New York Times uses the B-word (boycott) when writing about Chobani Yogurt

11/01/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

They raised the issue, not me!

I’m not complaining about the New York Times, this is what they do, but I thought you should see this article (just in case you didn’t know you were a xenophobic hater for questioning what Hamdi Ulukaya is doing to Twin Falls, Idaho).
They must be really fearing another B-word too—Breibart!
And, no surprise, they even bring Donald Trump into the story.
It doesn’t matter if Ulukaya’s plans to change Twin Falls have been done in secrecy. It doesn’t matter if he puts on the white hat of humanitarianism as he encourages a steady supply of cheap immigrant labor to be brought in at your (taxpayer) expense. It doesn’t matter if some critics believe refugee labor is slave labor. It doesn’t matter if you object to the social and cultural changes he promotes for your community, or that he got lucrative government contracts during the Obama Administration.
None of those things matter to the NYT which is out to silence free speech. Only one thing matters and that is you are a hater of foreigners and they get to call you one of their favorite grown-up words—xenophobic—for daring to question his business practices that depend on your tax dollars!
Here is the story:

By many measures, Chobani embodies the classic American immigrant success story.

screenshot-14 — That is Lavinia Limon on the left. She is the CEO of a federal refugee resettlement contractor (USCRI–97% funded by you) and Mr. Chobani Yogurt at the Clinton Global Initiative. Ms. Limon is paid to supply Chobani Yogurt with legal refugee labor for his Twin Falls, Idaho plant. https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2016/09/05/this-federal-refugee-contracting-agency-is-97-taxpayer-funded/

Its founder, Hamdi Ulukaya, is a Turkish immigrant of Kurdish descent. He bought a defunct yogurt factory in upstate New York, added a facility in Twin Falls, Idaho, and now employs about 2,000 people making Greek yogurt.

But in this contentious election season, the extreme right has a problem with Chobani: In its view, too many of those employees are refugees.

As Mr. Ulukaya has stepped up his advocacy — employing more than 300 refugees in his factories, starting a foundation to help migrants, and traveling to the Greek island of Lesbos to witness the crisis firsthand — he and his company have been targeted with racist attacks on social media and conspiratorial articles on websites including Breitbart News.

Now there are calls to boycott Chobani. Mr. Ulukaya and the company have been taunted with racist epithets on Twitter and Facebook. Fringe websites have published false stories claiming Mr. Ulukaya wants “to drown the United States in Muslims.” And the mayor of Twin Falls has received death threats, partly as a result of his support for Chobani.

Online hate speech is on the rise, reflecting the rising nationalism displayed by some supporters of Donald J. Trump, who has opposed resettling refugees in the United States.

“What’s happening with Chobani is one more flash point in this battle between the voices of xenophobia and the voices advocating a rational immigration policy,” said Cecillia Wang, director of the Immigrants’ Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union.

Continue reading here.

I’m guessing that the calls on social media to boycott Chobani Yogurt must be having an impact, and I am further guessing that the NYT is not helping the yogurt company one bit with this story.

(I think most people had forgotten that there were calls to boycott Chobani Yogurt.)
See our complete archive on the continuing controversy in Twin Falls, Idaho by clicking here.

From Michigan: An open letter to Donald Trump

10/30/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is a letter penned today by one of our faithful readers on the eve of a scheduled visit tomorrow by Presidential candidate Donald Trump. Please, Donald Trump, help Michigan!

trump-rally-michigan — Image from a Trump Michigan rally earlier in the year! https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2016/03/03/new-michigan-poll-ted-cruz-ceiling-19-marco-rubio-ceiling-18-donald-trump-winning/

Dear Mr. Trump:

I am so happy to hear you will be coming to Michigan at least one more time before the election. I doubt I will have a chance to speak to you in a throng of thousands of supporters, but if I could this would be my message.

Michigan represents the United States on the cusp of collapse if Hillary Clinton and the globalists backing her prevail on November 8th. Michigan has been so damaged by job loss and permanent unemployment from companies moving elsewhere that it has caused the social fabric to change. Like many of my friends I am a grandmother with grandchildren elsewhere. When our children graduated from college they all had to move to other states for jobs. There was no future for them in Michigan.

