The article at Greenville Onlineentitled: ‘Refugee issue stirs strong emotions, despite no influx expected’ gives me an idea. Pickens County is along the North Carolina border. Refugees are already in nearby Greenville and Spartanburg Counties.
Begin community organizing in advance!
Send a message now! Don’t wait until refugees are on the way!
The UN/US State Department (and the federal resettlement contractors) are out constantly scouting for fresh territory in which to “seed” refugees (especially since the numbers will swell this year with the Syrian migration), so how about sending a message preemptively that your town is not open for colonization, just as these resisters in Pickens County, SC have done.
If you go to this list of resettlement offices in 48 states, know that if your town is within 100 miles of any of them, you are fair game to be forced to resettle refugees.
Here are a few snips from the story, but please read it all, byclicking here.
Members of the Pickens County Republican Party recently heard a chilling update on the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program at Liberty Auditorium.
If Governor Nikki Haley wanted to she could send a clear message to the federal government just as Governor Deal has done in Georgia. The feds aren’t going to listen, but if enough REPUBLICAN governors spoke up, a Tenth Amendment states’ rights challenge could be mounted.
One of the forum speakers, Tara Servatius from WORD Radio, warned the crowd of about 40 that the refugee program is part of a conspiracy orchestrated by insiders in Washington that’s designed to create a one-party political system and enlarge a populace dependent on big government.
Critics of the alarmist sentiment, however, say the meeting only serves to show how unfounded some of the fears are regarding a mass influx of immigrants that simply aren’t expected to come to Pickens County. The differing opinions on extreme opposite ends of the spectrum reveal an emotional tug-of-war that exists in the Upstate.
[….]
Diane Hardy, who heads a “pocket of resistance” with a Facebook page called Secure South Carolina, tells the group that the refugees will suck up benefits paid for by South Carolina taxpayers and strain already overtaxed social services, law enforcement, schools and health care systems.
The speakers at the meeting placed the blame on Gov. Nikki Haley, who they said signed off on the federal government’s request to allow refugees here.
[….]
No city in Pickens County is listed as a destination for any refugees.
Haley’s unwillingness to face down the UN/US State Department puts her in the RINO/Chamber of Commerce camp which has bought in to the notion that big industry (the donor class!) needs cheap immigrant labor.
This post is archived in our ‘Pockets of Resistance’ category,here.
A reader has brought to my attention that there are opportunities for concerned citizens to attend meetings where you can learn more about what is going on where you live and who the principle players are (who are the people in your community calling the shots).
No rent hikes! What do you think? Are they getting community organizing training somewhere? You betcha!
See our post last year where Somali community organizers protested an effort by the Seattle housing authority to free up some public housing for 9,000 on a waiting list. The housing authority failed. https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2014/12/19/seattle-housing-crisis-pay-attention-refugee-welcoming-cities/
In Seattle there is the Immigrant and Refugee Commission. Here is the meeting schedule for the two remaining meetings this year. Surely they will be discussing how many Syrians will be seeded in Seattle.
In the last few days we reported on opportunities here in Orlando, FL (one of our readers attended! thank you!) andhere in Minneapolis, MN to attend PUBLIC meetings to learn more about what is happening where you live. To be effective in standing up for your community, you need to understand how refugee resettlement works and who the players are where you live.
We reported on the letter that 18 US mayors sent to President Obamaherein which they told the President that 10,000mostly Muslim Syrians for fiscal year 2016 (that began October 1) is too few. They want 100,000! ACT for America is calling on its members and supporters to send letters to the 18. They cite the enormous cost of resettling that many refugees in addition to security concerns confirmed by the Director of the FBI (here) just last week.
