Tomorrow I’ll have been on the road for two weeks and I’ve made stops in 7 states and put 2,000 miles on my car. There is a very clear pattern developing and I’m going to take each piece one at a time. Frankly, I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know with my revelations from the road! Mike Brown has been mayor of Grand Forks since the year 2,000 so he is responsible for the refugee flow to that city. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Brown_(mayor) (Logan Werlinger/Grand Forks Herald) If you are troubled by the secrecy you see with the UN/US State Department Refugee Admissions Program as it disrupts the social and economic stability of your communities, look first at your local elected officials.
Yesterday, I mentioned the controversy on-going in Rutland, VT with a mayor who invited a federal resettlement contractor to bring in 100 Syrian Muslims a few short months from now.
Concerned citizens there have stirred the political pot as they should and the issue has now bled over to the governor’s race (here).
And, don’t miss Leo Hohmann’s WND article yesterday about how the elected officials of Bloomington, MN have betrayed their people.
Before I go any further watch this interview with Mayor Mike Brown of Grand Forks, North Dakota last week. With mayors like these who needs enemies!
Valley News Live Fargo, ND reports: Click here to watch. And as you watch this mayor fumble questions about what data supports his contention that refugees have benefited Grand Forks, consider that this man is a medical doctor and thus should be smart enough to understand the importance of economic data to make his point. The problem is that no one, until now, has probably ever demanded he go beyond talking points.
It appears that Brown, who has no datato support his glowing assessment that refugees have brought economic prosperity to Grand Forks, is actually reading from some fluffy puffy statement that must have come down from on high at “Welcoming America” or one of its many local clone organizations.
You must work to change your LOCAL elected officials!
That is my message for today. I’m seeing the same clear message everywhere I go—local elected officials either because there is money to be made from industries needing cheap labor, or simply because they have bought the whole progressive (multiculturalism is beautiful) agenda—must be defeated at the polls! To do that you must (besides finding some good candidates—a tall order I know), investigate the ones you have. Dig deep into public records and expose their connections/donors and deals. And, to do that effectively you must have a means of communicating what you have found to your community. Friendly media for us is very rare since most small town newspapers have sold out to the progressive agenda, so if you can’t get local media, you will have to create your own media!
I see it over and over, great research going on with our folks locally, but the work sits on computers or in stacks of documents that never leave a small circle of hardcore patriotic activists. Create your own mediaby creating localized/statewide websites (I like that Watchdog.orgworking in Vermont!), start a radio show of your own, and report hard research information, don’t just talk about liberty and the Constitution, although important subjects for sure, but expose local crony capitalists running (ruining!) your towns with serious investigative work!
With mayors like these who needs enemies! Update: Refugees now a hot topic in gubernatorial race, see here.
As I travel around the US meeting with citizens concerned about the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program, patterns are developing and one of those is that there is no doubt that when your town is targeted for a new resettlement site (or expansion of an old one) it is done with the utmost secrecy and very often involves an over-zealous elected official (a mayor or city council member).
I have no time to write before I hit the road again this morning, but I want you to see this! This should resonate with everyone I’ve met with in 6 states so far. Rutland, Vermont residents were shocked to learn a couple of months ago that their mayor had quietly “welcomed” the resettlement of 100 Syrians to the town for later this year.
To catch up, see our Rutland archive here.
Here is the latest from Watchdog.org, story titled:
‘Lone alderman in on refugee secret ‘stunned’ at speed of decision‘
A secret plan to make Rutland a permanent refugee resettlement community has divided residents and put the mayor’s political future in doubt. But at least one member of the Board of Aldermen knew about the secret, and that official told Watchdog he is “stunned” at how fast the plan was carried out.
Prior to announcing the resettlement of Syrian refugees, Rutland Mayor Louras held secret meetings with representatives of the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program, the State Department, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants and Gov. Peter Shumlin. He also consulted with a single alderman: Board of Aldermen President William Notte.
In this interview, Notte answered Watchdog’s questions about his role in the backroom deal to make Rutland a refugee resettlement community.
Continue reading here for the interview.
The lesson I’m learning is this—-as it is confirmed to me repeatedly that refugee seeding plans are done in secrecy, you must be working locally to get the right people elected to political office and get mayors like this one out!
Oh gosh, where do I begin to tell you about Refugee Resettlement Watch‘s road trip. My head is spinning with all I’ve heard and seen and it would take me hours to tell you.
