St. Louis refugee contractor wants to help make the area the fastest growing immigrant community in America by 2020

01/13/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

To further that goal they recently purchased a closed Catholic School (bye-bye Catholics) and are converting one room into a Muslim prayer room!

Readers, the International Institute of St. Louis is a subcontractor of one of the big nine*** federal refugee contractors—US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI). USCRI is 99% funded with taxpayer dollars. More on the International Institute’s finances after this news.

Anna Crosslin, president and CEO of the Institute: Formerly we had no place for all of our clients to pray! Where is the ACLU? http://www.iismo.org/aboutus.html

More cultural clashes coming to Missouri? Have we so quickly forgotten the recent Bosnian murder? African Americans don’t take kindly to refugees, who are getting a lot of government help, moving in to their communities!

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

In the shuttered St. Elizabeth Academy just east of Tower Grove Park, the tiny room with the small window used to be a bathroom, but it will now serve as a prayer room for Muslims.

The room has been emptied, the only addition a bar along one wall to hang prayer rugs.

It’s one small, but important addition to what is being prepped as the new home for the International Institute of St. Louis, which has helped more than 20,000 refugees legally resettle into the area by offering English classes and assistance in finding housing and jobs.

At its current location on South Grand Boulevard, the Institute has no designated place for Muslims to pray.

“I’d walk out and see men near the elevator or stairwell, in a corner with a piece of cardboard down, praying,” said Anna Crosslin, president and CEO of the Institute, which has been in operation since 1919.

Adding the prayer room points to the ongoing challenges to serve refugees from more than 75 countries, coming to St. Louis with various customs, languages and beliefs. Since moving into its current facility in 1999, the Institute has more than doubled the number of people it serves, to about 7,500 a year.

“We feel we need to be above 12,000, and there is no way we can do that now,” Crosslin said.

The Institute also plans to enhance career development and job training opportunities. The efforts are part of the region’s goal to be the fastest-growing metropolitan area for immigrants by 2020.

[….]

When I arrived in September 1978, we served about 1,200 annually, primarily through our (English as a second language) classes,” Crosslin said. “There was no formal refugee resettlement program in Missouri — that happened in winter 1978-79.”

[….]

With immigration reform efforts nationwide and the St. Louis Mosaic Project initiative locally, Crosslin expects the number of clients served each year to reach 12,500 by November 2019, the Institute’s 100th anniversary.

If she is right, this will be an enormous jump in numbers for St. Louis. The whole state of Missouri “welcomed” just about 12,000 refugees since 2004. 2,564 of those were Somalis, btw. Most went to St. Louis and Kansas City, some were spread around the whole state.

So, if you are wondering where all their “refugee” clients will come from, these won’t all be refugees “served” by the Institute helping them find housing and get jobs—all of these contractors are getting geared-up to get federal bucks to “serve” the new Obama amnesty recipients.

There is much more, here at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

When you read the Institute’s about page, note that they brag about doing free job counseling and training. It isn’t free! Taxpayers pay for this special help for immigrants and refugees.

Follow the money!

Here is the Institute’s most recent Form 990.

On page nine, we learn that the Institute that year (2012) took in about $5 million (rounded number) and $3.9 million came from government grants (78%). Interesting to see that they took in nearly a half a million for translation services. Remember I have been telling you all about the growing cost to “welcoming” communities for translation services for immigrants who run into any problems in schools, healthcare facilities, housing agencies and the criminal justice system. Costs of hiring translators falls on the local taxpayer and guess who is supplying the translators—looks like the same agency being paid to bring ’em in!

Crosslin herself isn’t a big dipper—she gets under $150,000 in compensation (nothing like the salaries of some of the biggies), but there is one line that interested me (I wish I had an accountant handy to explain!). They paid out $2.1 million in compensation to “disqualified persons.” (page 10, line 6). What is that?

Here is our complete archive on St. Louis, note the number of crimes either perpetrated by immigrants, or those (more often) perpetrated against refugees and immigrants.

*** For new readers, these are the big nine federal contractors. There are 350 subcontractors under them working in 180 cities in the US.

Temporary protected status extended for Syrians; let’s hope they are dumb

01/09/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The Center for Immigration Studies has another winner this week. Yesterday we reported that CIS has produced a new study about the huge number of Muslim immigrants entering the US, and this time, CIS writer David North describes an easy way for Syrians to get into the US and then apply for Temporary Protected Status—a ridiculous LEGAL immigration avenue that is anything but temporary.

