Michigan: refugee contractors and employers boo-hooing; not enough cheap labor coming in

03/19/2018 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Ten years ago they hid the fact that those poor third worlders coming in to the US as refugees were providing a steady supply of cheap labor for big business, now they are admitting it right up front and trashing Trump because he has cut their supply.
Do you humanitarians out there really understand that the US Refugee Admissions Program is first and foremost for the pleasure of the Chamber of Commerce and businesses large and small which want to keep wages low? Why do you think the Republicans in Congress have made no serious move to reform the program?

And, secondly it is about giant ‘non-profits’ like Samaritas (formerly Lutheran Social Services Michigan) keeping their government funding flowing.
By the way Samaritas is a made-up word and why they dropped “Lutheran” is a mystery. (It is like HIAS dropping the “Hebrew” from its name!)
As I said here recently, if we have a labor shortage, let’s debate that, but then shut up about this being all about saving the downtrodden of the world and trying to silence those of us questioning the business model (cheap immigrant labor brought to the US and supported with welfare by THE TAXPAYERS!).
One of the things I’ve wondered for years is: do the refugees coming in understand that low wage, often very dirty and difficult, jobs await them?
The wailing has become deafening as the refugee flow to America has slowed in the last year.
Here is Crain’s Detroit Business with this headline:

Refugee clampdown hits local nonprofits

The subheadline should be: Businesses aren’t getting their steady supply of taxpayer-supported laborers!
Here is a bit of the story:

Nonprofit services to help refugees fleeing war or persecution resettle in Southeast Michigan are a shell of what they were a year ago.

Local resettlement agencies have laid off much of their staffs and closed offices, following revenue decreases tied to a federal clampdown that has significantly reduced the number of refugees coming to the U.S., especially those from Middle Eastern and African countries that have been the mainstay of local resettlement efforts in recent years. [Revenue decreases because they are paid on a per refugee head basis!—ed]

Screenshot (1285) — We need immigrant laborers in Michigan (to heck if we change America by changing the people)! Picture kind of reminds one of picking cotton (just saying!). Steve Tobocman, executive director of Global Detroit, a proponent of immigration as an economic development strategy. http://www.modeldmedia.com/features/tobocman060610.aspx

Crain’s goes on….

The slowdown in acceptance of refugees and increased vetting was ordered by the Trump administration over concerns about security. It has had an impact on not just nonprofits but also employers who were relying on resettled refugees as a source of labor, local nonprofits say.

Similar cuts have played out at similar agencies in other parts of the country, said Steve Tobocman, executive director of Global Detroit, a proponent of immigration as an economic development strategy.

“Ultimately, the current state of affairs impacts the services agencies can offer to integrate new refugees,” given the loss of economies of scale that come with larger resettlement numbers, Tobocman said.

[….]

To continue providing services to refugees already here, resettlement agencies are seeking alternative funding such as grants from private funders.

And some are looking to local churches and community groups for help.

It is about time, why haven’t they been doing this (above)? Why? Because taxpayer funding was readily available, so why bother trying to raise private charity—that is hard work!
Crain’s continues….

VickieThompson-Sandy-mug-01_i — Vickie Thompson-Sandy, president of Samaritas makes over a quarter of a $million annually, according to a recent Form 990. Will she give up some of her salary to care for refugees who are down and out now?

“When we’re closing offices in Ann Arbor, where does a refugee go? They can no longer stop by our office to get basic support,” said Vickie Thompson-Sandy, president of Samaritas, a Detroit-based social services agency that counts refugee resettlement among its services.

[….]

Some local companies are feeling the squeeze in their workforces.

Local manufacturing and retail employers that relied on new refugees as employees are calling the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants Detroit on a weekly basis, said Tawfik Alazem, director of its Dearborn office. [USCRI is another of the nine federal contractors*** the US State Department hires to place refugees in your towns and cities.—ed]

Among them is Reino Linen Service, a company that launders and returns about 50 million pounds of linens to area hospitals, health clinics and doctors’ offices each year.

