For fiscal year 2013 the Obama Administration wanted 70,000 refugees (the same number they are shooting for in 2014***) and came awfully close with 69,930. The contractors, who are used to coming in way under the goal, are probably jumping for joy since they are paid by the head to bring refugees to your towns and cities.
Iraqis top the list with 19,491 resettled!
Burma comes in at number two with 16,299.
Bhutan (Nepal): 9,134
Somalia: 7,608 (a very high number compared to recent years)
Of note: we admitted 164 Palestinians, a small number, but as you know Palestinians are not usually resettled around the world.
*** We are waiting anxiously for the report to Congress that accompanies the Presidential Determination. Let us know if you see it!
The photo is from a story I didn’t have time to post from The Republican in Springfield, Mass. It’s the first story I’ve seen in awhile where Iraqis complain about their lives here. For awhile, a few years ago, it seemed there were weekly reports of unhappy Iraqis. See our Iraqi refugee category (590 posts!), here, for more.
You can bet the federal refugee contractors are working overtime to get Syrian groups exempted from “terrorism bars” that have helped slow the flow of certain groups of refugees to the US in recent years.
David Garfield of the Garfield Law Group: “For Syrians, I think it’s going to be a major problem.”
It’s ironic that as Obama sends weapons to Syrian ‘rebels,’ he is indeed creating more impediments to refugee resettlement.
Authorized by Congress, the CIA has started sending weapons to Syrian rebels. But under a legal definition of terrorism adopted by the U.S. government after the Sept. 11 attacks, those same rebel groups are considered terrorist organizations.
The designation could prevent some of the more than 2 million refugees who have fled Syria from coming to the United States, even if they haven’t actually taken up arms against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Groups that appear on the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations have long been banned from entering the U.S. But two antiterrorism laws, the Patriot Act and the Real ID Act, also bar members of armed rebel groups that aren’t specifically designated as terrorist organizations.
The provisions, sometimes known as terrorism bars, apply to all armed rebel groups — even ones the U.S. is actively supporting.
The bars also deny entry to anyone who has given any kind of “material support” — transportation, shelter, money — to such groups.
The U.S. has accepted only 64 Syrian refugees in the last two years, according to a State Department spokeswoman. But it’s unclear how many, if any, Syrians have run afoul of the terrorism bars to date.
US planning to take 2,000 Syrians in FY2014, the trick will be finding 2,000 with no affiliation to the rebel groups!
But the U.N. is preparing to resettle up to 2,000 Syrians in the coming months, said Larry Yungk, senior resettlement officer for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Washington, and the terrorism bars could be a hurdle to resettling them in the U.S.
Washington, DC immigration lawyer: It is going to be a big problem! The law does not differentiate terrorists by good terrorists (the ones we like) and bad terrorists (the ones we are opposing)!
David Garfield, a Washington lawyer who has represented immigrants caught up by the terrorism bars, was more blunt.
“For Syrians, I think it’s going to be a major problem,” Garfield said. “The thing about this law that’s so bizarre is that it doesn’t matter who you’re trying to overthrow.”
A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman, Christopher Bentley, said in a statement to ProPublica that “any Syrians who do apply for refugee or asylum status could be subject” to the bars.
The Citizenship and Immigration website makes clear just how sweeping the laws are: “Significantly, there is no exception under the law for ‘freedom fighters,’ so most rebel groups would be considered to be engaging in terrorist activity even if fighting against an authoritarian regime.”The website also states that refugees can be barred for “providing food, helping to set up tents, distributing literature, or making a small monetary contribution” to rebel groups.
There is a lot more, read it all, including the lengthy discussion about getting exemptions from the “terrorism bars.” And, note this:
Citizenship and Immigration would not say whether any exemptions for Syrian groups were in the pipeline.
I’ll betcha a buck that they are!
Photo is from Garfield’s immigration law group facebook page, here.
Frances McBrayer, senior director of refugee resettlement services: Don’t interrupt refugee benefits!
When the Refugee Act of 1980became law, the understanding was that refugees were not to be on welfare (we were not going to be importing poverty!) and that it was to be a public-private partnership where the private non-profits were supposed to be using their own funds along with taxpayer dollars for resettlement.
As we have chronicled at RRW over the years, the contractors are often 90% or even more funded by taxpayers, while some of their CEO’s are making high six-digit salaries!
The federal government shutdown has halted cash assistance and medical aid for refugees resettled in Georgia.
Refugees are permitted to use the federal cash aid for food, clothing, shelter, transportation and any other expenses until they become employed or otherwise self-sufficient, according to the Georgia Department of Human Services.A family of three is eligible to receive up to $280 monthly for up to eight months. Like the cash assistance, federal medical aid is based on gross income or resources.
“There may be other private funds available to refugees by the local resettlement agencies, churches, civic organization, etc.,” the state agency said in a prepared statement Wednesday.
Catholic Charities Atlanta bemoaned the loss of federal funding.
“Catholic Charities is hopeful for a quick resolution to all of this in order not to have these refugee benefits interrupted,” said Frances McBrayer, senior director of refugee resettlement services for Catholic Charities Atlanta.
I just now checked out Catholic Charities of Atlanta Form 990 (most recent one available). They took in about $5.7 million in that year. $1.75 million came directly from “government grants,” another $2 million came from “related organizations.” I can only guess that might be the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, which would make it also taxpayer dollars (p. 9 of Form 990). Their expenses on Page 10 included: salaries, benefits, office expenses, advertising, travel, conferences etc. amounting to $4.5 million (I’ve rounded the numbers). So basically, most of the income they receive goes toward keeping the organization running so they can get refugees resettled and signed-up for public assistance.
How about a special Bingo night or two to raise money for refugees during the government shut-down! Just a suggestion!
For all of our posts on problems in Atlanta, click here. For more on the Refugee Resettlement Program and government goodies, see our fact sheet.
Obama: Have no fear! We’ve got your Obamacare instructions in 150 different languages!
Before you read this, here is my disclaimer: Like most Americans, I don’t know what the heck Obamacare does or doesn’t do, but this is one supposed expert’s view on whether legal immigrants (although they may be non-citizens) must also sign-up for Obamacare. Yes! says the expert (with some caveats!).
The Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, begins a period of open enrollment on Tuesday, Oct. 1, and immigrants will have to comply with the new law.
Immigrants with legal status — green card-holders, asylees, people with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) — are required to have health insurance coverage just like U.S. citizens.
For immigrants without legal status, nothing changes. Obamacare has nothing to offer unauthorized immigrants other than the status quo. Hospitals are still required to provide emergency room care to anyone who comes through their doors, regardless of immigration status, race or ethnicity. [Caveat #1: hospitals will still have to treat everyone and then try to squeeze the patient for payment later—-good luck with that!—ed]
Immigrants who have lived in the United States legally for at least five years and meet income requirements may be eligible to get Medicaid health coverage. [Caveat #2: A large number of legal refugees will just sign up for Medicaid, and probably not be truthful about income.—ed]
Are there penalties for immigrants who qualify to participate in the new system but don’t? Yes, immigrants are subject to fines, just like U.S. citizens. [Caveat #3: We keep hearing that the fines are so low that it’s better to pay the fine, but do they even file a tax return on which to be fined?—ed]
…. there’s a hotline where you can apply over the phone and get help with the application, or just get questions that you have answered by real people, in 150 different languages. So let me give you that number. The number is 1-800-318-2596 — 1-800-318-2596.
If any of you speak another language well, why not call and see what is available in that language!
