting the Muslim population in the US.
CAIR was herein the St. Louis ‘Bring them here march’ last month.
Here is Mr. Dhaouadi’s bio at CAIR’s website: (update: Apparently Mr. Dhaouadi has moved on since I first wrote this story)
Mongi Dhaouadi Executive Director
Mongi S. Dhaouadi was born and raised in Tunisia. He moved to the US when he was 19 years old and studied Electrical Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. As The Executive director of CAIR-CT, he conducts civil rights workshops throughout the state of Connecticut under the title “Know Your Rights.” Also, he leads several workshops and discussions on Islamophobia and the Muslim experience before and after 9/11.He has participated in and led several media campaigns and press conferences on issues concerning the Muslim community ranging from discrimination cases to advocating for the change of racial profiling laws in the state of Connecticut. Dhaouadi was featured in countless local, national, and international media outlets including NPR, FOX News, and Democracy Now with Amy Goodman. During the summer, he runs a youth internship program during which high school and college students work on several projects ranging from preparing a toolkit on Islamic cultural competency for schools, to writing and publishing articles from a Muslim youth perspective in the local papers and publications. Dhaouadi leads a Connecticut delegation at the Capitol Hill visits; an event that is organized every year by CAIR National, where members of the Muslim community visit their representatives in Wasington, DC and advocate for issues of concern domestic and foreign. Prior to joining CAIR-CT on a full time bases Dhaouadi was the Head Administrator at SKF Academy in Hamden Connecticut. Dhaouadi is married with three children: ages 11, 14 and 18. He lives with his family in New London, Connecticut. His favorite past time is playing or coaching soccer.
So far Connecticut doesn’t get very many refugees compared to other states. I guess Blumenthal and Dhaouadi would like to change that.
Is CAIR getting into the refugee resettlement program where you live? Let me know. And, while you are at it, see if you notice the involvement of Islamic Relief (USA)as well.
Go here to find the regional offices of Islamic Relief (USA) thanks to reader Cathy.
From the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society website: https://www.hias.org/support-presidential-determination-least-75000-refugees
In mid-September the Trump Administration will be sending its ‘Presidential determination’ to the Hill.
The determination will set the CEILING for the number of refugees the President would like to see admitted to the US and sets priorities for what regions of the world will be the source of those refugees.
It also tells Congress how much money the Administration needs to get that job done.
Obama’s average admissions for 8 years was 69,683. Do they really think that Donald Trump will ask for 75,000?
For the umpteenth time, the number is a ceiling that is rarely reached.
The contractors*** are telling their followers that the magic number for FY18 is 75,000. They must be taking a new tack because at this time last year they were asking Obama for 200,000. I suspect they know the situation is bad for their budgets and they need more than 50,000 (paying refugee clients) to stay afloat.
By the way, Trump reset the ceiling for FY17 to 50,000.
And, as of this morning (according to Wrapsnet) Trump is at 50,672. This is the first time in the history of the program that the ceiling has been surpassed.
For the eight years of the Obama Administration the average number of admissions was 69,683 (see here). The average would have been much lower if it weren’t for his last year, an outlier, of nearly 85,000.
So, if Trump goes to 75,000 for FY18, which begins October 1, he will be proposing to bring in more refugees than Obama’s average.
Ginning up their base!
Just one portion of the “members” page at the RCUSA. http://www.rcusa.org/members/
In an August recess toolkit prepared by the Refugee Council USA(the lobbying arm of the refugee industry), here is what they are telling their activists (and using your tax dollars for their community organizing!):
Trump’s attacks on refugees, immigrants, and their families are morally detestable, discriminatory, and violate our sacred honor to protect the most vulnerable among us. Right now, we need Congress to urge the administration to resettle at least 75,000 refugees next year and protect DACA. Congress must also robustly fund refugee assistance overseas and the U.S. refugee resettlement program, at minimum at last year’s levels, and reduce funding for mass immigration detention, deportation, and border militarization.
One of the most active of the activist groups is the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) which has instructions to its supporters on what to say to Washington Representatives and Senators.
Scratching your head about why Jews would import their enemy? Learn about “Stalinist Jews” where “ideology over reality” rules. Watch starting at minute 46 in this new documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmhfRi5j8aA
They know that the Republican Congress can be manipulated easily by public opinion on this issue because the establishment GOP fears being labeled racist AND many R’s are beholden to the Chamber of Commerce, big business and global corporations looking for more consumers and a ready supply of cheap labor.
***The Federal contractors/middlemen/employment agencies/propagandists/lobbyists/community organizers?paid by you to place refugees in your towns and cities are below. Under the nine major contractors are hundreds of subcontractors.
The contractors income is largely dependent on taxpayer dollars based on the number of refugees admitted to the US, but they also receive myriad grants to service their “New Americans.”
If you are a good-hearted soul and think refugee resettlement is all about humanitarianism, think again! Big businesses depend on the free flow of cheap (some call it slave) labor.
The only way for real reform of how the US admits refugees is to remove these contractors/Leftwing activists from the process.
We told you the outrageous news here where we learned that a Congolese refugee had his charges dismissed because the judge found him culturally incompetent (he abused women, beat his wife, in his native DR Congo so how could we expect him to know better!).
Augustin Bahati will be back in court later this month when they find an interpreter.
The case has been refiled, but delayed when an interpreter didn’t show up in court.
Just a reminder that refugees are entitled to expensive interpreters (often supplied by a refugee contractor***) that you pay for with your tax dollars (costs NEVER reported in glowing studies of how refugees are good for the economy!).
MANCHESTER — A court hearing for a Congolese refugee on domestic-related criminal charges refiled by city prosecutors was postponed Thursday because there wasn’t an interpreter available.
Augustin Bahati was there for the status hearing Thursday morning in 9th Circuit Court-District Division and sat in the courtroom for several hours because the interpreter scheduled to translate during the proceedings did not show.
Judge Gregory Michael rescheduled the hearing for Aug. 24 at 8:30 a.m.
The case against Bahati was dismissed in March because he was deemed “culturally incompetent” to understand the American justice system. Acting City Solicitor Emily Gray Rice, who was also in the courtroom waiting for the interpreter, submitted paperwork last month to refile the charges against Bahati.
Here is another story on Bahati where his resettlement agency claims he was given a training program that warned against domestic abuse.
I quickly looked around to see if I could find what language Bahati spoke, but didn’t see it immediately. Wikipedia tells us that French is the official national language followed by other obscure languages. Is your welcoming town ready to supply costly interpreters?
For those of you being told that refugees don’t commit crimes or plan terrorist attacks—see my ten cases, here. This one is small potatoes in comparison to the five horrific crimes I added to the ten terror cases.
***The Federal contractors/middlemen/employment agencies/propagandists/lobbyists/community organizers?paid by you to place refugees in your towns and cities are below. Under the nine major contractors are hundreds of subcontractors.
The contractors income is largely dependent on taxpayer dollars based on the number of refugees admitted to the US, but they also receive myriad grants to service their “New Americans.”
Increasingly I am hearing that the contractors and subcontractors are running side businesses supplying interpreters thanks to Bill Clinton’s 2000 Executive Order.
The only way for real reform of how the US admits refugees is to remove these contractors/globalist head hunters from the process.
