Category: Obama

USCCB: No hope for Christians in Iraq, bring more to the US

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Well, that is basically the gist of what the US Conference of Catholic Bishops told President Obama lately.  Check out the whole story Clerical Whispers:

The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops urged the U.S. government to “redouble its efforts to assist Iraqis” in providing safety for its citizens, especially religious minorities.

“To meet its moral obligations to the Iraqi people, it is critically important that the United States take additional steps now to help Iraq protect its citizens, especially Christians and others who are victims of organized attacks,” said Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago in a Nov. 9 letter to U.S. President Barack Obama.

Read it all, but, I warn you, it is one of those dark websites that are hard to read.

Regular readers know that the USCCB is largely funded by you, the taxpayer, because we have written about that a zillion times on these pages (one of many recent posts is here).   The USCCB and Catholic Charities around the US are busy resettling Muslims to cities near you and could very well say to Obama, point blank, we want to resettle more Christians because they are being persecuted in Iraq and elsewhere in Muslim countries, but they are too squishy to say it.  Maybe this is about as close as they are going to get.  My fear is that the USCCB is really saying let’s bring an even larger total number of refugees (because we are paid by the head) instead of substituting the desperate Christians for some others.

Religious Left a loser in Tuesday election

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Looks like the socialists at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (a political organization funded with your tax dollars) and other Leftwing religious groups in the Open Borders movement have more work to do. 

A majority of Catholics switched back to the Republican side in Tuesday’s election after a short love affair with Barack Obama in 2008.   See Gateway Pundit here with the numbers.

More on the US Conference of Catholic Bishops at this post from last March, here.

Obama: Sure, we’ll aim for another 80,000 refugees this fiscal year

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

No jobs, who cares!

The federal government’s fiscal year (FY2011) began two weeks ago on October 1.  President Obama sent his Determination Letter to Congress on the 3oth of September, a document that sets the upper limit for refugee resettlement for the upcoming year.

Some were hoping to see a lowered ceiling this year in light of the on-going economic recession, but no such luck.  The ceiling for FY2010 was 80,000 and Obama is aiming for that many again.   Readers contrast the two years following 9/11 when everyone was scared to death terrorists would be arriving in droves where the numbers were 45,896 in 2002 and 39,544 in 2003, here.   It appears however that we didn’t quite make the 80,000 this year—total here as of September 30th is 73,311.

This is from the Obama letter to Congress:

In accordance with section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (the “Act”) (8 U.S.C. 1157), as amended, and after appropriate consultations with the Congress, I hereby make the following determinations and authorize the following actions:

The admission of up to 80,000 refugees to the United States during Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest…

Regional goals are as follows:

Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,000
East Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,000
Europe and Central Asia . . . . . . . . . . 2,000
Latin America/Caribbean. . . . . . . . . . . 5,500
Near East/South Asia. . . . . . . . . . . 35,500
Unallocated Reserve . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,000

To find out what countries are in each region go back to this site where the countries are listed.

A refugee is generally defined as someone who has left one’s country due to persecution or a fear of persecution, however, the definition is ‘fudged’ in several cases.  “Refugees” who have not left their country can still be called “refugees” if they are from one of these countries:

I [Barack Obama] also specify that, for FY 2011, the following persons may, if otherwise qualified, be considered refugees for the purpose of admission to the United States within their countries of nationality or habitual residence:

a. Persons in Cuba
b. Persons in the former Soviet Union
c. Persons in Iraq
d. In exceptional circumstances, persons identified by a United States Embassy in any location.

Obama greeted by former refugee protesters in Philadelphia

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Here is a story that didn’t make the mainstream media news this week.  The Obama Administration is in the process of aggressively deporting refugees who have committed crimes in the US.   I previously reported the story about the Philadelphia Cambodians here.

This is from a website called “Citizen Orange.”  It’s probably some Far Left Open Borders website, but I’m going to surprise readers and suggest that I have some sympathy for refugees who committed small crimes long ago (assuming we are being told the whole story!) and have established productive lives.  Imagine if you came to the US as a child, speak English and perhaps none of your native tongue, and are deported and literally dropped off in what is now a foreign country and expected to fend for yourself.

Honestly, readers know me, I’m the first to say let’s enforce the law, but I don’t get what Obama is doing with this.  He doesn’t want to close the border to illegal aliens but his administration is eager to deport some legal immigrant who committed a small crime years ago, served his prison sentence, reentered the community and did not commit another crime since his first offense and he will be just dropped off in Phnom Penh leaving a wife and kids on welfare in Philly.

There has to be more to this story, if anyone knows please let me know.  The suggestion by the author of this posting that this is the Obama administration’s attempt to look tough on immigration in advance of the elections seems to me ridiculous.  They could have chosen a more clearcut way to prove a newfound toughness.

From “Citizen Orange:”

Survivors of the Cambodian genocide who came to the U.S. as child refugees are now being deported by the Obama administration for crimes committed in the U.S. years ago. These refugees are longtime permanent residents who have reintegrated into their Philadelphia communities after release from prison. Many have U.S. citizen wives and children. Some have started small businesses. The Obama administration has the discretion to exercise lenience in cases of compelling humanitarian or family interest like these, but is more interested in appearing tough on immigration ahead of the elections.

A group of the refugees’ family members and supporters confronted President Obama on his visit to northwest Philadelphia on Sunday, spelling out the message “STOP DEPORTING REFUGEES” to his motorcade as it passed by on the way to a rally in support of Democratic candidates in Pennsylvania.

[…..]

President Obama didn’t acknowledge the suffering of the families gathered at his rally on Sunday, hoping to catch his attention. The government has remained silent about its recent campaign against the Cambodian community in Philadelphia.

Again, I don’t get it.  What is up with this?  What is up with Obama?

Deportations up under Obama

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Hmmmm…this is an interesting report from the Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday [emphasis mine]:

After he was convicted of assaulting a Philadelphia man in 1998, Cambodian refugee Mout Iv knew he was in the United States on borrowed time.

As it turned out, quite a lot of borrowed time.

He was freed from a Pennsylvania prison after four years, but paperwork snafus prevented his immediate return to Cambodia, as required by law. So immigration agents put Iv on “supervised release,” allowing him to open a barber shop in Olney

The government kept tabs on him with scheduled interviews, random phone calls, and unannounced visits.

Last week, at an ostensibly routine appointment, Iv, 33, was fingerprinted, photographed, and arrested. He’s now in prison being readied for deportation. [We learn later in the story that Iv came as a 7-year-old refugee—ed]

It “was always in the back of my mind,” said his fiancée, CJ Vonglaha, 26. “But I didn’t think in my wildest dreams it would be like this.”

Nor did many of the thousands of other noncitizen refugees being rounded up nationwide because of crimes largely committed years ago. In Philadelphia this month, the heat has been on the Cambodian community, which has protested deportation proceedings against at least six of its members.

Behind the rash of detentions and expulsions is the Obama administration, which is attempting to win public and congressional support for immigration reform.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) is on track to deport 400,000 people this year – a 10 percent increase over expulsions in 2008, the last year of the George W. Bush administration, and more than double the number in 2005.

Read the rest of the story.