Here is North at CIS:

It is 11:36 a.m. on Monday, January 5, 2015. You are Ali Abdullah, a Syrian who desperately wants legal status in the United States but has been refused a visa. You have just seated yourself for an early lunch in Kingston, Canada, on the northern edge of Lake Ontario.

As you wait for the waiter, you check your laptop for the latest immigration news from the States (you had foresightedly asked USCIS to send you bulletins, as I have done).

And there it is – the announcement that the U.S. will offer legal status (Temporary Protected Status, or TPS) to all Syrian Nationals who can claim “continuous residence in the United States since January 5, 2015″.

You rub your eyes and check the date on the lower right-hand corner of the laptop and find that today is, in fact, January 5, 2015, and that you have 12 hours and 24 minutes to get into the US so that you can claim TPS……

Read it all, it is really quite amusing (sort of!). Let’s just hope all of those who are eligible for all Temporary Status designations aren’t as smart as Mr. North.

By the way, those with TPS status can work and do anything an American citizen can do except vote (and they are probably doing that too!).

The next time you hear someone say, “I’m all for legal immigration, it is illegal immigration I have a problem with,” tell them they don’t know what they are talking about!

Pittsburgh working hard to “welcome” refugees

12/28/2014 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

City leaders think the refugees will rejuvenate the city and bring economic prosperity.

Hey Pittsburgh, how about if you call up the City of Seattle before you get too excited by this “welcoming” propaganda. https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2014/12/19/seattle-housing-crisis-pay-attention-refugee-welcoming-cities/

Frankly, I don’t get it, the only economic windfall (in my view) that will flow into Pittsburgh (a federal government “preferred” community) is the federal welfare dollars that follow the refugees—the special grants and special micro-loan deals etc. It isn’t new money, it is just money recycled from the federal taxpayer.

I’m not an economist, but we better soon get some rigorous studies to counter the growing “welcoming” movement!

From National Public Radio:

Studies show immigrants start businesses at a higher rate than non-immigrants, and can raise home values when they move into neighborhoods. [ but do the businesses close soon too?–ed]

Programs like Welcoming Pittsburgh [anything to do with ‘Welcoming America’?—ed] come as a reaction to failed immigration reform, but also because depopulated industrial cities see immigrants as an economic development tool, says Audrey Singer, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

“A lot of these places are looking for two things: economic activity and population,” Singer says. “Immigrants and refugees are often looked at as a really dynamic group.”

Pittsburgh is just the latest Rust Belt city trying to boost the demographic — just 7 percent of the city’s residents were born outside the U.S., which is low for an urban area. About 40 other U.S. cities have similar programs, including Philadelphia; Chicago; St. Louis, Mo.; Columbus and Dayton, Ohio.

Do those “studies” report the costs of educating the kids, and the cost of low-income housing (Seattle!); taking care of their health needs; the costs to the criminal justice system? I doubt it!

Then this:

Immigrants under-employed? So what does that tell you? There isn’t a booming economy as a result of immigrants, just more immigrants competing with Americans looking for work.

About 30,000 high-skilled immigrants are underemployed in Pennsylvania. In addition, some see Pittsburgh as parochial and not open to outsiders.

Welcoming Pittsburgh hopes to change that by opening government and coordinating various agencies’ efforts. Singer says it’s too soon to tell if it’s working in other cities, but what some call “deliberate welcoming” enhances the No. 1 thing city residents need: opportunities.

And, near the end, NPR mentions this about their ‘star’ of the story, a well-educated Iraqi refugee (Ammar Nsaif):

Nsaif currently works as a caregiver, earning $1,400 a month, plus SNAP benefits to purchase some groceries, for a family of five.

I’m guessing he is a “caregiver” in a state or federally financed home health care business (he could even be paid to take care of granny at home), he gets food stamps and supposedly supports a family of five on $1,400 a month—yeh right! He is adding to the economy of Pittsburgh? At that salary he surely isn’t even paying taxes.

Where are our studies—just take Nsaif’s case and tell us how much he drains from the US economy!

Update on Russian gays seeking asylum in the US

11/30/2014 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Here is Yahoo News filling us in on one of the latest projects of the Open Borders movement—getting Russian gays accepted in the US as refugees.

We have written about this ‘project’ previously here and here.

Aaron Morris, Legal Director Immigration Equality says his legal team has been very successful in getting grants of asylum for their Russian clients. Photo and bio: http://immigrationequality.org/our-staff/aaron-morris/

From Yahoo News (hat tip: Robin):

There are no firm statistics on the number of gay Russian asylum seekers; U.S. government agencies that handle applications do not report such details. However, the Department of Homeland Security’s latest figures show that overall applications for asylum by Russians totaled 969 in the 2014 fiscal year, up 34 percent from 2012.