The company’s location in Brownstown Township, where public transportation is an issue, leads to high employee turnover, said Mary Onifer, a corporate human resources specialist for the company. [Truly a sweat shop says one commenter, here.—ed]

Reino has turned to organizations like USCRI Detroit for the past nine years to engage refugees as employees.

Once again we see federal refugee agencies are contractors (head hunters!) for businesses while they collect federal dollars for their supposed good works!
There is much more here, I’ve only snipped a tiny bit.

Don’t cry for Samaritas!

Now just to show you how Samaritas (a subcontractor of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service) is rolling in taxpayer bucks, and the head honchos are pulling down huge salaries, here are a couple of screenshots from a recent Form 990.
Here is there income page—$30 million from taxpayers!
Samaritas income

And here check out these huge salaries!

Samaritas salaries — Yikes! Ms. Thompson-Sandy’s salary isn’t even the largest! Doing well by doing good!

See more on Michigan by clicking here.
***The nine federal contractors you fund are here:
The number in parenthesis is the percentage of their income paid by you (the taxpayer) to place the refugees, line them up with jobs, and get them signed up for their services! From most recent accounting, here.

Cut to the chase—refugee labor is cheap labor

03/10/2018 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

For goodness sake, let’s have the debate.

Do we need more low wage labor?

That should be the debate. Anything else is just mud being thrown around to confuse the taxpaying public and make people feel guilty about questioning our LEGAL immigration programs.
For instance, this story at something called ‘Workforce’ posits that refugees’ greatest contributions are that their hiring brings much-needed diversity to the work place—WTH!
Diversity! Like the diversity Muslim refugees bring when they file lawsuits against meatpackers for special prayer privileges in slaughter plants?

And, just forget the notion that the US Refugee Admissions Program is a solely humanitarian effort on the part of the US—it is about the movement of labor around the world (and about Democrat voters), but not first about welcoming the stranger!

Let me repeat! If America needs cheap (compliant immigrant) labor, have that debate and leave the diversity/humanitarian mumbo-jumbo out of it!
Here is Workforce:

As immigration issues swirl around businesses seeking to hire foreign talent, a new guide published by the Tent Foundation is still touting the benefits of hiring refugees.

Ulukaya and Soros — Hamdi Ulukaya the CEO of Chobani Yogurt, here with George Soros discussing refugees, founded the Tent Foundation.

The “U.S. Employers’ Guide to Hiring Refugees” highlights the positive aspects businesses reap when hiring refugees. Diversity tops the list of what refugees bring to the workplace, according to Gideon Maltz, executive director of Tent Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works with businesses to help them integrate refugee workers into their workplace. Whether it’s experience or language, refugees can provide new insights from their respective countries.

The guide is here, written by the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service!

“A more diverse workforce fosters new ideas and innovations, which is necessary in our more competitive, global market,” Maltz said.

Finding those refugee workers poses a challenge, based on recent statistics.

[….]

Based on the Tent Foundation guide, a refugee is “an individual who is unable to return to his or her home country due to a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion or social group.”

Employers have options beyond refugees if they want to diversify their workforce with foreign workers. Immigrants on an H-1B visa, which allows U.S. companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations, also bring with them their foreign experiences and knowledge. [I’ve skipped most of the discussion about other legal immigration programs to bring in foreign workers. The reporter seems to be mixing them up with the refugee program anyway. Most refugees don’t come in with special skills.—ed]

[….]

Burke [Richard Burke, CEO of Envoy Global, an enterprise platform that works with companies to make the hiring and managing process of a global workforce easier] reasoned that businesses could be putting more of an effort into introducing more immigrants because they see the benefit diversity brings to a company’s culture.

“To address the supply and demand imbalance employers are saying, ‘We have opportunities, we want to grow, we want to contribute to the economy,’ ” said Burke.

“But to do that we need the talent and the workers to do it. And the only way to do it is through foreign national talent.”

[….]