Here they are:
Ed Pawlowski, Mayor of Allentown, PA
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Mayor of Baltimore, MD
Martin J. Walsh, Mayor of Boston, MA
James Diossa, Mayor of Central Falls, RI
Mark Kleinschmidt, Mayor of Chapel Hill, NC
Rahm Emanuel, Mayor of Chicago, IL
Edward Terry, Mayor of Clarkston, GA
Nan Whaley, Mayor of Dayton, OH
Domenick Stampone, Mayor of Haledon, NJ
Pedro E. Segarra, Mayor of Hartford, CT
Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles, CA
Betsy Hodges, Mayor of Minneapolis, MN
Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City, NY
Jose Torres, Mayor of Paterson, NJ
William Peduto, Mayor of Pittsburgh, PA
Javier Gonzales, Mayor of Santa Fe, NM
Francis G. Slay, Mayor of St. Louis, MO
Stephanie A. Miner, Mayor of Syracuse, NY
Stop U.S. Mayors from Importing Un-vetted Refugees
Dear ____,
18 mayors from around the country recently signed an open letter to President Obama, asking for even more refugees than the huge numbers his Administration has called for, and most ridiculously of all, praising the current background check process. If you have seen the news lately, you’re probably aware that almost all refugees are now claiming to be from Syria and are throwing away their ID’s and passports from their country of origin.
Ask yourself: How is it possible to do a background check on someone from a war zone? How can you know the person’s true identity? What about people from the regions ISIS controls? Does the State Department call up ISIS and ask if the person is a terrorist? Is the State Department cooperating with Assad’s government to perform background checks? Any claim by the White House or the State Department that thorough screening and background checks are being performed on these refugees is a terrible joke.Unfortunately, it’s one with severe national security ramifications.
Further, with today’s rampant unemployment and low wages, why would we introduce even more competition against American workers for the few jobs that are being created? What will happen to American wages when there is even more competition for jobs?
What will happen to our schools? Budget cuts and teacher shortages are already hurting schools across the country. Are schools ready to accept thousands of additional students with no extra funding? Most of the students will not speak English. How will our schools afford or ever find qualified teachers in the various languages required to staff entire parallel systems of all the classes currently being offered? This will require massive budget increases that are just not available. The only possible way to fund this is to drastically siphon off resources from current students and lower the quality of their education.
There are numerous other infrastructure problems this refugee resettlment scheme will bring related to traffic, power, sanitation, housing, crime, and healthcare. This has clearly not been thought through very well.
It is merely a cheap ploy by these mayors to grab votes without regard for the multitude of problems it will inflict upon the citizens of their cities.
It’s time to stand up for our communities and hold these elected officials accountable for their foolish actions. Shame on them.
We’ve provided an email with talking points for you to send to these mayors. (You only have to do it once and it will go to all of them.)
Please click here to take action and make your voice heard today.
On Sunday MagicValley.comreported on two petition drives being conducted in the Twin Falls area. Republican Gov. Butch Otter is being asked to shut it down statewide. He does not have that power! But, putting pressure on him like this is still an excellent idea.
TWIN FALLS • Supporters of a ballot measure to ban refugee centers in Twin Falls County have started to gather signatures.
The Twin Falls County Clerk’s office approved the form of the petition on Oct. 5, giving them 180 days — or until early April — to gather the 3,842 signatures they need to get the initiative on the countywide ballot in May.
Rick Martin, the head of the Committee to End the CSI Refugee Center and the sponsor of the ballot measure, was gathering signatures outside the U.S. Post Office on Second Avenue West on Wednesday morning. He said their goal is to gather about 4,300 signatures, to make sure they have enough in case some get challenged.
[….]
The ballot measure would ban refugee centers anywhere in the county, including within the cities, and would take effect Nov. 1, 2016.
Another group,III Percent of Idaho, is working a petition to get the Governor to shut down refugee resettlement for the whole state. They will hold a rally this coming Sunday. See MagicValley.comfor details.
Remember readers that Idaho is a Wilson-Fish state and as such decisions are made between a non-profit group (Jannus Inc, mentioned here) and the UN/US State Department. Neither the Governor, nor other elected officials, will be able to shut it down without first getting rid of the Wilson-Fish status. Note to activists:
If the Governor is reluctant to do anything (to even speak up), check his campaign contributions and see if he is getting campaign cash from big industries like the one setting up the new meatpacking plant near Boiseand Chobani Yogurtnear Twin Falls. Both industries are looking for cheap refugee labor to make sure their profit margin is good (your culture, your local economy and your safety be damned!).
For all of you, wherever in the US you are located, be sure to research which industries are working closely with federal resettlement contractors (phony ‘church’ groups) to bring refugees to your community.
