Australia deal: Come on America speak up as Breitbart and Ann Coulter are doing….

10/04/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Just this morning I reread Nayla Rush’s indepth definitive report on the “deal” Obama set up and Trump is continuing that would bring as many as 1,250 illegal aliens held in detention (by Australia) on offshore islands to your town!

anne richard with UN seal — Rush reported that one of the architects of Obama’s dumb deal (now Trump’s dumb deal) was his Asst. Sec. of State Richard, formerly a VP at the International Rescue Committee which had been contracted to do the initial screening of these men.

We reported the other day, here, that 50 are on the way to:

Georgia, Oregon, Colorado, Texas, and Arizona.

I want all of you to take a few minutes and read Rush’s report at the Center for Immigration Studies here. You will see how truly screwed-up our refugee program has been and CONTINUES to be when you see the kinds of people we are admitting—-mostly single men, some held in detention for as long as 4 years, 80% of whom have been declared in need of serious mental health treatment, from countries like Iran, Somalia, and Afghanistan.

‘Extreme vetting?’

No way because instead of the 18-24 months the feds are always bragging about, their vetting was less than a year because the deal was announced only in September of 2016. See one of our many posts where I reported that the on-again, off-again screening began in November and of course, in less than a year, here they come.

So, can we really expect these men to settle down to jobs in meatpacking towns, in apartments funded by you, collecting their welfare benefits and accessing your local mental health clinics on the way to becoming upstanding and contributing American citizens?

Here is Haaretz reporting on a Breitbart story and Ann Coulter’s response:

This Sunday, Breitbart, the publication run by former Trump adminitration chief strategist Steve Bannon, ran a “news report” which slammed President Trump for continuing an Obama-era deal for the U.S. to resettler Middle Eastern refugees held in Australia.

“The president has now broken two long-promised campaign pledges: Throwing out deals that don’t benefit Americans and stopping the flow of foreign refugees won’t benefit Americans and stopping the flow of foreign refugees,” wrote John Binder in Breitbart.

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Haaretz continued….

Ann Coulter, who has been critical of Trump’s lack of follow through on his hardline immigration promises, joined in Breitbart’s anger, Facetiously joking on Twitter, “This never would have happened if Trump had been elected!!!”

Breitart and Coulter were incised [they must mean ‘incensed’—ed] by reports a second group of about 30 refugees held in Australian-run detention centres on South Pacific islands will leave soon for resettlement in the United States under a controversial refugee swap deal.

The first group of 22, including men from Bangladesh, Sudan and Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, left one of the camps on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea on Sunday…

I have a very large archive on the”dumb” Australia deal. If you really want to understand the sheer stupidity of the arrangement, click here.

It is no longer Obama’s “dumb deal,” it is Trump’s!

And, I don’t care what the justification of this deal is. This is an abuse of refugee resettlement law and I maintain that Australia needs us more than we need them!

Contact the White House and your elected officials in Washington and tell them what you think. If you are in one of the five targeted states (listed above) for ‘welcoming’ the Australian rejected asylum seekers, let your governor know what you think as well.

First 50 of Australia’s failed asylum seekers have arrived in US

09/29/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

And, yes, Mr. President, the deal was “dumb” and it makes you “look terrible.”

We have America’s hurricane refugees and you are bringing in ‘refugees’ that Australia does not want on its mainland!

Trump and Turnbull shitty grin — What is Trump grinning about? He (we!) get nothing out of the deal that saves Turnbull’s political neck.

The news that they were leaving Australia’s detention centers en route to at least five American states is two days old, so surely they have been delivered.

For new readers, see all of my posts on the Australian (dumb!) deal by clicking here.

Here is the news posted Wednesday at The Guardian:

More than 50 refugees from Manus Island and Nauru are on their way to the United States to be resettled there.

The first 52 refugees to be accepted for resettlement in the United States under a contentious agreement with Australia have left the Pacific island camps where they had been held for years.

Their move comes as reports from Washington indicate the US is preparing to announce it is further slashing its overall refugee intake to its lowest level in a decade.

The first 25 refugees from the men-only camp on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island had flown out of the capital, Port Moresby, on Tuesday for the United States via the Philippines and Qatar, Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said.