Envoy Global’s “2018 Immigration Trends Report” looks at opinions of employers on immigration and their hiring process. Based on the report, businesses that would like to implement this strategy are finding it difficult to do so in the face of the tougher immigration standards.

“Eighty-five percent of respondents say the U.S immigration program policies have impacted their ability to hire,” said Burke.

Contact the refugee contractors!

It was the recently ousted Lutheran CEO Hartke who signed the deal with the Tent Foundation to write their hiring guide.

We already know from past reporting that some of the usual gang of nine refugee contractors***are working with global meat companies to help them find and retain cheap (compliant because they can’t go home!) refugee labor.
Workforce continues….

For potential employers that want to hire refugees, Maltz advises them to reach out to their local resettlement agency since those organizations can help with logistical details. Managers should also prepare to spend extra money on English as second language courses and other programs to help new workers acclimate to their new home.

“[It] may require some upfront investments but these are small in relation to the benefits refugees will bring to your company,” Maltz said.

Yup! They mention the “higher retention rates” of refugee laborers. Of course, because again, they can’t go home and are dependent on their handlers at the refugee contracting agencies for their other needs.
See more on the Tent Foundation, here. And, I wrote about it here (working with Lutheran head hunters at LIRS)!
So cut the crap, stop throwing the mud around, and have the debate about US labor shortages (does it exist and what is the best way to deal with it, if it is even true)!

***Here are the nine federal refugee contractors. They have been complaining as their regular paying client numbers (refugees) have declined during the Trump Administration. They pretend their sole mission is humanitarian, but they work closely and receive funding from big global corporations in addition to their generous contributions from you—the taxpayer!
The original Refugee Act of 1980, that set up this monstrosity, envisioned a public-private partnership that over the years has almost completely morphed in to a federal program. Congress must reform the program and get these supposedly non-profit middlemen out of the process.
The number in parenthesis is the percentage of their income paid by you (the taxpayer) to place the refugees, line them up with jobs, and get them signed up for their services (aka welfare)! From most recent accounting, here.

In South Dakota, it is about pleasing the Chamber, about low wage workers and fear

02/27/2018 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

….but the fear isn’t about fear for the safety of citizens of South Dakota, it is the fear the Left and Islamic supremacists know how to stir—the fear of being called names or appearing ‘unwelcoming’ that will be the death of the west!

morgan-evenson — Hohmann asks: Does Morgan Evanson, stabbed in Minneapolis only a few months ago by a still at-large Somali man, feel she was enriched?

And, so they give us gobbledygook about the beauty of cultural diversity and enrichment, about the need for vibrant communities.
Leo Hohmann has penned a follow-up to his story of a few days ago about his eye-opening trip to the American heartland.
(If you missed Hohmann’s first account of his opportunity to testify before the South Dakota Senate, go here first, and then read on below).
I’ll call my post:

Women helping women! Not!

From Leo Hohmann:

Chamber of Commerce praises ‘diversity & cultural enrichment’ Muslim refugees bring to US cities

As I walked through the state Capitol in Pierre, S.D., last week, I was struck by the magnificent beauty of the building, especially the murals that cover the interior walls and ceilings.

debra-owens177 — Debra Owens of the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce praised the cultural enrichment that Somalis bring to the state.

Many of the murals have a Christian theme.

The one right over the main Senate chamber depicts the settlers of this great state as they reached out to the Native Americans with the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[….]

The very word “Islam” means “submission.” They push. We submit. This is the new norm in Western societies from Germany and Sweden to Canada, Australia and the U.S. This is how Western societies are being weakened from within.

As I sat through the senate hearings Wednesday on a bill that would have declared a moratorium on refugee arrivals from 10 Sharia-compliant nations, it became obvious that refugee advocates are skilled at dodging and deflecting questions/concerns South Dakotans have about the culture of violence being imported into their state.

It’s being imported to Sioux Falls and Aberdeen under the guise of humanitarianism and fixing labor shortages.