So now the central planners on the left are flooding our state with refugees from war torn and third world countries to provide a pool of very low wage workers who will be reliable Democrat voters to help keep the sinking ship of state afloat. Per capita Michigan has been receiving the most refugees in recent years and now we are receiving the most Syrian refugees. While the Refugee Resettlement program operates under the radar as much as possible, the presence of a large concentration of refugees is being noticed because some parts of Michigan are being transformed almost overnight.

People are concerned. Why are we bringing in unvettable potential terrorists into our midst? Most of these newcomers are Muslim and many of them are Sharia compliant. Sharia is not compatible with the US Constitution. Now we are discovering that a number of these refugees are harboring TB and in at least one case the drug resistant variety. This seems to be nothing short of insanity. A few informed citizens have sounded the alarm, but it is difficult to find leaders who are willing to buck the unfair charges of bigotry and discrimination.

Mr. Trump, this is why we are so enthusiastic about you. We salute your leadership on protecting our borders and our citizens. It is not unreasonable to call a halt on bringing in more refugees until they can be properly vetted, not just for terrorist ties, but also their adherence to an ideology that makes it impossible for them and their children to be Constitution abiding US citizens.

We call on you to shine the spotlight on the Michigan situation, which will soon be the norm all over the country if we can’t put the brakes on this mad dash to bring in more and more refugees. We call on you to support our bold leaders like Oakland County Executive, Brooks Patterson, and the entire town council in Waterford, Michigan who stepped up to protecting their citizens, the job of all our elected representatives.

There is much to learn from the Michigan experience and a course correction is in order to hold the line in Michigan and protect the rest of the country. Please continue your bold leadership and you will have a winning issue that crosses all demographic and party lines. I really believe you when you say you will MAGA. Keep up the good work!

A Concerned Michigander

For more on Michigan see our recent post by clicking here. Watch our 6-minute video ‘Hillary’s Michigan, America’s Worst Nightmare:’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSk1lWS-2tY&feature=youtu.be

And, don’t miss Leo Hohmann at World Net Daily here.
For our hour long video on reaching ‘undecided’ voters, click here.

Syrian refugee numbers to soar in Nevada in FY2017; cheap labor needed!

10/28/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We learned about the Syrian numbers soaring yesterday from Michael Patrick Leahy at Breitbart.
His story is here. If you live in Nevada you need to read this!

We’ve told you about the new resettlement office in Reno on several occasions.

We were fortunate to have an advance copy of the R & P Abstract for Reno long before the fiscal year began (back in May!). You can read about it here and see especially the information on the letters of support that were attached.

tesla — Besides the University of Nevada looking for employees (janitors?), another reason given in the Abstract was that Tesla would open its battery plant outside of Reno in 2017. Can you say a plentiful supply of federally subsidized cheap immigrant labor needed? Just like Chobani in Twin Falls, Idaho!

It is that Reno Abstract that helped me understand how detailed the Abstracts are and to realize that many being reluctantly released by resettlement contractors to concerned citizens are abbreviated versions.
Unfortunately, unlike many communities developing ‘pockets of resistance’ (Rutland, VT for example), it seemed there was no interest by Reno citizens to question what was coming to their community. Maybe some will speak up now.
However, the office is open in Reno and they are extremely difficult to close once opened (see ‘Ten things you need to know’).
See also our subsequent post on Reno’s new office here where we learned something important! The Dept. of State has identified 47 new sites***!
This is one of the letters of support in the Reno FY2017 Abstract prepared by the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI, the same federal contractor embroiled in controversy in Twin Falls, Idaho and Rutland, VT).

reno-nevada-muslim-letter

***Here are some of the new or expanding sites we have identified so far:
Asheville, NC
Rutland, VT
Reno, NV
Ithaca, NY
Missoula, MT
Aberdeen, SD
Charleston, WV
Fayetteville, AR
Blacksburg, VA
Pittsfield, MA
Northhampton, MA
Flint, MI
Bloomington, IN
Traverse City, MI
Watertown, NY (maybe)
Youngstown, OH (maybe)

Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) in position to reform refugee program (if he had a will to do it)

10/24/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is another in my series on Congress and the budget process as it relates to the UN/US State Department Refugee Admissions Program (RAP). See Texas last week, here.
Simpson represents Idaho’s 2nd District which wikipedia describes below:
In addition to Boise….

