Chicago: Story about Rohingya Muslim airport workers is instructive

01/08/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Thanks to Joanne for sending this story about supposed discrimination against non-English speaking workers at O’Hare airport in Chicago.

rohingya-boat — Explain to us again how we are security-screening the Rohingya who have fled Burma (Myanmar) and Bangladesh in boats and are scattered throughout Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Do they have any documents in plastic baggies on these boats? I doubt it! https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2016/04/07/illinois-zakat-foundation-to-open-cultural-center-specifically-for-rohingya-muslims-in-the-state/

Before you read it consider these points:

~The ‘star’ of this story and his Rohingya Muslim fellow worker are ‘boat people’ who arrived in Malaysia, likely with no papers, and only stories about abuse in Burma, or possibly Bangladesh. We brought them as refugees to America.*** So while Congress and others focus their energy on Syrian refugees who CANNOT be thoroughly screened, we admit Rohingya Muslims who have been wandering all over Southeast Asia and we don’t know who they are either!

~This article describes a growing practice of hiring Muslim refugees in airports!

~While there is squawking about companies, like the airplane cleaning company, using non-English speaking workers with suggestions they are being cheated, there is no suggestion that the notorious union SEIU is also using them for its purposes!

~We have admitted (Wrapsnet.org) 13,500 Rohingya Muslims during the Obama Administration. 543 arrived in the last three months.

Here is the news at DNAinfo:

WEST RIDGE — A Rohingya refugee who immigrated to the U.S. two years ago from war-torn Myanmar hoped he would find opportunity and a second chance by settling in Chicago, with a job at O’Hare. Instead, Amir Hussin Bin Mohamadur Rahman has found himself at the center of a workers rights struggle unfolding within Chicago’s labor force.

Rahman, 25, got a job shortly after his arrival in June 2015 with Scrub, Inc., a company that employs workers who clean the cabins of planes after flights.

That relationship ended in late November after Rahman publicly rallied alongside Service Employees International Union members and other airport workers in a one-day strike with the “Fight For $15” minimum wage campaign.

Rahman also spoke out at an employee meeting advocating for Scrub, Inc. workers to unionize, an act he alleges led to his firing.

[….]

At different times, Rahman and Ahmad made their way to Malaysia before immigrating to the U.S. and resettling in the Rogers Park/West Ridge area where an established Rohinga refugee community exists. [It exists because the US State Department and a refugee contractor place them there. Just what Chicago needs (poor refugees competing with poor Americans for jobs)—ed]

Continue reading here.
***We have an extensive archive on Rohingya resettlement, click here (193 posts).

Refugees with low education levels needed for jobs like meatpacking

12/31/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Michael Patrick Leahy at Breitbart yesterday analyzed the education levels of refugees arriving at record numbers in the US right now as Obama gets ready to vacate the White House.

cargill-somalis — Residents told me that Somalis working for Cargill have changed the town of Ft. Morgan, Colorado. Photo: http://madworldnews.com/colorado-biz-200-muslims-job/

Readers here know that I have been for years discussing the role that BIG MEAT plays in the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program and my 6,000 mile tour of America this past summer took me to several major meatpacking towns being changed by the influx of large numbers of Somalis to supply cheap labor to meat industry giants like JBS in Greeley, Colorado and Cargill in Ft. Morgan.
(I also visited meatpacking towns in Minnesota and North and South Dakota.)
Here is Leahy reporting on the fact that Somalis enter the US with the least education of any refugee group thus making them desirable employees for the beef and poultry industry (LOL! Not pork!).

Somalis are the least educated group of refugees who have arrived in the United States during the first three months of FY 2017.

As Breitbart News reported previously, the Obama administration has resettled 25,671 refugees in the country during the three month period beginning October 1, 2016 and ending December 30, 2016. This is almost double the number of refugees resettled in the United States during the same period in the prior fiscal year, FY 2016.

More than 85 percent of these refugees arrived from just eight countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Burma, Ukraine, Bhutan, and Iran.

[….]

The levels of education of arriving refugees from these eight countries vary widely. More than 71 percent of refugees arriving from the Ukraine have achieved high school level or higher training (secondary, university, professional, or technical degrees). At the other end of the spectrum, less than nine percent of refugees from Somalia arrived with high school level or higher training.

[….]

Somalis, in particular, are heavily employed in the meat packing industry.