First, though, below are the top three posts of the week. Sorry I haven’t written much, but between driving and meeting, I’m finding little time for the computer. By the way, I am now 1,500 miles from home and am taking the day off. I got a beautiful hotel room at a bargain price and can spend all day here just catching up. (The room has a long counter-like work station and I am spread out!).
The number one post here surpasses the others by a huge margin:
Because mostly I don’t know where to begin in sorting through what I’ve learned and seen in the last week, I’m going to give you my general impressions (and am not going to give out any names of patriots working in these areas, except for Congressional candidate AJ Kern).
First, if all of you could see Toledo, Ohio and Dearborn, Michigan, you would be shocked.
Obviously both are struggling, grimy places where more refugees are being placed by the US State Department. The feds and their contractors are setting up more refugees to fail by placing them in the dilapidated towns. It seems that there are mosques every few blocks and in Dearborn the storefront signs are in Arabic. I’m told the first Arabs were brought to Dearborn by the Ford Motor Company looking for laborers (a recurring theme in my travels).
Any ideas you have about this program being one of compassion and humanitarian concern for the downtrodden must be wiped out of your heads! The refugee program is about changing America and about MONEY and labor!
Most disturbing in this part of Michigan is that Arabs are spreading out throughout the nicer counties nearby and buying up properties and homes in mid to upper class neighborhoods (and building mosques).
There are some great people working to save Michigan against great odds and I thank them profusely for several days of tours and briefings by those who are living it.
Create a blog or website! Information is power!
For a model on what you should do where you live (I am going to hound you all to do this)—get a website or blog on which to post all of your research and news so that others in your state can learn from you and know that they are not alone. Secure Michiganis a great example of what you should be doing!
Also, some of you must begin running for local elected office because almost everywhere I’ve been local elected officials are in the tank for more immigrant labor to be brought in to your communities mostly driven by the ‘leaders’ of the local Chamber of Commerce!
As I reported earlier this past week, I stopped in Janesville, Wisconsinto give a little help to the Paul Nehlen campaign. Nehlen, as you know, is attempting to unseat Speaker Paul Ryan and I wanted to tell citizens there that Ryan is a long-time backer of the Refugee Admissions Program and did nothing last fall to help slow the flow of Syrians now entering the US at an accelerated pace. If he and Hillary are running Washington next year we are finished!
And, then ‘oh my gosh’ I traveled to Owatonna, Minnesota where an aluminum window company is being sued by CAIR on behalf of Somalisover the issue of prayer break times. And, in what can only be called ‘providential’ I met a woman who has followed the conflicts involving the Somalis in Owatonna since Somalis first arrived there in 1992/93! And, guess what, that is the year the US State Department says the first Somalis went to Minnesota! Their destination was Owatonna! Now guess who wanted the Somali workers? This same window company now being sued!
I then had a good visit with citizens in Willmar, Minnesotawhere the Jennie-O plant is responsible for the large Somali population there. Go hereto our archive of posts in which we mention Willmar. AJ Kern is running for Congress (primary August 9) against the RINO who took former Rep Michele Bachmann’s seat. http://www.ajkernblog.com/
Next on my travels, I stopped in the now infamous St. Cloud, a city we visited previously and wrote about on many occasions (see archive here, I think it goes back to 2008). The city was part of former Rep. Michele Bachmann’s district. It is now represented by Tom Emmer who along with Rep. Keith Ellison created theSomali Caucus in the House of Representatives.
Also see Emmer’s score on immigration generally at NumbersUSA, here. And, he has an F on the Liberty Score Card here at Conservative Review.
After hearing from citizens there, I had the pleasure of meeting Emmer’s opposition in the August 9th Republican primary—AJ Kern. So many of you are focused on the Nehlen v. Ryan campaign in Wisconsin, but don’t overlook Kern’s challenge of Emmer. If you have a little extra funds, please send a contribution to Kern! Click herefor her website.
By the way, see what the local pro-Somali newspaper has to say about Kern, here. This should be enough to fire you up to help her!
One of the most profound impressions I’ve gotten on this road trip so far, is that fear of speaking up against the invasion of America is holding citizens back—they fear for their jobs, they fear for their safety and they fear for their reputations as the NO Borders political activists and their groupies (including the big businesses looking for cheap slave labor) call them racists and xenophobes when they know they are not! For new readersarriving here for the first time today, see our May roundup for instructions on finding stuff here at RRW where we have posted over 7,700 posts since 2007.
