Category: Emporia, KS controversy

The latest news from Emporia, Kansas

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Our readers around the world might be wondering if Refugee Resettlement Watch should be soon named the Emporia Refugee Watch!   However, Emporia is a very visible microcosm of the growing unrest in America about Refugee Resettlement and as such may serve to help others wondering what to do in their own cities and towns.  And, it is visible thanks to the Emporia Gazette’s on-line blog where readers can instantly react to the news.  Check out the latest article and the extensive comments here.

A common thread throughout the recent controversy in Emporia and indeed the common theme in communities where it is found that refugees have been quietly resettled is, how did this come about?  Who is promoting this? Where can we find answers?

“The city commission feels we need to have a public meeting,” Zimmerman said. “Invite all the agencies to come talk about costs involved. … I think it needs to come from the agencies that are doing the work. And we’re going to invite the people who are talking on the blogs. The city commission feels there’s a lot of legitimate concerns.”

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The city, Zimmerman said, needs to have a role in finding answers to the questions raised.

Yes, you should have a large public meeting and invite all of your elected officials.   The most important ones are the federal officials because they are responsible for funding  Refugee Resettlement.  We highly recommend you invite the U.S. State Department, Asst. Secretary of State, Office of Population, Refugees and Migration, Ellen Sauerbrey.

Reform needed:    Do you know that for more than 30 years if the federal government expends money on any project that affects the quality of the human environment, the federal government must complete an environmental impact statement and hold public hearings?    I’m thinking it’s high time the Refugee Act of 1980 is amended by the insertion of a requirement for a SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACT STATEMENT  that would preceed the expenditure of federal money for Refugee Resettlement in a community.  Such an initiative would answer (in advance) all the questions that citizens everywhere are asking.

Emporia, Kansas is cooking!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Have been gone all day and came in just now to see more news from the Emporia Gazette.  When you Kansans get fired up, you get fired up!     As a matter of fact, you have sent more traffic to Refugee Resettlement Watch than we have received on any other issue.

Over the last week there has been much talk about an article about Somalians in Emporia that ran in The Gazette on Nov. 3. The discussions also took place online at www.emporiagazette.com, where almost 600 comments have been posted.

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The online discussion got so lengthy that it sparked a call from U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran’s office wanting to discuss the situation of Somali refugees in Emporia.

Apparently all this is because this famous old newspaper  got with the times a year ago and started on-line blogging for important stories like this one, thus fostering more open debate.   Our newspaper, in Hagerstown, MD, did everything in its power to stymie debate on refugee resettlement.  It even went one step farther by facilitating a ‘feel good’ publicity stunt to try to sway public opinion toward supporting more refugees.

In today’s Gazette one comment from “methusla” raises a very important point, one we have raised before as well.   Methusla is asking how these non-profit church groups can get away with paying no taxes and then use our taxpayer money to work against the wishes of the people in a community.

….they [church groups]  should not be allowed to use taxpayer funded grants to further their church beliefs or religion, nor should they be allowed to force a community to abide by their wishes of creating a direct refugee resettlement community for refugees in a town or city using taxpayer funded government grants.

And, I’ll add, because they are a special category of non-profit groups– churches– they do not file a Form 990 with the IRS that would reveal where all their funding comes from, what it is used for, and how much goes to salaries etc.   Basically they are completely unaccountable to the taxpayer whose money they use.   We found that 90% of the funds for the so-called “church” group (Virginia Council of Churches) that came to our Maryland city came from the federal and state government.  So where is the ACLU now when it comes to the separation of church and state?

Actually the ACLU joined an affiliate of Church World Service and the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) to block Homeland Security (acting under the Patriot Act) from interviewing an Iraqi refugee.  See our post here.

On the subject of separation of church and state, check this early post we did about a PUBLIC school in California that was setting up a special program for its Muslim Somali students.