The consequence of the availability of low skill, low wage refugees to fill jobs in the meat packing and related industries has been to keep wages down and limit employment opportunities in those industries for low skilled American citizens living near those meat packing plants. The plants also need a steady supply of new healthy workers to replace the workers whose hands are eventually damaged by the rapid repetitive motions required in the high-speed, low-tech slaughterhouse line.

A number of communities have experienced this problem over the past decade, including Shelbyville, Tennessee; Liberal, Kansas; Fort Morgan, Colorado; Austin, Minnesota; and Grand Island, Nebraska.

It is an extensive report, continue reading here.
I have been told by readers over the years, and by some living in meatpacking towns, that meatpacking was a desirable job for Americans a couple of decades ago, but when these global corporations discovered immigrant (cheap!) labor all that changed. Refugees supplement their wages with your welfare subsidies!

Nashville refugee/immigrant conference disrupted by protestors!

12/14/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Are some starting to understand that an element of the Open Borders movement is really more concerned about cheap labor for global corporations? That is how I read the message from protestors who stormed the stage in Nashville over the weekend.
For background, you might want to read Leahy’s earlier piece about the conference in general, here.
From Michael Patrick Leahy at Breitbart:

NASHVILLE, Tennessee–Protesters shouting “liberation not integration” stormed the stage at the National Immigrant Integration Conference on Tuesday, disrupting Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) as he was about to deliver a speech to the gathering, eyewitnesses tell Breitbart News.

ryan-gutierrez-fb-640x480 — Does Donald Trump know that Speaker Paul Ryan and Rep. Gutierrez are on the same side! http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/10/17/paul-ryans-open-borders-push-luis-gutierrez-exposed-2013-video/

As Breitbart News reported previously, the conference is a gathering of refugee and immigrant advocates meeting to plan opposition to the refugee and immigration policies of President-elect Donald Trump.

A spokesperson for the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), one of the two hosts of the conference, confirmed that Gutierrez’s remarks were disrupted.

[….]

One eyewitness who was present at the conference when the disruption took place offers a more detailed version of the event.

“A group of mostly non-black activists started screaming about black immigrant rights and rushed the stage blocking the speaker [Rep. Gutierrez] with a banner that said ‘What About My Family?,’ ‘Black Immigrants,’ ‘What About Sex Workers, LGBTQ Folk, Muslim Immigrants, Criminalized Immigrants?,’ and ‘Not 1 More Deporation,’” the eyewitness told Breitbart News.

“They [the protesters] accused conference organizers of working with multi-nationals to exploit workers, and they started shouting ‘liberation not integration,’ ” the eyewitness added.

Continue reading here.
In my ideal world I want those promoting refugee resettlement to admit that much of the drive for more refugees to be admitted to the US comes from BIG business looking for legal immigrant workers willing to work for lower wages (which we subsidize with various forms of welfare).
The RAP is not first and foremost about ‘humanitarianism.’ It is about workers and increasing the Democrat voter base. Maybe once that fact is completely out in the open, we could have a fair national debate about the issue!
Business interests (and those making a living admitting refugees) have just very effectively used the bludgeon of name calling (racist!) against anyone who raises the issue. LOL! That is why it was so amusing to hear that in Nashville some activists on the Far Left have caught on!
Endnote: Learn more about the Left’s control of the language: Integration vs. Assimilation (here).

Honeymoon over in Canada for many of Trudeau's 35,000! Syrian refugees who can't find work

12/11/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

justin-trudeau — A youthful Justin Trudeau featured in this blog as a young-up-and-coming leader of Canada. I thought this photo was appropriate to highlight this news. http://ojoecollege.blogspot.com/2011/05/young-democratic-leaders-in-canada-and.html

This time last year Canada began ‘welcoming’ thousands of Syrian refugees who were flying in by the planeload as the young new Prime Minister had promised when he was elected weeks before. As a result, Justin Trudeau became the darling of the world’s humanitarians who were clamoring for America to do the same!
Now, one year on, my alerts today are filled with stories like these—panic sets in as one year of government support ends and Syrians can’t find jobs to support their families!
From The Star:

Bedrettin Al Muhamad and his wife, Mariam [featured family—ed] have been taking English classes and making every effort to immerse themselves in Canadian culture since arriving here from Turkey in February.

[….]

But the honeymoon will soon be over, as the Mississauga couple ponders quitting their English classes and starting to look for jobs to support their five children, Hanan, 13; Hasan, 11; Azzam, 9; Mohammad, 8; and Rahaf, 6.