And, last but not least, thanks to everyone who has donated to Refugee Resettlement Watch. I promise to try to thank you all individually today! I’ve been asked who is funding this road trip—the answer is me (with a little help from readers). I don’t work for any nefarious organization as I am sure my critics believe! (Update: Forgot to remind you that your contributions are not tax deductible!)
***My apologies on the fact sheet! It is out of date and needs to be updated, but I’ve had no time.
Editor: If that title looks familiar, then you must be a long time reader. But, it occurred to me just this morning, answering an e-mail from a reader, that since we get new followers every day and since we have now posted 7,624 articles here at RRW, that maybe re-posting some of those from time to time might be useful. I do want to remind you that the search function here at RRW is very good, so please use it! (Upper left hand side bar) You might first search for your city or state and see if we have written about it previously. Since the Obama Administration is in crunch time to get as many refugees (especially the Syrians) seeded into your towns as they can, I thought this post from March 2015 would be useful.
Ten things your town needs to know:
As we have been writing ad nauseam lately, the Obama Administration is now out of the shadows with its plan to “seed” towns and cities across America with diversity.
Changing America by changing the people. President Barack Obama, flanked by Cecilia Muñoz, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, left, and senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett are changing the people by ‘planting’ immigrant “seedlings” in towns across America!
‘Seed’ is their word! Your community is the soil into which the migrants of all sorts (legal and illegal) are being planted according to Obama’s Task Force on New Americans. It begs the questions: Are we being colonized? Do they plan to replace us some day? Sound far-fetched? Knowing Obama, are you willing to gamble on that?
We have long maintained a ‘fact sheet’ about how the UN/US State Department’s Refugee Admissions and Resettlement Program works, click here to learn more.
But, I realized yesterday, while thinking about the newest proposed seed community*** in Rep. Trey Gowdy’s backyard in Spartanburg, SC, that we needed a quick primer on what elected officials and citizens should know if they are being pressured to ‘welcome the stranger‘ (this guilt-tripping language is one way they pressure your town!). Update: Gowdy lost, assuming he ever tried, and Spartanburg is now an established resettlement site.
So here are my Ten Things you need to know!
1) In most cases, the United Nations is choosing our refugees. Topping the list right now are Iraqis, Burmese, Congolese, Somalis and Bhutanese. The UN is pressuring the US to take a large number, 10,000 or so, Syrians. We are bringing in refugees from countries which hate us. Your town does not get to choose who you get! You will receive racially, culturally and religiously diverse people, usually very different from your local population and very different from each other. That old ‘melting pot’ concept is dead because the numbers are too high.
2) Often the US State Department’s chosen resettlement contractor for your town, sounds like a church group, or other benign-sounding non-profit. They may have a religious-sounding name, but know that they are being paid by the head from the federal treasury to bring refugees to your town. It is not the case that they are passing a plate on Sunday morning to pay for this very expensive program. Here are the nine major contractors which have 350 subcontractors working for them (headquartered in over 180 cities so far).
3) The contractor’s job is to get the refugee family their “services.” That means they hold the refugees’ hands until they are settled usually in tax-payer subsidized housing, get them signed up for most forms of welfare including food stamps and other cash assistance, sign them up for health care and enroll the kids in school. This special class of legal immigrant is entitled to welfare! The contractor is also paid with your tax dollars to give refugees job counseling and training. The contractor may also be working closely with some big business (and the Chamber of Commerce) nearby which is looking for cheap labor.
4) The contractor’s job ends in 3-6 months at which point they move on to bringing in the next fresh group of “clients,” often the relatives of the first group. Earlier, and still struggling, refugees are left in the care of your social services department. At this point the contractors are entrenched in your town and will call you racists, rednecks and xenophobes if your citizens want to slow the flow.
5) Your town will never get out of the program once the contractor has an office set up and staff to pay. Many cities are trying to get out now and can’t: Manchester, NH, Springfield and Lynn, Mass, Amarillo, TX come to mind. Because there have developed “pockets of resistance” (their words), the State Department is desperately out scouting for fresh territory.
6) The greatest impact on your local social and economic welfare will be felt first in the school system, followed usually by the shortage of government subsidized housing. Your school system may end up with 50 or more languages represented in the student population. The number-one language of refugees entering the US right now is Arabic, Somali is number four. (Update: Somali has moved to number 3, here.)
7) Refugees are permitted entry into the US with HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis among other medical problems. Physical and mental health challenges will most likely overburden your local health department.
8) Your local government is responsible (Clinton-era Executive Order) for providing costly interpretersfor the myriad languages being spoken in the school system, the health system and the criminal justice system should problems arise.