Another 27 refugees flew to Port Moresby on Wednesday from a camp in Nauru, he said, also bound, ultimately, for Los Angeles.

But, Los Angeles is not their final destination:

The refugees will be resettled across the United States, including in Georgia, Oregon, Colorado, Texas and Arizona.

They will be assisted with housing, physical and mental healthcare, English lessons, enrolment of children in schools, and in finding employment. [On the US taxpayer’s dime!—ed]

[….]

Obama’s administration had agreed to accept up to 1,250 of Australia’s refugees, mostly from Iran, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, [earlier reports said that Rohingya Muslims were in the group too—ed] in exchange for Australia agreeing to accept refugees from the “northern triangle” countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, under a US-led resettlement program. [These are mostly economic migrants NOT even in the US.—ed]

It was dumb when Obama did it, and it is dumb now!

Trump lashed his predecessor’s deal as “dumb”, and complained in a phone call to the Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, that it would “make me look terrible”.

[….]

Trump ultimately agreed to honour the agreement, subject to “extreme vetting” of refugees.

The US is under no obligation to take a set number of refugees. Australian officials are confident the US will resettle somewhere approaching the 1,250 figure publicly speculated…

The takeaway from this dumb deal is that the US is helping Australia protect its borders, and maintain its security and sovereignty while sacrificing ours!

Australia’s asylum policy mandates that no refugee who arrives in Australia by boat can ever be resettled in the country, a policy the government says dissuades asylum seekers from attempting the dangerous and occasionally deadly ocean crossing from Indonesia.

You can read the rest of the story, here.

Tell the President what you think by clicking here.

Trump State Dept. gives Aussies information we don’t have….

09/20/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

…..that the first of Australia’s illegal alien detainees have been notified that they will be coming to your towns within weeks!

Trump grin and Tillerson — Australian media learns before we do that Australia’s rejected asylum seekers will begin arriving in unsuspecting American towns within weeks.

That news tells us that the White House has determined to begin admitting a new batch of third worlders on October 1 and thus clearly has chosen to not suspend the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program while Americans are suffering (Harvey, Irma and now Maria).

As of this writing the Presidential determination and accompanying report (which would outline how many we will take from Australian detention centers) has not been released to us—those paying for it and those who will have to live with the arrivals, reportedly from Bangladesh, Sudan and Burma (Rohingya Muslims)!

Was all of Trump’s ‘America First’ rhetoric at the UN yesterday just that—rhetoric?

Here is the Reuters news this morning about the Obama deal Trump called “dumb,” but nevertheless is apparently honoring starting today in order to save Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s political skin!

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Wednesday the first group of about 50 men and woman held in two controversial detention centers for asylum-seekers on remote Pacific islands will be resettled in the United States within weeks.

Nauru refugees — America! Here we come! The detainees are mostly men who have lived in a men-only camp, some for as long as four years.

The comments mark the first official timetable for when the United States will begin resettling up to 1,250 people held in Australian-run centers on Nauru and Papua New Guinea’s Manus island as part of a refugee swap deal struck by former U.S. President Barack Obama late last year.

Australia will begin resettling several dozen Central American refugees within weeks under the deal that U.S. President Donald Trump has described as “dumb” but has nevertheless said Washington will honor.

“There will be about 25 from both Manus and Nauru will be going to the United States and I just want to thank again President Trump for continuing with that arrangement,” Turnbull said in a video statement.

Three sources familiar with the process said about 25 men from countries such as Bangladesh, Sudan, and Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar held on Manus island were the first to be told on Wednesday, with a similar number on Nauru to be told Thursday.

One Sudanese refugee approved for resettlement told Reuters he would leave Manus Island in a few days. [If they are being notified, you know its a done deal!—ed]

Continue here.

This is something we would have expected from Obama, but we didn’t expect Trump to agree to this extremely unusual arrangement—taking another country’s rejected asylum seekers (and mostly Muslims to boot!).

In exchange some Central American economic migrants not even in the US will go to Australia as the benefit we get from the ‘deal.’

For new readers, my extensive archive on the Trump “dumb deal” is here.