To get an application approved, an asylum seeker must present a convincing case that he or she has a “well-founded fear of persecution” in their home country. Russia’s anti-gay policies and its record of anti-gay violence are factors that could strengthen an individual’s case.

[….]

Aaron Morris, Immigration Equality’s legal director, said most of the recent asylum inquiries came from gay men in their 20s and 30s who had been targeted by anti-gay attacks, while only a handful have come from gays or lesbians raising children.

We learn that in a small number of cities there are programs in place to help the Russian LGBT visa-holders submit their claims for asylum with lots of lawyers ready to help. However, since the asylum seekers can’t legally work, obtaining housing and other living expenses is a problem.

The article does mention that lobbying efforts are underway at the US State Department to get Russian gays and lesbians designated as a refugee class which would mean we would go fetch them and bring them to the US rather than the present situation where they must get themselves here and apply for asylum. If they were refugees chosen abroad, they would get all sorts of social services right off the bat.

Read it all.

Lutheran refugee contractor cheers for Obama amnesty (no surprise!)

11/23/2014 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We have reported for years on how the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland is one of the leading advocacy groups in the nation involved in the open borders political movement, so this is no surprise.

Before you read on, have a look at a recent Form 990 (page 9) for LIRS. Their income from gifts, grants and contributions was $41,757,518 and $40,417,752 came from “government grants.” That means that you, the American taxpayer, “contributed” 97% of their income. Check out their Baltimore digs and note that their income jumped $10 million from 2011 to 2012.

Obama gets a big smooch from LIRS! Linda Hartke, CEO of LIRS makes over $200,000 a year in salary and benefits (you, the American taxpayer, pay her salary) http://lirs.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Linda_Hartke_Bio.pdf

LIRS could not exist and be lobbying for amnesty if it wasn’t for the fact that you pay their salaries and overhead! Galling isn’t it?

One aspect of their enthusiasm for illegal aliens being granted permission to live and work here that I don’t get is this—they are charged with finding jobs for the refugees they resettle and there is no doubt that the Obama reprieve for millions of illegal aliens will put those “new Americans” in direct competition with job-hungry refugees for low-skilled jobs. Doesn’t LIRS see that?

Here is LIRS cheering the President last Thursday….

From PR Newswire:

BALTIMORE, Nov. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), and supporters all across America, welcome the significant steps taken today by the Obama Administration that invite our neighbors out of the shadows, bring greater hope and security in the place of fear and stabilize the lives of millions of immigrants living in the United States. The President’s historic announcement of new immigration policies brings hope to immigrant families, aids our communities in being places of welcome, and strengthens our nation by living out American values, and lifting up our economy. These actions are grounded in our history as a nation that has been renewed and strengthened by each generation of newcomers.

The policies announced today reflect American values of justice and are an important step towards a more humane immigration system. It is our hope that the President’s demonstrated leadership will lead to Congressional action to rebuild an immigration system which further strengthens us as a nation and respects the rights and dignity of people who have come to the United States seeking refuge, family or the dignity of work and wages.

“Today, millions of lives have been changed for the better. We must continue to lift up the American tradition of being a welcoming society that honors freedom, equality, and opportunity and values each and every person,” said Linda Hartke, LIRS President and CEO. “The President’s actions are a significant step in the right direction – promoting family unity and offering vital solutions for our economy and country.”

As a faith-based organization, LIRS has long advocated for an immigration system that encourages and supports keeping families together, and better protects children, migrants, refugees and other vulnerable persons. The President’s actions today are consistent with LIRS’s core principles of respect for human dignity and the biblical call to welcome the newcomer.

They go on to say they won’t be satisfied until they get the whole ball of wax—comprehensive immigration reform which they lobbied for in 2013. Of course, we know that the Senate-passed S.744 had many goodies that will flow directly to LIRS and other refugee contractors.

There is contact information (see their press release). If you are a Lutheran who disagrees with what LIRS is doing in your name, you should contact them and let them know how you feel.

For those who want to learn more about LIRS, we have an extensive archive here. For those following the Wyoming controversy, LIRS in Baltimore is the parent organization of Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains, here (one of our top three posts over the last week).

LIRS is one of the top nine federal resettlement contractors. Don’t be fooled by the fact that they call themselves Voluntary Agencies. They are all almost completely funded by you, the American taxpayer.