For you diehard researchers, read our entire category–September Forum— beginning with the earliest post  about the public meeting held in Hagerstown this fall. 

Notes for the folks in Emporia

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I haven’t put Kansas on “Your state” yet but I promised yesterday to get you some information on Kansas and refugee resettlement, so here you go:

Go to the handy database at the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement.   You will see statistics such as only 51% of refugees brought to Kansas  in 2006 found employment.  Average pay was $7.86 an hour (can’t take care of a family on that).

For the 2005 ORR Report to Congress go here.  Scroll down to Appendix A for refugee admission numbers by state.

Go to this interesting article at VDare about your Senator’s past role in the Somali refugee issue.

Your local Catholic Charities is a subcontractor of the US Conferance of Catholic Bishops.  Go here , here and here for more information.

We have covered several stories involving Somali “cultural” problems like abuse of women and female genital mutilation.  Go to our coverage here, here, here.

Also, some of you might want to read Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s rivoting book Infidel to get a better understanding of Somali Muslim culture.

**** Note to “reservist” a commentor to the Gazette who said,   “Imagine how you would feel if Iraqis or Afghanis started pouring into Emporia tomorrow.”  The Iraqis are coming, maybe not to Emporia yet, but the US is taking 12,000 Iraqi refugees this year and if Sen. Kennedy has his way the number will be even larger.  See our Iraqi category here.  We have posted 49 times on this hot topic!

Emporia, Kansas asking questions

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I chuckled when I saw this piece in the Emporia Gazette today.  It sounded just like us in Hagerstown, MD  this past spring.   When no one could answer our questions about how Refugee Resettlement worked we set out to find the answers ourselves and this blog was born!

Although they have no name and only informal leadership, a group of more than 25 people came together Thursday night and vowed to work together to fight a move to make Emporia a refugee resettlement point.

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Their first step — gather answers to key questions.

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“We’ve got a data void,” said City Commissioner Bobbie Agler, “a serious data void.”

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It was a theme that ran through the 90-minute meeting as Agler and others attempted to answer as many questions as they could without documentation.

Citizens of Emporia are wondering why they did not know that plans were in the works to make Emporia a refugee center for Somalis coming to work at meat packing plants.  Read the whole story!   The Gazette has an on-line poll in which 89% of the citizens of Emporia say NO to the whole proposition.  Uh oh, is Hagerstown going to get a challenger for the title of most “unwelcome” city in America?   We will fight you for it!

I’ll try to get some stuff up soon on Kansas in “Your state” above.   Update (11/12):  See this post for information on refugees in Kansas.   Our contact information is at the right and we are happy to help you with your research if you need us.

Further update for readers not familiar with what is happening in Emporia.  There is an earlier Gazette article here that gives additional background information about the growing controversy.

Atlas Shrugs posts on Somali refugee problem

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The well-known Atlas Shrugs blog, reporting yesterday on a piece by Jerry Gordon of the ACT [American Congress for Truth] blog on the Somali refugee problem brewing in Emporia, Kansas, asked the questions we have been asking (and trying to answer for you!): 

My question is how did we become centers for immigration without any input from the community or public notification? And how do we take political action on this?”

We are glad to see that others in the country are raising red flags about large numbers of refugees entering the US and not assimiliating, but expecting us to change how we live to accomodate their religion and culture.  And, adding insult to injury, the whole process is funded by you, the taxpayer.

See our Diversity page linked above for articles that further articulate this problem.

As for Atlas’ question, how do we take political action on this?   The first step is what Atlas has just done and what we are trying to do, educate the public about the problem and then bring out the facts on how refugee resettlement works.   My driving force from our early days in the Hagerstown controversy is to educate the public and to insist that citizens be given all the facts.  The democratic process cannot function, and communities cannot weigh in on this community-altering program unless the people know what this program is and who runs it.   Some cities will want more refugees, others won’t, but everyone is entitled to voice an opinion, which is impossible if the program is kept quiet.