Idahoans! You really must focus some attention on your federal representatives, your two US Senators and your two Members of the House. I know, I know, we all think they are a bunch of do-nothings, but you still gotta hound them!
More on Chobani
Chobani changing America one cheap immigrant laborer at a time….
Remember I told you about the refugees getting the boot from an apartment complex in Boise,here. Now a reader tells us that Chobani has stepped in to rescue the refugees, here, here and here.
So let me ask this question: If refugees do not have enough money (or jobs) to get and keep housing without extra help from Chobani, why are we bringing more refugees to Idaho or to America for that matter?
Learn more about Chobani and its Kurdish-American founder in Twin Falls, here. Go here for our HUGE archive on Idaho.
This post is also archived in our relatively new category—Pockets of Resistance.
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!
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. Where are you Trey Gowdy? As the US State Department and its contractors work day and night to change the demographic makeup of American towns and cities IN SECRECY, where is your subcommittee in helping citizens get the information they are entitled to? Frankly, this is more important for the future of America than Hillary’s e-mails!
According to a State Department spokesman (unnamed!) doing a press briefing for reporters on September 11th, 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!
Why is the spokesman unnamed?
We are pleased to have [name and title withheld] with us today.Moving forward, [State Department Official] will be called State Department official for the purposes of this call. Again, this call is on background.
So much for Obama’s much ballyhooed transparency! Now here is what ‘name and title withheld’ told a special group of reporters:
In addition, starting about two years ago, I believe it was FY13, we required that all of our resettlement agencies conduct quarterly consultations with stakeholders in their communities. So that means that not just once a year when they’re preparing a proposal, but every quarter they have to reach out to a wide variety of stakeholders. And that would include other community organizations. That could include the police department, the school, the mayor’s office, the fire department, other agencies that have a stake in refugee resettlement, and private citizens can be invited as well. And they hold those quarterly conversations and that is taken into account when we are making placement plans for the entire year and throughout the year.
You know Larry Bartlett told Senator Sessions this basic untruthhere in the Senate hearing the week before last as well.
It gets worse!
We need lawyers on our team! Have they been breaking the law for 33 of 35 years? Or, have the states, which are supposed to prepare a plan every year and hold the meetings, not done their required duty to hold the quarterly meetings with communities?
And, if yours is one of 11 Wilson-Fish states***you don’t even get this much involvement in the planning.
Here are the federal regulations guiding the program (From CFR 400.5(h))
Provide that the State will, unless exempted from this requirement by the Director, assure that meetings are convened, not less often than quarterly, whereby representatives of local resettlement agencies, local community service agencies, and other agencies that serve refugees meet with representatives of State and local governments to plan and coordinate the appropriate placement of refugees in advance of the refugees’ arrival.
What should you do now?
So, for all of you working in ‘Pockets of Resistance’(and others too!). Go here, and call the closest refugee resettlement office near you and tell them you want a schedule for the upcoming quarterly consultation! Ask them as well for the FY2016 R & P Abstract which will tell you their plans for your town/city this year. (They have been instructed by their lobbying arm in Washington, RCUSA, to deny you those, but keep asking).
At the same time, go here, and call your State Refugee Coordinators office and ask for the quarterly consultation schedule for your city and/or for the whole state. Ask the coordinator for the FY2016 Abstracts as well (for your individual city) or for every community in the state! The State Coordinator must have approved it!
Let me know what response you get and we will start listing the agencies that refuse your requests for admission to quarterly consultations and for the R & P Abstract.We will build a case.
And, hey, Trey Gowdy where are you?Where is your hearing?
I would like you to make those calls and report the results to me. I am going to post the responses on these pages. (I know some of you have done this already, but I didn’t log your information when you were stonewalled.) Please put “report on calls” in the subject line when writing to me at RefugeeWatcher@gmail.com so I don’t miss your e-mail.
*** Wilson-Fish states where your state elected officials have virtually no say (and where you should be demanding your state get out of Wilson-Fish!): Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee and Vermont. Call the agencies in those states too. ***Update***
There are 12 Wilson-Fish states: Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee and Vermont.