“We are scared we are not going to find jobs. It’s a cause of stress. How are we going to pay for our ($1,735) rent when money stops coming in?” asked Al Muhamad, 37, whose family’s monthly government refugee resettlement assistance ends on Feb. 12.

[….]

For many of the 35,000 Syrians who have arrived in the country — 15,000 in Ontario — since Canada started bringing in planeloads of newcomers last Dec. 9, what is commonly known in the refugee resettlement circle as “Month 13” is looming.

After a year of being warmly welcomed into local communities across the country, the 12-month financial commitment to these refugees by Ottawa and private sponsorship groups will start to come to an end.

trudeau-bearing-coat — Trudeau in December 2015: I come bearing coats (no jobs) but we have coats for this year at least! http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/we-came-to-paradise-syrian-refugees-arrive-in-canada-on-government-plane-1.2696122

And, here is another story (with another featured family) from The Guardian:

Canada had previously granted asylum to a small number of Syrian refugees. But one year ago this week, 163 Syrian refugees were greeted at the airport by Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, in scenes that contrasted sharply with the hostile rhetoric emanating from some US politicians, including then Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Thousands more refugees would arrive in Canada the following months, supported either by the federal government or by private citizens who committed to covering their expenses for their first year in Canada.

[….]

But the one-year mark means an end to the monthly living allowance from the government that has, along with food banks and donations, sustained their new lives. From February onwards, the family must either support themselves – a seemingly monumental task considering the parents’ search for jobs have so far been fruitless – or enroll in the province’s social assistance program, in which they would likely receive less of an allowance than what they’re currently receiving.

“All the Syrians say the same thing, we’re worried about what happens after one year. We don’t know. With no stipend, how are we going to live?” Alsakni said through a translator. “It’s like we’re blindfolded. We don’t know what is coming. [This is the mother in the family speaking, she is the only adult in the family to begin to learn English, but she still needs a translator!—ed]

There are many more stories like this in my alerts today.

It is a good thing we have Germany and Canada as models for what NOT to do about Syrian refugees!

For our complete Canada category, go here.

Nebraska received (per capita) more refugees last year than any other state

12/08/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Here is a story from the Omaha World-Herald which used those Pew numbers we reported yesterday, as the hook for this story about how “welcoming” Nebraska is for refugees.
Nebraska is one of the states I visited over the summer, and I am here to report that even if the Republican governor is thrilled about welcoming refugees, the citizens whose towns are being impacted by refugee labor at meat and chicken processing plants, aren’t too thrilled.

nickerson_nebraska_downtown_1 — Downtown Nickerson, Nebraska where citizens objected to plans to locate a chicken processing plant in the area. One reason they said NO! is that they did not want an influx of Somali refugee workers.

No mention in this heartwarming report about Nickerson, Nebraska that actually fought and kept out a new chicken plant here last May.
Cut the humanitarian guilt-trip mumbo-jumbo and be truthful!
I live for the day when resettlement contractors like Lutheran Family Services here are completely out in the open about the work they do providing laborers for BIG MEAT and BIG POULTRY and also tell the public that their salaries and offices are paid for by the US taxpayer (this is not a Christian charity! this is not about passing the collection plate on Sunday morning!).*** Then we can have the debate about why it is in the interests of the American taxpayer to supply foreign labor to giant corporations some of which are not even US-owned!
From the Omaha World-Herald:

todd-reckling — Todd Reckling of Lutheran Family Services at least hints here that LFS works with BIG MEAT which wants refugee workers.

LINCOLN — Nebraska led the nation in resettling the most refugees per capita during the last year, according to newly released federal government data.

The state welcomed 1,441 refugees, or 76 per 100,000 Nebraskans, between October 2015 and September 2016, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of data from the U.S. State Department’s Refugee Processing Center and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Nebraska is a strong draw for refugees because of its strong economy with accessibility to jobs in hospitality and meatpacking, said Todd Reckling, a vice president of Lutheran Family Services, the state’s largest of three placement agencies. About 90 percent of refugees come to the state to reunite with family already living in Nebraska, he said.

“I’d say Nebraska has a reputation for being a welcoming state,” he said, “a place to provide safety and hope for the families that are coming together.”

Continue reading here, especially if you live in Nebraska!
You will notice at the end of the story that some who are not thrilled about the security concerns with refugees are hanging their hat on Donald Trump to take care of that problem.
For any of you in states (especially with Republican governors who are squishy on the refugee program) do some research on who is donating to their campaigns.
***Lutheran Family Services in Omaha is a subcontractor of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service headquartered in Baltimore which is 95% funded by taxpayers, go here.