Category: Nashville

Catholic Charities criticised for treatment of gay Iraqi refugees

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

It is not clear which Catholic Charities neglected this gay couple, but it looks like Nashville Catholic Charities is one of the agencies that did not follow the Operational Guidance required by the US State Department as part of their contract with the government.   Here is the gist of the story from the Dallas Voice:

Two gay Iraqi refugees who are living in Houston came to Dallas for the Creating Change conference earlier this month seeking assistance.

After being kidnapped, raped, robbed and stabbed in Baghdad, Yousif Ali and Nawfal Muhamed escaped to Syria and were given refugee status by the United Nations. The United States granted them asylum.

But after arriving in the United States, Catholic Charities, which administers many of the federally funded programs for refugees, provided only limited assistance.

Other refugees are given furnished apartments. Ali and Muhamed were sent to different cities.

On his own, Muhamed made it to Houston from Nashville where Ali had been given a bare apartment and left to sleep on the floor. [This is a State Department no-no but we keep hearing the same story—bare apartment, no beds—from many cities in the US.]

They were housed near other Iraqis where they remained in danger and continued to be abused because of their sexual orientation.*

The Unitarian Universalist office at the United Nations, the only faith-based U.N. office with an LGBT refugee program, brought the pair to the Dallas conference hoping to find some help.

* In some Muslim countries homosexuals are even killed because of their sexual orientation.  Coincidentally we only last month heard a professor from Vanderbilt Univ. in Nashville confirm the Islamic prohibition about homosexuality.  When choosing a neighborhood in which to place refugees, Catholic Charities in Nashville should have been more knowledgeable about that Muslim prejudice and the Islamic (Shariah law) requirement that gays be killed.   Watch the film from Vanderbilt, here, at Jihad Watch.

Lucky Nashville labeled “Little Kurdistan”

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Here is a long article entitled, ‘Nashville Tennessee: Kurdish Capital of America’ at The Comment Factory.  I’ve selected a few paragraphs that interested me in this gooey, everything is just lovely story, but please read the whole article.

Thank Catholic Charities!

Kurds have struggled to build a new haven in Nashville, and director of refugee and immigration services at Catholic Charities of Tennessee Holly Johnson says “they have changed Nashville.”

Kurds are arriving in Nashville from all over America looking for jobs!

NPT’s (Nashville Public Television*) portrayal of the Kurdish community has contributed to a growing awareness of Kurdish-Americans in the U.S., especially those who live in Nashville. “Little Kurdistan” represents the close-knit community and culture among the Kurds, a presence that is confirmed by the many Kurdish-owned businesses in Nashville. A large number of Kurds have therefore moved to Nashville from within the U.S. to be with friends and family, or just to be a part of the growing society. This phenomenon is ongoing, and the peace of mind in knowing that there are other Kurds in Nashville is crucial for those Kurds who choose to move there. Nick Aref is one of many Kurds who have moved, in his case from Arizona, to open a business in Nashville. The key reasons that led many Kurds to Nashville in the 1970s were, as Drew Jubera points out, the fact that “Nashville was viewed as a manageable, relatively affordable place to live, full of entry-level jobs for people who didn’t speak much English.”

Lucky Nashville has the only known Kurdish Pride gang in the Nation!

Another unfortunate event for Nashville’s Kurds is the breakthrough of the Kurdish Pride Gang in the recent years. KPG is thought to be America’s only Kurdish street gang, and has been linked to a series of high-profile crimes. The number of members is not accurately estimated, but they are believed to be made up of 20 to 30 teens and young adults (Emery:2007). The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department are uncertain of the gang’s foundation, but believes the gang is supposed to function as a Kurdish show-off to other ethnic gangs such as the Hispanic gangs Sureños 13 (Sur-13) and Mara Salvatrucha 13. The Metropolitan also point out that the KPG members’ backgrounds are surprising to everyone, because “they come from two-parent homes, […] from middle-class families with a strong work ethic, where education is important” (Emery:2007). [Darn! There goes the theory right out the window again that crime is a product of poverty-ed.]  Members of the Kurdish community [mostly Sunni Muslims] have expressed concern and some have said that they are ashamed of the reputation these few associates have given the rest of the thousands of Kurds in the country.

Yippee!  They were involved in “civic engagement” by organizing for Obama!

In recent years, various Kurdish organizations have propped up in and outside of Nashville and have regularly organized events that have been aimed to bring the Kurdish-American community together. A primary goal of these organizations has been to promote the interests of Kurdish-Americans and cultivate support among both Kurdish and non-Kurdish-Americans. “Next Door Neighbors” also illustrates how Kurdish-Americans have opted to take part in the American democratic process. Kurdish organizations have played a role in introducing the democratic process to newly naturalized Kurdish-Americans by initiating programs that are aimed at stimulating their involvement. The Nashville chapter of Kurdish American Youth Organization (KAYO) was awarded by the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition for promoting civic engagement in 2008. Furthermore, Kurds in Nashville took part in organizing a movement entitled “Kurds for Obama”, which was aimed at gathering support for then-candidates Barack Obama and Joe Biden. As refugees of former dictator-controlled states where they had no permission to partake in anything, Kurds have displayed a desire to participate in the growth of their new country.

