Category: Immigration fraud

Cyprus: Iranian hunger-strikers demand good jobs

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

No farm work for these ‘asylum seekers’ or they will kill themselves!

Iranian hunger strikers in Cyprus. Do they look like they haven’t eaten in 52 days?

Sheesh, do you believe this one!  From Cyprus Mail  (hat tip: ‘pungentpeppers’):

AS THEY enter day 52 of their hunger strike and the fourth day without water, Iranian political refugees who are camped outside the Interior Ministry asking to be granted citizenship or residency, warn that they won’t back down.

All the petitioners are political refugees, having fled their countries out of fear for their lives and that of their family members.

“I’d rather die here than give up. We can’t live like that anymore”, one of the strikers told the Cyprus Mail, pointing out that they just want what they are entitled to by international law. “We are recognised political refugees. We fled our countries, some of us over ten years ago. We have been trying to get long term residency status or citizenship for years, so we can move legally to other European countries. We have friends and family in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and other countries. Some of us just want to leave, not stay here. We don’t want money. We are qualified, we want to work and contribute”, he said.

The four hunger strikers are Muhammad Altaf and Asadollah Panahimehr, who have been camped out at the Ministry of Interior for over a month, and friend Salah Chanim who joined them recently.  [I guess they aren’t Christian Iranians.—ed]

Surprise (NOT!)  They got the attention of the UNHCR which expressed sympathy for the extortionists!

The strikers were visited yesterday by Damtew Dessalegne, representative of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, who expressed his sympathy and support for their cause.

No farm work for me said Muhammad Altaf:

The minister also commented on the fact that one of the refugees, who has been out of work for three years, hasn’t registered with the unemployment office. Hasikos claims that the man refuses to register because the office won’t find him a job fitting his qualifications. “The Interior ministry cannot ensure that anyone, local or immigrant, would be given a job according to his qualifications”, he remarked.

The man in question, Altaf, is a software engineer and said he was told he could only work on farms.

Check out the comments!  Several suggest they don’t look like they are starving. One suggests they go back to Iran and fight to save their country from the fanatics.  Here is a good one from ‘Almostbroke’ wanting answers to some questions:

Did they arrive at immigration at the airport ? Did they present documentation? Did they comply with the Dublin Convention ! or are they like a lot of other so called refugees ,egged on by self appointed NGOs like KISA, to ´make it up as they go along´as usual ! Flout a countries immigration laws and then expect specialist treatment, its happening in every EU country where there are generous Social Welfare benefits.

Let’s see, farm work? or kill myself? farm work? or kill myself?  What would a logical and legitimate refugee choose?

Bulgaria refugee story reads like scare tactics; pro-Palestinian blogger the source

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We have reported on the rise of the rightwing in Bulgaria, the poorest of the 28 European Union countries, as it struggles to deal with thousands of Muslim “refugees” (not only Syrians) coming across their border from Turkey.  Why isn’t Turkey stopping them when they get to Turkey’s border? That is what we want to know?

Blogger Ruslan Trad

But, this story in the Standart (and reprinted from the International Business Times) looks to me like it’s designed to whip-up a frenzy of anti-right sentiment linking the Bulgarian right to Greece’s controversial Golden Dawn.  And, they rely on a blogger they describe as a Syrian/Bulgarian, founder of the Forum for Arab Culture (in Bulgarian language we presume), who produced these pro-Palestinian youtube clips (here and here).  He would hardly be an unbiased source.  Emphasis below is mine:

Bulgaria nationalist groups have launched civil patrols to round-up migrants in the country in a hate attack strategy that is reminiscent of Greece’s neo-Nazi Golden Dawn group, The International Business Times reports.

The Balkan country has seen a surge in xenophobic attacks since a wave of refugees escaping from the horrors of the civil war in Syria, 2,000 km south of the capital Sofia, has entered via the Turkish border.

From June 2013, more than 10,000 refugees reached Bulgaria and human rights organisations expect tens of thousands to make the journey in the coming months.

The surge of nationalist sentiment, which led to the creation of the new Nationalist Party of Bulgaria, is fuelled by the government’s lack of preparation, information and adequate response to the refugee crisis, according to Ruslan Trad, Syrian-Bulgarian blogger and founder of Forum for Arab Culture.