But perhaps the dumbest reason of all used to justify the resettlements was put forth by the Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce, which sent lobbyist Debra Owens to the Capitol to tell the people’s legislature that refugee resettlement brings “cultural enrichment and diversity” that benefits South Dakota.

Kris Langor — SD Republican Senator Kris Langer fretted that the state might look “unwelcoming.”

As if the South Dakota culture has not become sufficiently enriched over the last 100-plus years and needs Somalia to help it out. Give me a break. That was an insult to the intelligence of every citizen of this wonderful state, including the Native Americans.

Hohmann lists and rebuts the many excuses he heard from legislators and those testifying on behalf of bringing more Somalis to South Dakota.
He asks?

Did Morgan Evenson, 24, benefit from cultural enrichment and diversity when she was stabbed 14 times by a Somali migrant while walking home from work in downtown Minneapolis?

I’ve only given you the bare bones of Hohmann’s story, go here and read it all.
Then you might want to visit my archive on South Dakota here. It is a state I visited in the summer of 2016 on my tour of western states where BIG MEAT rules!
Endnote: You should see this story today at ‘Progressives for Immigration Reform’ on how wages are rising for low-skill workers now that immigration is slowing.
The meatpackers of South Dakota will have to (boo hoo!) pay more for their slaughterhouse slave laborers if this keeps up!

Kansas: Refugee office to close in "slaughterhouse" city

02/02/2018 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

From time to time I’ve posted stories on refugee resettlement offices closing due to the fact that fewer refugees (aka paying clients) are now arriving in the US (see post yesterday with latest numbers), but I don’t post all of them.

david Miliband manahattan — Moneybags Miliband (here in Manhattan) makes nearly $700,000 annually as CEO of the IRC, but they can’t afford to keep this Kansas office open. Fine by me, but do any of you humanitarians out there find this a bit disconcerting?

This one caught my eye because I have written many times over the years about Garden City, Kansas and its Tyson Foods plant that has attracted cheap immigrant labor for years.
Rarely do you see such a direct connection drawn between “slaughterhouse” jobs and the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP).
This time it is the giant International Rescue Committee closing its doors in GC, while its CEO (a British national based in Manhattan) pulls down a salary in excess of $600,000 a year (here).
Changing the heartland, one meatpacker at a time should be the USRAP’s motto!
From KCUR 89.3:

A humanitarian [ha!ha!—ed] group that helps refugees settle in western Kansas among plentiful slaughterhouse jobs is shutting down its office in the region amid changing rules that welcome fewer newcomers to the country and the state.

The International Rescue Committee, or IRC, says a falling number of refugees prompted the agency’s plans to shutter its Garden City office at the end of September.

Kansas took in 580 refugees in the 12-month period that ended Sept. 30, compared to 914 the year before. IRC officials said they expect the drop-off to look even more dramatic this year.

That trend reflects tightening U.S. State Department guidelines that make it harder for refugees to seek sanctuary in the United States.

In addition, a State Department spokeswoman said that in December the department told resettlement agencies it would withdraw funding from sites that take on fewer than one hundred refugees each year. The federal government gives those local agencies about $2,100 for each refugee.

This next bit was news to me. I had no idea local hospitals were carrying some of the refugee care load jointly with a federal resettlement contractor! Why isn’t Tyson Foods taking care of the needs of its workers?

Many refugees in western Kansas turn to Kearny County Hospital in Lakin, Kansas, for health and social services. The hospital, in turn, depends on the IRC to take care of essential services such as food, housing, education and job placement, said hospital CEO Benjamin Anderson.

Garden City USA: Immigration to the Heartland — Orientation for Somali workers at Garden City Tyson Foods plant.

[….]

Anderson said the IRC plays the primary role for helping refugees in the area, and when the organization’s Garden City office closes, his hospital may have to take over some of its services.

Garden City is home to many refugees, including a large Somali community, which was the target of an alleged bomb plot last year. That incident and it’s upcoming trial in March have brought renewed attention to the city’s wide range of immigrants — a portion of whom are refugees — from Mexico, South America and Africa. In the local school district, for example, English is a second language for nearly half the students.