Other major cities in the 2nd district include Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Twin Falls, and Rexburg. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a strong presence in the district; a member of the LDS Church has represented this district continuously since 1951. [See our recent post about the increasing role of the Mormon church in resettlement of third worlders to America—ed]

mike-simpson-cropped-proto-custom_28 — Rep. Mike Simpson has been in Idaho politics since 1980. He could help reform the Refugee Admissions Program if he had a will to do so. If I lived in the district I would be researching which industries looking for cheap immigrant labor support his campaign. You should know that on Conservative Reviews Liberty Score card, Simpson has an ‘F’ https://www.conservativereview.com/scorecard?MyMembers=false&state=ID&sort=Score&order=Descending&page=1&pageSize=50

Regular readers know that Boise and Twin Falls are major resettlement sites in Idaho with large numbers of Muslim refugees arriving to work in places like the Chobani yogurt plant (go here for our huge archive on Idaho).
A recent article at Magic Valley reports on Rep. Simpson’s views on many issues including immigration (he supports ‘comprehensive immigration reform’, aka amnesty, because he says we need workers).
And then here is a standard squishy response on arguably one of the hottest issues in Idaho—refugee resettlement in Boise and Twin Falls.

What are your views on the refugee resettlement program and on accepting refugees from the Middle East, and from Syria in particular? Do you support making any changes to the program or the vetting process? Should we be letting in more refugees? Fewer refugees?

I continue to support the American principle that we will not return a foreign national to a country where his or her life or freedom would be threatened based on their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. That being said, I am still concerned about the current vetting process, in particular for refugees from Syria, and I will continue to support efforts to strengthen that process. The real issue is that this Administration has not been able to effectively communicate to the American people that they can keep us safe. To regain our trust, the State Department and Department of Homeland Security must communicate a clear plan for the screening of Syrian refugees that is stringent and thorough enough to ensure those entering the United States will do no harm.

His answer demonstrates the usual dodge—it’s the Obama Administration’s fault for not communicating clearly how they will keep us safe. And, no answer to the question of more refugees!

He doesn’t tell you that as the 5th in seniority (he has been in Congress for 18 years!) on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, he is in the catbird seat to do something about security screening of Syrians.

(Simpson is not a member of the House Freedom Caucus nor did he support Rep. Brian Babin’s efforts to cut the funding for the RAP earlier this fall, see here.)
And, what does he mean by “not return a foreign national.” This isn’t a question of sending someone back, it is a question of bringing them in in the first place!
Again, it is about the money! He could be working to cut the funding for the program until the security screening (the vetting process) is made safe. Washington representatives like Mike Simpson want you to think it is the Democrats in the White House and the agencies—DOS and Homeland Security—who need to do their jobs. But, in reality he has more power than they do, because he is one of the key members of Congress holding the purse strings! He just doesn’t want his voters to know that!
Ironically he says this about the budget process on his website:

It is important for Americans to understand how the federal appropriations process works so that they can advocate for responsible federal spending.

On that he and I agree and that is why I am hounding you all, if you really want to try to get the RAP under control, get it reformed or stopped altogether, you too must understand the appropriations and budget process.
So what do you do if you live in Rep. Mike Simpson’s district?

There is only one thing you can do to slow this flow (besides electing Donald Trump) which at this rate would bring around 20,000 Syrians to America by next fall and that is to persuade your member of Congress and US Senators to DEFUND the program in the lame duck Budget debate coming in November.

Simpson and other members could stop or slow the flow using their power of the purse!
See the first in a series of posts on the lame duck budget process by clicking here. This is not about Obama! Your Congressional Representatives have the power to rein this in if they wanted to (and they don’t want you to know that they have that power!).

You have 15 days before election day to get a commitment from your Washington, DC representatives to DEFUND!

Citizens concerned about the impact of refugees on the 2nd District of Idaho must haunt Simpson’s campaign for those 15 days! Frankly, you might be better off with a new representative, no matter what party, but with no power, than a powerful Republican member like Simpson not working for you, but against you.

And, don’t forget Idaho’s US Senators and other Congressman. There are only 4 total members of the Idaho delegation, here.
All of our posts on the Congressional budget process are tagged: where is Congress.

