Comment worth noting: Mine!

07/09/2009 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

There is a good discussion going on in yesterday’s “comment worth noting” which was originally about federal refugee contractors lining up private sponsors for each refugee family, something they do not do now to any large degree. It further evolved into a discussion of how refugees are free to move anywhere after their original resettlement.

I then contended that the Refugee Resettlement Program is run secretively. Frequent critic of RRW, Iamevloved, responded that it wasn’t secretive if you were willing to do a little work researching it. This is my response and a reform idea I have been advocating for some time.

Come to think of it, in this era of transparancy, maybe the Obama Administration might like my idea!

Iamevloved, I guess you wouldn’t object then to one of my reform suggestions. That is, when a city is being considered as a refugee receiving city or when a city is to receive additional refugees from the point of passage of my reform legislation, there would be a federal requirement for a Social and Economic Impact Study completed for that city or county.

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires that any major federal action (including spending money) impacting the human environment triggers an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). As part of that EIS process and my recommended process for a Social and Economic Impact Study there would be (and is for the EIS) a requirement for public hearings.

I propose public hearings in each refugee-receiving city. The hearings would help determine such things as housing availability, job availability, social compatibility of the refugees to the area and so forth. Most city and even state officials have no clue how the refugee program works now, and citizens as we learned here where I live have even less of an understanding.

If the program is a good one, it will stand on its merits. I stand by my original statement that this is all done in a sneaky and secretive fashion for new cities that are targeted to receive refugees.

And, damn it! It is not the responsibility of average citizens to spend years trying to figure out what is going on in their communities with a federal program slipped in and administered by contractors!

Can we find someone in Congress to draft my bill?

Comment worth noting: another anti-CAIR demonstration planned today

07/04/2009 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Once again we have heard from Abdirizak Bihi, one of the Minneapolis Somali leaders who has criticized the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) for impeding the investigation into the missing Somali, former refugee, youths believed to have gone to Somalia for terrorist training. See Mr. Bihi’s earlier comment to RRW, here.

Mr. Bihi is urging people to attend a rally today in Minneapolis to protest “CAIR’s bullying” and to stand up to whoever is brainwashing their kids:

Freedom Rally to Protest The Murder of Burhan Hassan And the Other Somali American Kids Brainwashed and stolen from their Parents as well as C.A.I.R’ Bullying

Stand Up for The Human Rights of Burhan Hassan and The Somali Kids Stolen in the Dark of a Night from Their Mothers Who Fled With Them to USA. They (Terrorists) snatched
The Kids and Thrown them back into Hellfire That Genocides Poor, Innocent Left Behind Somalis in Somalia.

Be Present. Keep Somali American Name Up
DO NOT LET CAIR SHUT YOU UP!
DO NO Let CAIR Patronize YOU!
Everyone who loves Freedom is Welcome.
Bring a Friend and Your American Flag!

When: Sat July 4th 09 (Independence Day)

Where: Brian Cole Center
420 15th Ave So, Mpls MN 55454
Time: 2.00pm (After Noon Prayer)
Please, Contact A Bihi 612 267-1016,
Mohamed 612 227-3801 or
Ahmed 952-994-0089
Let’s Walk for Life and Liberty. How’s that?

To readers new to this issue: This is a big deal—it takes an enormous amount of courage for any Muslim (or any political figure for that matter!) in the US to stand up to CAIR!

Iraqi Palestinians set to arrive in the US: when and how many?

06/30/2009 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

From time to time I’ve written about the Palestinians who originally went to Iraq at Saddam Hussein’s invitation, but when Saddam met his end, they became targets of Iraqis who hated Saddam. So they fled, but no Muslim country would take them and they live in camps along the Iraq-Syria border. A few have gone to Chile and Iceland, other places in Europe too.

These Palestinians have not been shy in speaking out about the hypocrisy of the Arab world—the mythical Muslim charity has not been offered to them. And, by the way, the reason Palestinian “refugees” continue to live in Gaza after decades is that no Muslim country wants them either. Those countries need the refugee hammer (sword!) over Israel.

Well, now it appears thousands of Iraqi Palestinians will come to the US. Exactly how many and when seems to be up in the air. Or better still, it probably isn’t up in the air as far as the State Department goes, it’s just that we don’t know. Note this comment thread on the post I wrote the other day about Palestinians going to Canada.

Kristen:

the US will also be taking 5000 of these Palestinians this Fiscal Year, i think they are scheduled to start coming in July.

Me:

Kristen, are you speculating that we are taking 5000, or do you know something we don’t know yet!