So who is paying for refugee support services so that Tyson Foods has a ready supply of cheap labor—local taxpayers!
But, don’t get too excited about a possible slowdown of needy people arriving in Garden City because we expect to hear that Tyson Foods will bus in migrants from other places to satisfy their desire for “slaughterhouse” workers.
Hey, I’ve been referring to them in a more sanitized way—meatpackers—I like this more descriptive word—slaughterhouse!
See my previous posts on Garden City, KS by clicking here.

No surprise! UN Secretary General (Socialist) Antonio Guterres pushing mass migration

01/16/2018 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update: Leo Hohmann has more on this story at his new website, here.
In his argument posted at The Guardian, he says more legal pathways are needed because they (from the third world) are coming illegally (whether we like it or not). Sounds like blackmail to me!
He also confirms my oft-repeated contention that it is the desire by industries for labor that we should be satisfying in the new borderless (dream) world.

Aspiring migrants, denied legal pathways to travel, inevitably fall back on irregular methods. This not only puts them in vulnerable positions, but also undermines governments’ authority. The best way to end the stigma of illegality and abuse around migrants is, in fact, for governments to put in place more legal pathways for migration, removing the incentives for individuals to break the rules, while better meeting the needs of their labour markets for foreign labour.

Thanks to reader Deb for sending me Jihad Watch’s take on his screed here. See discussion there about hijrah and the OIC.

Obama delivers remarks to reporters as he welcomes Guterres in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington — Guterres in happier times (December 2016) https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2016/12/03/big-smooch-from-obama-to-new-un-secretary-general-guterres/

Then check out Breitbart’s report :

United Nations Secretary General António Guterres has unveiled his plan to promote global mass migration in the left-liberal Guardian newspaper.

Guterres, a former Socialist Party prime minister in his native Portugal, took over the top job at the UN on January 1st, having previously served as the institution’s High Commissioner for Refugees.

His article, titled ‘Migration can benefit the world. This is how we at the UN plan to help’, makes the bold claim that mass migration “powers economic growth, reduces inequalities and connects diverse societies”, in order to promote the Global Compact for Migration.

“This will be the first overarching international agreement of its kind,” he boasted — but claimed it would not “place any binding obligations on states”, but rather serve as “an unprecedented opportunity for leaders to counter the pernicious myths surrounding migrants”.

Trump dumps!

Breitbart continues: Trump at UN

These assurances have failed to convince the Donald Trump administration in the United States, with the White House rejected it as “simply not compatible with US sovereignty”, and President Trump summarizing it as “no borders, everyone can come in!”

Then this….

He [Guterres] made the contentious claim that migrants “take jobs” that local workers “cannot” fill, and asserted that this is a positive thing. He also attempted to spin the fact that migrants send huge sums of money straight out of their host countries and back to their countries of origin as a kind of supplement to foreign aid.

Breitbart continues here.
Pay attention to this last issue above about remittances. It is huge!
I remember when the Temporary Protected Status for Salvadorans was up for renewal under George W. Bush. It was quickly renewed with his administration saying that the money the Salvadorans sent OUT OF THE US ECONOMY was propping up El Salvador (so we needed to continue doing that).
Guterres at RRW:
We followed Antonio Guterres here at RRW for a decade since he was previously the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (before moving up to top dog position at the UN).
Go here for my Guterres archive.
Just a reminder that in June of 2009, as UNHCR, he said it was sharia law that underpins international refugee law and United Nations refugee activities. See here:

New York, 23 June (AKI) – The 1,400-year-old Islamic custom of welcoming people fleeing persecution has had more influence on modern international refugee law than any other traditional source, according to a new study sponsored by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

High Commissioner Antonio Guterres said that more than any other historical source, Islamic law and tradition underpin the modern-day legal framework on which UNHCR bases its global activities on behalf of the tens of millions of people forced from their homes around the world.

Take that Christians and Jews! You thought Biblical Judeo-Christian charity predated Islam, silly you.