9) Refugees who do find work, work at entry level jobs and minimum wageso they will still be able to benefit from many welfare programs open to low-income Americans. Elder refugees are eligible for SSI. The refugees are Legal Permanent Residents and can begin the citizenship process quickly.
10) If they say they are coming to your town with the first group of refugees, there is only one thing you can do! ASK QUESTIONS IN PUBLIC. Demand that your elected officials get involved. Demand that a community meeting be held, for the US State Department, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (in HHS), your state refugee office (if there is one) and their contractors, to answer questions from the citizens of the town or city. Get your Member of Congress and US Senators involved too! Don’t forget your state legislators! The State Department and its contractors HATE to answer questions! Tell your local elected officials you want a public hearing! Tell your elected officials that you want the federal government and its contractors to provide a plan!
You want them to answer questions such as these below.
Remember you have every right to know what is being planned for your town. They will bully you, call you names and say you can’t stop them anyway, but refuse to be bullied!
Demand answers (in public)!
Who is coming? From where and how many?
Will they stop the resettlement if the town is becoming economically or socially stressed?
What security and health screening have the refugees undergone?
How many will come each year?
Who is paying for their health care?
Who is paying to educate the children who don’t speak English and may never have attended school?
Does your town have an adequate supply of government-supported housing? Will demands for housing crowd out American elderly, poor or disabled citizens?
Where will they work? Do we have high unemployment already?
I’m sure you can think of others. After getting answers (good luck!) and having a vigorous public discussion, then your town can decide based on all the facts whether you will eagerly “welcome” New Americans to your community, or not.
Endnote: There are other refugee experts in the country, so let me know if I’m missing anything here and I’ll add it!
Update!!! Call this #11: an experienced researcher just reminded me that concerned citizens must form a citizens’ groupto research the structure of the program in your state to obtain the FISCAL and legal facts about the program as the structure can vary from state to state.
*** This post (on Spartanburg) brought in the highest number of readers we have ever had for one post over a brief two days!
An afterthought: If you should get a public meeting/hearing be sure to educate yourselves on the Delphi Technique, a strategy often used by government agencies wishing to control the outcome of a meeting. Go hereto see what Judy said about it in advance of the public meeting held in Hagerstown, MD in September 2007.
The US State Department has said they won’t go where they are not wanted, but they are desperate now (too many refugees coming in and too few ‘welcoming’ towns) and are shoving refugees down the throats of reluctant communities, but you still mustn’t roll over and give up! You do have a right to determine the character of your community and how your tax dollars are spent, so continue to speak up. Thank God, we aren’t Europe yet!
As the November elections approach make this issue a top priority whenever you have an opportunity to meet candidates at all levels of government. You can be sure if Hillary Clinton is elected President this program will never be reformed, but will be put on steroids.
….And, if so, have they shared the document with the general public, the taxpaying citizens? Dear readers, do not be deterred by the length of this post—this is some of the most important information you need to know if you are in a target community! In Refugee industry parlance, it is called an “R & P Abstract” and every town that will be ‘welcoming’ refugees for FY2017 has prepared one, or is in the process of preparing one, to be sent to Washington. It will be the document on which their federal funding will be based!
And, here is the kicker—I will bet a buck that most elected officials (let alone the citizens!) in the targeted towns have never seen the Abstract which lays out the plan in great detail. It tells how many refugees are coming and from where. It tells what amenities your town is offering by way of medical care, subsidized housing, schools for the kids and where the refugees might find employment. Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve originally had concerns about refugee seeding in Reno, but according to the refugee resettlement contractor’s report to Washington, she is now on board.
It has been our contention ever since we became aware of these closely held documents that citizens are entitled to know what the resettlement contractor is offering up in their cities and towns.
After I wrote about yet another new resettlement site the other day—Reno, Nevada—I came across the R & P Abstract that has apparently been in the possession (since at least last November) of a reporter who is on the side of MORE refugees to Nevada.
If you live in Reno, or its surrounding communities, and have concerns, you should go to the mayor and ask her to produce the R & P Abstract drafted by the Northern Nevada International Center (NNIC) which will be working as a subcontractor for the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI). Ask her to hold a public hearing on it!
If NNIC was giving its “proprietary document”to friendly reporters back in November, surely the citizens of Reno are entitled to see it! Again, I will bet the mayor and other elected officials in Reno have not seen the plan for their city! [Pay attention citizens of Rutland, VT, there is a document just like this one for your city too! It lays out what your town is offering the refugees!]