100 refugees approved for Northwest Arkansas

10/19/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Arkansas, like West Virginia and Montana, has received very few refugees over the years, but all that will change with the Dept. of State’s (DOS) approval of a new resettlement agency that will ‘welcome’ 100 refugees beginning next month.
All of the new sites*** are needed because Obama has ‘determined’ that the US will admit a huge increase (to 110,000) in the number of refugees admitted to your towns and cities in FY2017.

donald-j-trump-2016-with-flag — The Obama Administration is moving fast to get as many new refugee sites open as possible before January in case Donald Trump is elected.

The Obama DOS is on a crash program now to get as many placed in your towns as they can by Inauguration Day in January (in case Trump is elected) and place as many in the pipeline as they can making it more difficult for a new administration to put the breaks on.
There is only one entity that could slow the flow and they can do it next month and that is Congress (if there is a will)! Congress (not Obama!) has the ultimate power to DEFUND the large increase in the number of refugees coming in. These contractors, like this new one in Northwest Arkansas have virtually zero money of their own!
The story, here, and below demonstrates how impotent Arkansas’s governor is to do anything to stop the migration to the state.
From KATV Little Rock:

NORTHWEST ARKANSAS (TALK BUSINESS & POLITICS) — The questions surrounding refugees from the Middle East and other parts of the world will soon come to Arkansas as Canopy Northwest Arkansas works to bring 100 or more refugees from around the world to the region.

emily-linn — Emily Linn is the executive director of Canopy. She says Arkansas has great jobs in poultry plants (yippee!). How much is this resettlement being driven behind the scenes by BIG MEAT? LOL! BIG CHICKEN in this case! http://www.canopynwa.org/about/

[….]

In response to news publicity about the global refugee crisis, concerned residents in Northwest Arkansas (NWA) began meeting in January and formed Canopy Northwest Arkansas, a 501(c)3 non-profit with the mission of settling refugees in NWA.

“We consulted with refugee agencies operating nationally and we learned that there’s a need for new communities to open up to refugees. So we started looking into what it might look like for refugees to come to NWA and what we found is that our community has an incredible capacity to welcome refugees and help them really thrive here,” said Emily Linn, director of Canopy Northwest Arkansas.

Linn cited the growing economy in NWA as a reason refugees would do well.

Here comes the poultry industry! Surely, the Chamber of Commerce is not far behind. (I always wonder if they tell the incoming refugees that they are going to a meat or poultry plant town).

“We have great jobs for folks who don’t even speak English, for example, in the manufacturing or poultry processing industry or agriculture. We also have great jobs and we have a need for people to come and work in very high skilled jobs,” she said. “For instance, we have a brand new hospital opening up in Springdale, Arkansas Children’s and the Washington Regional Hospital is growing and expanding, and there’s a need for very highly educated individuals as well, and so we have this wide variety of employment options.”

I keep seeing this nonsense about skilled labor in the refugee flow. It is bogus. If there are doctors and engineers etc. in the flow they must become re certified in the US which is a long and expensive process. The closest any refugee doctor will get to a hospital is scrubbing the floors at night.
Canopy is a subcontractor of LIRS (see my previous post this morning, here).

Canopy Northwest Arkansas partners with the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), one of nine national resettlement agencies that contract with the State Department to run the refugee resettlement program. LIRS is the agency that will assign refugees to Canopy after the refugees go through an extensive screening process, sometimes lasting more than two years.

Continue reading here. I see no evidence, at least in this story, that there is any pocket of resistance in Northwest Arkansas.
***Here are some of the new sites we have learned about in recent weeks being set up to accommodate, among other ethnic groups, a large number of Syrian Sunni Muslims. We heard that there are 47 of these new target sites:
Asheville, NC
Rutland, VT
Reno, NV
Ithaca, NY
Missoula, MT
Aberdeen, SD
Charleston, WV
Fayetteville, AR
Blacksburg, VA
Pittsfield, MA
Northhampton, MA
Flint, MI
Bloomington, IN
Traverse City, MI
Watertown, NY (maybe)
I just created a new ‘tag’ and I should have done it a long time ago, will try to keep it up going forward—New resettlement sites. For new readers, here is the old list of sites. Apparently the feds are not updating the list because they likely don’t want you to know where all of the new offices are located. Secrecy is the watchword of refugee resettlement in America!