Timisoara:

Kristen, as far as I know, the US will also be taking about 1200 (not 5000) of these Palestinians, and most will arrive in the next US government fiscal year (e.g. in the Fall). They’re coming from the Al Waleed refugee camp, near the Iraq-Syrian border. There are discussions about accepting Palestinians from the Al Tanaf and Al Hol refugee camps, but both camps have problems with access, and they’re fewer than 500 individuals each.

Kristen:

Sorry for the late response. Until Friday, I was working for an affiliate of ECDC [Ethiopian Community Development Council, one of the Top Ten government contractors], and we had started to receive assurance forms for a few of these Palestinian cases. According to ECDC, the US will be taking 5,000 of these cases on an “emergency” basis before this fiscal year ends. I am not working there, but that was the last that I had heard.

The US doesn’t normally take Palestinians. We have taken less than a dozen Palestinians in FY2008 and about the same number this fiscal year so far. I wonder if the Iraqi Palestinians will be listed as Palestinians or hidden in the Iraqi refugee data?

Searching around just now to see if I could find any confirmation of what our commenters are saying, I did find this at Relief Web:

The Iraqi Palestinian population is fairly small – only a few thousand. So far the U.S. has not taken in any of the refugees from Al-Tanf. To its credit, it has agreed to take in many of the Palestinian Iraqis staying in Al-Waleed camp, another of the three similar border camps. But the US can do more.

Wonder when the mainstream media will notice this story, probably only when they are moving in next door.

Comment worth noting: reader responds in defense of Vermont volag

06/25/2009 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We’ve had a lot of respondents to a comment by John, here, in which he is highly critical of the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program(VRRP). You can see those other defenders at that post. However, Susan responded to John at this post on unhappy Iraqis in Vermont and I didn’t want her response to go unnoticed. Here it is:

I am responding to John in an earlier post. Let’s start with the facts about travel loans. The system is far more complex than you even realize. The airfare for refugees is loaned to them not by USCRI, but by the International Office of Migration. IOM is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners. USCRI collects loan repayments for IOM and returns those funds to IOM to be re-used for airfare for new refugees – so it is, in essence, a revolving loan fund. There is no cost to the US taxpayer. In the resettlement process refugees are told that the cost of their air travel is loaned to them. Refugees have a grace period of up to 6 months before beginning re-payment on these interest-free loans. If, at that time, a refugee is not employed, he may request a delay of 3 more months.

Now to your other allegations – I wonder where you get your information. VRRP, like most resettlement organizations, is run by a lean but adequate professional staff whose depth and scope is embellished greatly by wonderful networks of trained and supervised volunteers.As the concentric circles widen out, refugees are immediately connected with a variety of organizations and systems that will lend support to them as they begin to lay roots in our communities and slowly integrate into their new society. VRRP provides training and consultation to all of the associated groups and organizations involved and works diligently and cooperatively to do they very best they are able for the refugees who are resettled in our community. In fact, all the community providers meet on a monthly basis with the expressed purpose of sharing information and collaborating more effectively. I would encourage you to contact VRRP and ask if you can have a look at what they are doing, how they do it, and who they collaborate with.

John, we are fortunate in Vermont to have refugees from many nations gracing our communities – going to school with our children, collaborating with us in the workplace, relaxing in our beautiful parks and lake, and adding their experiences and wisdom to the greater store of community assets we all enjoy. We are humbled by the resilience, the bravery, the fortitude, and the hard work of our newest neighbors whose life experiences in countries experiencing extreme political upheaval have forced them to add a new aspect to their personal identity and become refugees. We are equally fortunate in Vermont to have a strong network of professionals and community members who diligently work to ease what is an unfathomably transition for our refugee friends out of war zones, home cultures, family and community ties, livelihoods, worldviews and longstanding homes and into a new chapter of their lives.

The Vermont Refugee Resettlement program is a central and important partner in this process. It sits at the nexus of a much larger supporting group of organizations, professionals and community members who are also dedicated to support the family in its initial transition and across time as they become more deeply integrated into the community. There is no perfect process. Each person who becomes a refugee is a unique individual with a story that began before their lives deteriorated in their home countries and they were forced to become refugees. Each US community that opens their hearts and doors to those living the trauma of the refugee experience has its own unique character and is subject to the changing economic and political winds that buffet us all. Vermont is no different in that sense. Our small size, however, brings us into much closer proximity to all of those around us. We know a bit more about the circumstances of peoples lives in this small state than others in larger settings are likely to. So take the initiative instead of the soapbox. Instead of bashing – build. Understand the strengths and the limitations of this soul deepening enterprise – and please don’t bash the very individuals who work 24/7 to support these families.