“Lack of information leads to aggression and fears. And these fears are used by nationalist factions,” he told IBTimes UK.

“We have no clear information for the refugees: who are they, what’s their ethnic and religious composition.

Wouldn’t that last bit concern you no matter what your home country is that is being overrun?

Read it all.  Trad appears to be the source for the whole piece.

Our growing archive on Bulgaria can be found by clicking here.  Time to read about Al-Hijra, the Islamic doctrine of immigration!

Maine: Somalis/others protest welfare rule change proposal

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update January 13th:  More here by Daniel Greenfield at Frontpage mag.

Leftist community organizers bused them in to the state capital from Portland and Lewiston, the twin hubs of the Somali/immigrant centers in Maine.

Somali community organizer Fatuma Hussein: “We are the future of Maine. We are the face of Maine.”
Photo Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

The Portland Press Herald story begins with an immigrant success story, a man who made it in Maine having come from a non-Muslim country.  Of course to persuade you how much refugees contribute they aren’t going to tell you about the asylum-seeking/welfare mooching Tsarnaev family nor Esar Met in Utah (the horror I will get back to shortly).

Here is the Portland Press Herald where the words ‘asylum seekers’ feature prominently in the title to gain your sympathy (hat tip: pungentpeppers).  Emphasis is mine:

On Friday, he [the star of their story] was among more than 100 people who turned out to oppose a proposed rule change that would prohibit hundreds of asylum seekers and some other immigrants from receiving General Assistance while waiting for their work permits.

“This is what the program was designed for – to help people with similar situations become self-sufficient,” he said.

Immigrants, attorneys, faith leaders and advocates for the poor urged the Department of Health and Human Services to withdraw the proposal, saying it is illegal, mean-spirited and morally wrong. They argued that it would cut off a life line for many people who arrive in Maine and apply for asylum – a process that can take years.

The rule change is being proposed by Gov. Paul LePage’s administration. The governor has made welfare reform a priority in his three years in office, and a major theme of his re-election campaign.  [Gee, maybe Gov. Christie could try something bold like this!—ed]

Asylum-seekers do not get on federal welfare until they have been granted asylum.  Remember that!  It was mentioned in our gay Russian post recently.  Refugees resettled by the US State Department and their federal contractors get taxpayer goodies immediately (see our fact sheet).

The change would align Maine’s program with federal aid programs, which don’t provide benefits to immigrants until they have been in the country for five years, said DHHS spokesman John Martins. General Assistance is funded entirely by the state and local governments, and is based now only on financial need, not citizenship status. Cities or towns that want to provide the aid could continue to do so, without state money, Martins said.

Advocates estimate that as many as 1,000 immigrants who are seeking asylum in Maine would lose access to General Assistance.  [Maine has that many in the court system seeking asylum?  I don’t believe it.—ed]

Opponents of the rule change were bused from Portland and Lewiston, cities with significant immigrant populations, for a hearing Friday before DHHS officials in Augusta.

[…..]

The change would affect primarily new immigrants who are not yet citizens and are not refugees resettled here by the federal government.  [Catholic Charities is the primary federal resettlement contractor in Maine—ed]

The taxpayers of Maine are paying a lot of money to support all these immigrants on welfare:

In fiscal year 2012, Maine communities provided a total of $17.5 million in General Assistance, $13.2 million of which came from the state budget, according to the DHHS. Portland provided $9.6 million in General Assistance to 4,376 individuals and families in the last fiscal year, with 90 percent of that money spent on food and shelter, according to the city.

Of the total spent, $2.4 million came from property taxpayers and $7.2 million came from the state [taxpayers!–ed].

Now get this! Somali community leader says they are the future of Maine [and you better take care of us!—ed].

“This proposed rule will result in increased homelessness and hunger for immigrant women and their children,” said Fatuma Hussein, the director of Somali Women of Maine. “We are the future of Maine. We are the face of Maine. The face of Maine is changing.”