Here (below) is a screenshot of the front page of the Reno document. The abbreviations for where the FIRST 75 refugees for Reno will come from are as follows: AF (Africa), EA (East Asia), ECA (Europe and Central Asia), LAC (Latin America/Caribbean), NE/SA (Near East/South Asia). Tie capacity indicates whether they have any relatives in the area.
Page 2 of the 16-page documentlists the following countries from which they will come: Colombia, Cuba, Dem. Rep. of Congo, Iraq, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Syria.
Here is some of the text, just to give you an idea of the detail involved in R & P Abstracts (this one is 16 pages long!):
Health Care Access and Refugees with Special Needs:
The Northern Nevada International Center (NNIC) will be able to accommodate refugees with special needs through the wide range of services available in Reno and Sparks. Housing for families with over 8 members may be difficult to secure. Wheelchair-accessible housing is available, but such housing would require additional time to access. Although Reno is home to many free and low-cost clinics and health resources, NNIC will need additional time to ensure that timely and culturally appropriate mental health services are available before accepting clients with serious mental health conditions.
Public Outreach:
NNIC has a long history of collaborating with local, county and state officials through its public diplomacy, language services, and educational outreach programs. NNIC serves as the link for community members interested in international affairs and programs, and assists visitors and newcomers to the community. The City of Reno Mayor,Hillary Schieve, as well as the City Manager’s Office, are supportive of NNIC’s efforts to establish a refugee resettlement program. NNIC has also consulted with the Washoe County School District, the Washoe County Health Department, and other local service providers,and all have enthusiastically supported NNIC’s application to become a resettlement affiliate. NNIC also has the full support of the University of Nevada, Reno.
Employment Services:
The Reno-Sparks economy is well known for its hospitality and leisure sector, with seven large casino-hotels employing 9,500-13,000 people. It is also home to the University of Nevada, the single largest employer in the county (after the school district), employing over 4,500 Full Time Equivalents (FTEs). The Truckee Meadows Community College also employs 1,250 educators and staff. Two major hospitals (Renown and St Mary’s) and other large healthcare providers in the areas employ over 3,500 healthcare professionals, technicians, and staff. The location – four hours by highway to San Francisco, and seven hours to Salt Lake City – is also logistics hub, hosting many warehousing and fulfillment establishments including UPS (1,000 employees), and Amazon.com (650 employees). Tesla is slated to open its “Gigafactory” outside of Sparks in 2017. By 2020, the Gigafactory will be at full capacity, employing 6,500 FTEs and producing more lithium ion batteries annually (for electric cars, for example) than were produced worldwide in 2013.
Housing
Average apartment rental prices in Reno are very affordable, and well maintained units are readily available. NNIC has worked with Board members and University contacts to build relationships with area property managers. Housing will be sought primarily (but not exclusively) in areas where the school district has established ESL for newcomer and intake centers. Two middle schools and three high schools are currently designated to assist immigrant children to more easily phase into regular classes. The Reno Housing Authority (RHA) provides affordable housing to clients in seven different locations in Reno and Sparks. Public housing units are available for both singles and families and the majority are handicapped accessible.
Here is a page indicating the tiny bit of private money that NNIC is offering up for its share of the supposed public/private partnership. It is offering $133 per refugee and that includes volunteer hours counted as cash!
Then get this, there are many letters of support attached, but the one that caught my eye was this one from the Northern Nevada Muslim Community. So, why is their endorsement so important?
So, for citizens who might be forming a ‘Pocket of Resistance’ in Reno,first call the mayor, Hillary Schieve, and ask her to produce (for the public) the FY 2017 R & P Abstract for Reno.
Then if you live in Nevada and want to tap into the national ‘Pocket of Resistance’ movement, write to me at refugeewatcher@gmail.com and put ‘Reno’ in the subject line so I can find your e-mail in my messy inbox. I will put you in touch with leaders of the national movement.
For our readers nationwide, keep hammering your local refugee offices (click here) for these R & P Abstracts—clearly they aren’t so secret if they are in the hands of friendly reporters! (By the way, R & P stands for Reception and Placement.)
If they turn you down be sure to complain to your elected officials in Washington—make them do some work!—even if you think they are useless! Tell them this is your money and they are changing your community and you have a right to know what the plans are!
Oh gosh, where do I begin to tell you about Refugee Resettlement Watch‘s road trip. My head is spinning with all I’ve heard and seen and it would take me hours to tell you.