Comment worth noting: Minneapolis Somali leader confirms criticism of CAIR and the mosque

06/24/2009 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I told you last week that a brave bunch of Somalis actually stood up to the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and its apparent efforts to stymie the investigation into the Somali Missing youth case. Today we have heard directly from one of the Somali activists to correct an error I made and to reaffirm their criticism of CAIR.

To set the stage for new readers. On June 10th I pointed a finger at CAIR as the hold-up in the FBI’s investigation of the missing youths, here.

Maybe they could investigate if the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) would get out of the way! I have written several times about how CAIR is blocking access to Somali students and keeping them from speaking to FBI investigators. Here is only the most recent post I wrote on the subject back in April, it’s entitled: CAIR wants legal protection for students questioned by FBI!

Readers might also want to visit Judy’s post, here, where she reports that CAIR instructed Muslims elsewhere not to cooperate with the FBI.

Then much to my surprise, a group of Somalis headed by Omar Jamal* and Abdirizak Bihi (uncle to the Somali-American reportedly killed recently in Somalia) actually did protest against CAIR. I was stunned at how much bravery this involved, here.

Next, another group of Somalis defended CAIR and criticized Jamal and Bihi here. This is how I began that post:

I told you (here) how surprised I was a week or so ago to learn that some Somali Muslims had the guts to protest against the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the actions it has undertaken that some claim undermine FBI investigations into the Somali missing youths. My estimation of Omar Jamal had actually gone up a bit! A Somali political activist, Farheen Hakeem now informs us that anti-CAIR protesters were not really representing the Somali “community.”

Abdirizak Bihi, in a comment to that post earlier this morning, informs us that I was wrong and that Farheen Hakeem is not even a Somali. I’ve been reading that CAIR is close to far left “Community organizers” working in places like Wade Rathke’s SEIU (Service Employees International Union) and have been speculating that “organizers” are being sent to various US cities to “organize” the Somalis. Hmmm! Is that how Hakeem came to be in Minneapolis?

Bihi, in a comment to RRW today, wants us to know the following:

My name is Abdirizak Bihi. Iam a Somali Cimmunity Leader as well as Somali American Missing Kids’Families Spokesman in mn NICE.

As you have mistakenly noted, Farheen Hakeem is not Somali American. She is, according to my friends, Afghan American from WI. But she likes to rule us, wip us like CAIR. She is part of , (Former Chair of CAIR, mn). Look and Read her article abou me and Exc Dirof Somali Jusctice Advocacy Center in the SatrTribune.

We are being silenced by this powerfull and highly connected CAIR org. We are not going to go away anytime soon. We survived a civil war, terror is still reigning in our homeland. It seems to follow us her and it is being funded and supported aggressively to threaten us. Fraheen Hakeem was very honest to demonstrate and be a living example of how we re misrepresented and silenced by CAIR and Her likes. See for your self. How They make our fake leaders. How they condemn those they do not like. Yeah You are the one they have been projecting to these lies. We stood up to them. They are getting so despeerate as to paint us bad.

Look for us as we continue to upgrade and claim our GOD Given American Freedom and Liberty.

Those who BRAIN-WASHED AND STOLE our children AND TOOK THEM TO SOMALI’ INFERNO (MONEY MOSQUE MAKING MECHINE Abubakr Sadique, their CAIR Allies and THEIR unsuspecting FRIENDS have done us unrepairaBLE DAMEAGE TO US. wE WILL NOT FORGIVE THEM AS LONG AS THEY CONTINUE TO BRAIN WASH THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE.

WE WILL FIGHT TO THE END TO GET JUSTICE FOR BURHAN HASSAN AND THE OTHER HUNDRES TRAFICKED CHILDREN.

WATCH YOUR CHILDREN.

BECAUSE WHEN THEY ARE NOT HERE AND DEAD LIKE MY NEPHEW, YOU’LL START LIVING IN THE PAST AND KEEP TRYING TO CHANGE THE BAD FUTURE.

aBDIRIZAK bIHI,

UNCLE OF BURHAN HASSAN

SPOKESMAN F THE SOMALI AMERICAN FAMILIES OF THE MISSING KIDS

Abdirizak Bihi

Bihi’s comment and willingness to stand up to CAIR gives me hope that at least a few Somalis appreciate America and want to assimilate.

* As for Jamal, I don’t know what’s up with him. We have extensively followed his escapades through media reports and frankly I don’t know what his game is.