Here is our previous post on Governor LePage’s initiative. Go here for all of our extensive coverage on Lewiston, and here on our coverage of Maine (lots of crimes and welfare fraud stories).  One of our top posts of all time at RRW is this one:  Somali migration to Maine: it’s the welfare magnet, stupid!

Unaccompanied minors or victims of human trafficking?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We have written a lot lately about the spike in the number of illegal alien children coming across US borders without their parents—most recently here in December.  Those that aren’t turned over to family members (who may themselves be illegal aliens), end up in the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement and at least two federal refugee contractors—the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services––which of course are paid by you to take care of the kids.

One of the “kids” LIRS took care of. LIRS caption:
Rather than be forced to become a child soldier, Tesfaye Gebre fled Eritrea as an unaccompanied refugee minor. Photo Credit: The Lutheran/Lisa Helfert

Here is a story from the DC Clothesline a few days ago, that explains more about the steep rise in the numbers and how the Obama Administration is complicit in this human trafficking scheme (hat tip: Cathy):

US District Court Judge Andrew S. Hanen, in a December ruling, claims that the Obama administration’s Homeland Security Department has been openly violating US law by conspiring to smuggle illegal immigrants into the United States. As if all the other scandals that are enveloping this administration weren’t enough, it seems they are now openly aiding an invasion of our country, which again, should be declared as treasonous.

The accusations were contained in the judge’s ruling against Mirtha Veronica Nava-Martinez, who plead guilty to attempting to smuggle a ten-year-old El Salvadorean girl, identified only as Y.P.S. in the ruling, into the United States in violation of federal law. Nava-Martinez was caught at the Brownsville & Matamoros Bridge checkpoint.

Patricia Elizabeth Salmeron Santos had solicited human traffickers, of which Nava-Martinez is an admitted trafficker, to smuggle her daughter into Virginia. She eventually agreed to pay $8,500 (paying $6,000 in advance) to traffic her daughter into the country.

The Texas federal judge accused DHS of delivering children, illegally smuggled into the US to their illegal immigrant parents. “This action makes the DHS complicit in aiding that Mexican drug cartels that control the people smuggling rings,” writes Hanen. He added that the “government is not only allowing (illegal immigrants in the US) to fund the illegal and evil activities of these cartels, but is also inspiring them to do so.”

Judge Hanen wrote that in more than one case that has been before his court, members of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a federal agency under DHS, have arrested human traffickers, who are smuggling children illegally into the US, then “delivering the minors to the custody of the parent illegally living in the United States.”

Read it all, there is much more with lots of links.  The article does not mention the role of the Office of Refugee Resettlement and it contractors, but know that thousands of ‘kids’ not immediately sent to family members are now in your (the taxpayers’) care.

See also the Center for Immigration Studies report (The Reality of Childhood Arrivals: Seamy, not Dreamy) from mid-December highlighting another similar case.

Meriden CT: Moroccan sentenced in food stamp fraud case could be deported upon release

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I’ve long complained that with these immigrant-run food stamp fraud scams, the media rarely mentions the immigration status of the scammer found guilty, but hurrah! this story does!

The store in Connecticut where taxpayers were scammed out of $820,000!

From My Record Journal (emphasis is mine):

MERIDEN — A local grocery store owner was sentenced to 27 months in prison by a federal judge yesterday for food stamp fraud.

Myrachid Elquafai, 52, of New Haven, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit food stamp fraud and one count of food stamp fraud. He was found guilty after a five day trial in federal court in New Haven.

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Elquafai was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Janet Hall to 27 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. [This release bit doesn’t jibe with the deportation suggestion below—ed]

[….]

Elquafai would redeem food stamp benefits at the store at a “significantly discounted rate in exchange for cash and cigarettes,” and an investigation showed more that $820,000 in illegal food stamp benefits were redeemed at the store, Daly said.

[….]

Elquafai has been detained since his arrest on August 2, 2012 and is subject to immigration proceedings after his release from prison, Daly said. Elquafai is a citizen of Morocco, Daly said.

Photo is from this story.  Seems store owners were already in trouble for buying stolen goods to stock their shelves.

Click here for our complete archive on immigrant-run convenience store food stamp fraud (a hobby here at RRW).  Go here for how to report suspected food stamp fraud.