Multicultural Nashville has been the subject of many posts here at RRW, please use our search function for those stories.  And, by the way, keep your eyes peeled in Nashville for some of those 270 illegal Somalis that we hear have headed to Nashville (among other cities where diversity is strength). 

* We learned some time ago that Nashville Public Television was in cahoots with the Nashville Open Borders lobby made up of big business types looking for cheap labor.  Too bad their quest for cheap labor now threatens the security of Nashville.

Boo Hoo! Now Nashville doesn’t have enough interpreters

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Here is a story from the Tennessean on Saturday that laments the lack of  foreign language translators for hospitals, courts and so forth.

Children interpreting for parents at medical appointments and school meetings and witnesses unable to testify are signs of a shortage of translators in Nashville and statewide, according to translators at a state convention.

There are almost 50 certified Spanish interpreters for the state judicial system, according to the Tennessee Association of Professional Interpreters and Translators, which is holding its state conference at Belmont University.

[….]

The state’s changing demographics — stemming from refugee resettlement and the arrival of more Latinos and other immigrants — has highlighted the need for professional translators.

Of course this organization is whining and looking for more money to hire more certified language interpreters using your tax dollars.

What bothers me so much about this is that Nashville community organizers, businesses and open borders advocates last year defeated an initiative in that city to make English the offical language of the city which I believe would have encouraged everyone to step up the process of learning English.  Here is a list of all those involved in killing English Only in Nashville.

Medical interpreters

The medical field needs intepreters they say citing kids interpreting for parents, which frankly I see no problem with.   Generations of immigrants had to get by with just that— no taxpayer funded interpreters. 

The medical field also needs interpreters — children often serve as translators for their families.

[….]

You have 7-year-old children translating for their mothers at an OB-GYN visit,” said Belma Ismailovich of Health Assist Tennessee, a nonprofit that helps people overcome health-care barriers. “They shouldn’t do that.”

They shouldn’t do that because this group wants more taxpayer funds available for translators.

Translation and interpreting can be expensive, and many health-care providers are reluctant to spend the money, Ismailovich said.

But under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, hospitals and doctors are supposed to provide translators for patients.

“Doctors want a competent translator,” Ismailovich said. “Managed-care providers also want translators.

“But nobody wants to pay for it. Title VI says it’s the law, but there is no funding for it.”

In the 1980s, the state recognized that it was becoming home to many resettled refugees and would be culturally diverse. In 1986, it formed Tennessee Foreign Language Institute, which helps with training, translating and interpreting for state government, businesses and residents.

The need will not slow as Somali, Vietnamese and other languages move
in, said Hope Collins, director of the institute’s interpretation and translation services.

The coalition to kill English as the official language of Nashville was funded by a hospital business among others!

So why do I think this is so incredible—a story lamenting that there aren’t enough interpreters in Nashville?  The Nashville English language initiative was defeated, as I mentioned above, by a joint effort of businesses, open borders advocates, and community organizers headed by the likes of Alinsky/Chicago style organizer Avi Poster and Tom Negri (Loews Vanderbilt Hotel) among others.

Last spring I did a little research and noted that many interlocking “community organizations” had been created in Nashville involving those two and others.   This is a typical George Soros strategy—creating lots of groups and coalitions to make it appear that the opposition was massive.   You can see two of the groups here and here. 

The latter, Nashville For All of Us, gathered enormous funding from individuals, businesses and law firms to defeat the English Only initiative.  And, in light of this story, here is the funniest part of all.  One of two top funders was a huge hospital business—HCA!  HCA gave $50,000 to stop English Only!  Now, it’s the hospitals whining (Boo Hoo!) they don’t have interpreters! 

The link to the funders* of Nashville For All of Us has disappeared, but back in May I wrote down the donors over $10,000 and here they are below.  I can’t read my writing on a couple of names so I might have the spelling slightly wrong.    Readers, if you find a link for the original list, let me know!

Bass, Berry Sims:   $10,000

Steve Turner:  $50,000

Caterpillar Finance of Nashville:  $25,000

Vanderbilt University:  $10,000

Gaylord Enter.:  $10,000

Cal Turner:  $10,000

Andrew Byrd:   $10,000

HCA (Hospital Corporation of America!):  $50,000

Tom Cigaron:  $10,000

Ben Richter:   $25,000

Ingram Industries:   $10,000

Waller Landerson PAC:   $10,000

William Freeman:  $10,000

In addition to these large contributions to this political campaign to stop English Only in Nashville, the list went on and on with smaller donors. 

So, what was in it for these large donors—surely something more than helping Nashville’s image as a world class welcoming city?  And besides, if they have that much money kicking around for a lobbying initiative maybe they could now fund a few interpreters!

*Incidentally, I could find no record of Nashville For All of Us becoming a 501(c)3, so I presume none of the donors were able to write off these donations that were obviously for lobbying purposes.