If you want to tell the White House what you think, click here. Tell him you should be notified about which cities and towns will be ‘welcoming’ them.

US Catholic Bishops rolling in federal dough according to financial statements

09/19/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

USCCB Yesterday I said that it is time for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops to add one important detail to every press release or news story where they lecture us (or Donald Trump) about humanitarianism, about social justice, about “welcoming the stranger.”

That important missing piece of information is how much of your money (not freely given) goes to them directly from the US Treasury.

Thanks to reader Joanne for pointing us to recent audited financial reports for the Bishops, here. And, specifically the most recent one available.

As you look at the numbers, don’t miss the millions going to the Bishops for the Unaccompanied Alien Children!

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For fun I went back to the 2010 report for comparison. Wow!

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During Obama’s time in office they went from $58 million to $95 million!

You need to know too, that individual Catholic Charities (usually through the local diocese) are also getting money separately from the feds for many activities. Use USASpending.gov to research your local “charities.”

As we have said repeatedly: refugee resettlement is a business!

Senate Dems want law followed on refugee Presidential determination

09/17/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Rumors were rampant that President Donald Trump would announce on Friday the Presidential “determination” on how many refugees could be admitted (it is a CEILING number) to the US beginning on October 1 (for FY18). Nothing happened.

Just looking around this morning I see that mid-week last week Senators Dick Durban and Dianne Feinstein (founding members of the ‘Jihad caucus’ who wanted 65,000 Syrians in addition to the usual 60-70,000 from other regions in Obama’s final full year), sent a letter to Trump asking him when this years’ ‘consultation’ could be expected.

The House and Senate, for the last 10 years (the years I have followed the program), could not have cared less about what the law said were the steps required in the consultation and Presidential determination (I outlined those steps here recently).

LOL! But all that changes now that Trump occupies the White House.

It is maddening to know something about an issue and see the complete disdain by elected officials for the laws they themselves wrote!

Sighing…

So here is the Reuters story about Dick and Dianne getting all uppity about something (the legal process) they didn’t care about during Obama’s years.

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Two high-ranking Democrats in the U.S. Senate asked the Trump administration on Wednesday to provide information on any plans to cut refugee admissions to historically low levels, saying Congress had not yet been consulted as required by law.

Dianne Feinstein, Dick Durbin — Suddenly Dick and Dianne are concerned with the steps laid out in the Refugee Act of 1980 for determining each years refugee admission ceiling.

“To date, we have not received a proposed refugee admissions plan for fiscal year 2018 or received any cooperation from your agencies in scheduling the refugee consultation,” Senator Richard Durbin and Senator Dianne Feinstein wrote in a letter seen by Reuters.

The letter was sent on Wednesday to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price.

“We request that the proposed refugee admissions report be transmitted to Congress promptly and that we immediately begin the process of scheduling the consultation,” the letter said.

By law, the president is required to consult with members of Congress about the number of refugee admissions before the start of each fiscal year, which is Oct. 1.

Gee, for once we see a mainstream media outlet give some information on the ceiling vs. actual admissions numbers:

Since the U.S. Refugee Act was signed in 1980, the ceiling has never been set below 67,000 and in recent years has hovered around 70,000 to 80,000. The number of refugees actually admitted to the country can fall below the cap, and dropped to its lowest level in the fiscal year after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks with only around 27,000 admitted. [No one went bonkers on Bush—ed]

Pay attention to the RAISE Act.

The proposed RAISE Act, which the White House has endorsed, calls for lower immigration overall and a statutory limit on the number of refugees offered permanent residency to no more than 50,000.

Reports that the 2018 cap might be set below 50,000 raised alarm bells for Democrats in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

More here if you want to read it.

Final thought: Trump goes to the UN this week. The federal refugee contractors have been yammering for 75,000 refugees for FY18. Any number less than that announced this week will surely bring out screaming protesters and media hysteria. IMHO Trump should have announced numbers weeks ago (assuming they will be low!).

As you know, in light of American homelessness from Harvey and Irma, we have been advocating for a suspension of the program or at least a many-months delay in making a Presidential Determination.