National Open Borders groups kick off campaign in Washington today

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Roy Beck of NumbersUSA has sent out an action alert to all those concerned with Amnesty and other forms of legislation that would open the door wider than it already is for immigrant labor to enter the US and compete with American workers.   No surprise that this is why the Nashville mob of phoney grassroots groups kicked off their campaign yesterday, here.

The Open Borders lobbyists are pushing now, in advance of any Amnesty legislation, to shore up the wavering Obama Administration that is justifiably worried about a huge backlash from Americans who have either lost jobs or may lose jobs in our sour economy.

This is one portion of Beck’s action alert that interested me:

There are big groups participating this week to push for amnesty and foreign worker increases:

National Council of La Raza (even though Hispanic Americans have suffered an incredible increase in unemployment)

NAACP (even though Black Americans have the worst unemployment in the country)

Service Employees International Union (their main growth in union dues is among foreign workers, so they are willing to abandon American workers)

The United Methodist Church

The Catholic Church

Many, many other religious, ethnic and rights organizations

Why would they turn their backs on America’s beleaguered workers?

Well, one incentive is that most of them have a shot at a share of the $50 million for “comprehensive immigration reform” that has been promised by the Ford, Carnegie, Soros and other foundations.

Many of the groups listed here are the same cast of characters involved in the contractual program with the federal government to bring in refugees.  It makes me wonder why they would support Amnesty when those illegal aliens who receive approval to stay in the US will be in direct competition for jobs that legitimate refugees need.  I can only assume they are chicken to stand up to the Open Borders machine and its money.

By the way, Soros’ strategy involves creating myriad grassroots groups in communities to make it appear that there is a groundswell of local support for more immigrants.  That is what is happening in Nashville, here.

I’ve written about the SEIU (above list) on many previous occasions (here is one such post) and I thank Mr. Beck for helping to clarify why they would be so interested in organizing Somalis.

See Beck’s testimony to Congress today, here.

Nashville community organizers kick off Amnesty for Illegals campaign

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I rarely use internet slang, but this story coming minutes after my previous post on Nashville causes me to ROFL!    For other old foggies, that is, it caused me to Roll on the Floor Laughing!

A press conference was held yesterday in the very same hotel, the Loews Vanderbilt, that expelled the New English Review symposium over the weekend.  The purpose of the press conference was to kick off Nashville’s involvement in the so-called Comprehensive Immigration Reform battle—-that is really the Amnesty battle that our side won two summers ago (remember the Kennedy/McCain bill!).

So a gang of so-called grassroots groups met at the Loews Vanderbilt, according to the Tennessean:

One week before the Obama administration is set to begin talks about immigration policy reform, a Nashville coalition gathered Monday to announce plans to ignite what they call a “productive community conversation” about immigration here. 

“Our premise is that a more informed public is a more reasonable public,” said Avi Poster, president of The Coalition for Education about Immigration and participant in Nashville’s Reform Immigration for America Campaign.

The campaign is part of a national effort to lobby Congress to alter the nation’s immigration policy, limit any surge in anti-immigrant sentiment and generate public support for so-called comprehensive immigration policy reform.

The Nashville group released few details of its plans. Poster said the group will host a series of public forums to discuss immigration and related issues and share information about the impact of current policies.

The White House meeting that they are referring to is this one.  The Open Borders crowd needs to get Obama’s backbone strengthened because they are worried that he and Rahm Emanuel are getting squishy on immigration legislation this year due to the unemployment crisis.  Go ahead guys, push it this year, the firestorm will be so much fun!

The other purpose of the press conference is to set the tone in Nashville, a city transformed by immigration thanks in part to the US State Department and the volag government contractors making Nashville a “welcoming” city for refugees, including thousands of Muslims— mostly Somalis and Kurds.  

Yesterday, the ‘religious Left’ was represented by the Rev. Dixon whose role was to make it clear that anyone opposing “reform” in Nashville will be labeled a “xenophobe.”    At this point in my narrative the transparancy here should be causing you all to join me in rolling on the floor laughing!

In Nashville, a city that in the last 15 years has seen its population and social landscape dramatically altered by immigration, there is a critical need for these types of conversations, said the Rev. Sonnye Dixon, pastor of Hobson United Methodist Church and a member of the local campaign.

“There is what I would call an epidemic of xenophobia affecting America,” Dixon said.

As is so often the case these days for the “state run media” aka mainstream media, more information is forthcoming from a commenter.     ISKRA said:

“The Nashville group released few details” probably because there are no details yet. Something this important and they would not or could not answer simple questions from the audience like what conditions would accompany a grant of amnesty to an “illegal” or what changes might there be in the 287g program.

The conference organizer, Avi Poster, stated that they have a “partnership with NPT” in this effort. Then he really blundered by saying he wanted to thank the media for coming out in response to a “plea for help”. At this point he realized his mistake and tried to back track and say, instead, thanks for attending our “plea from [for] reform”. I am sure he is right to assume that private media and public media (NPT) are on his side. One panelist said they would deal with this issue like they dealt with “english only”, revealing what we always knew – all these pop-pop, letterhead “citizen” groups are related.

ROFL!

Endnote:  We told you about the “english only” campaign in Nashville in January here.  Watch for more news at RRW on how it was defeated with the help of big business in future posts.