Category: Obama

Reminder! Visit Friends of Refugees blog

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I know I’ve said it before, but I can’t say it enough.  Visit ‘Friends of Refugees’ here where investigative blogger Christopher Coen has some very informative posts about how the US Refugee Resettlement program continues to falter leaving communities struggling and refugees in the lurch.   In Arizona for instance the State Refugee coordinator is begging the US State Department to send no more Iraqis to Arizona.

Meanwhile we hear that this week the Obama Administration will tell Congress that they will aim for 80,000 more refugees in FY 2011 which begins October 1.

Obama’s Auntie Zeituni Onyango tells her story

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Via Gateway Pundit, here is the latest news about Obama’s illegal-immigrant aunt from an exclusive interview at WBZ in Boston.

“If I come as an immigrant, you have the obligation to make me a citizen.” Those are the words from 58-year-old Zeituni Onyango of Kenya in a recent exclusive interview with WBZ-TV.

Onyango is the aunt of President Barack Obama. She lived in the United States illegally for years, receiving public assistance in Boston.

Aunt Zeituni, as she has come to be known, first surfaced in the public light in 2008, in the final days of the Presidential election. Then-candidate Obama said that he was not against the possible deportation of his aunt. “If she has violated laws, then those laws have to be obeyed,” he told CBS’s Katie Couric. “We are a nation of laws.”

Onyango had violated the law, and she knew it.

“I knew I had overstayed” she told WBZ-TV’s Jonathan Elias when the two sat down one-on-one.

Here’s where your tax money is going:

For two years Onyango said she lived in a homeless shelter, before she was assigned public housing despite thousands of legal residents also awaiting assistance. “I didn’t take any advantage of the system. The system took advantage of me.”

“I didn’t ask for it; they gave it to me. Ask your system. I didn’t create it or vote for it. Go and ask your system,” she said unapologetically.

And she’s right. The system provided her assistance despite her status as an illegal immigrant.

Here’s something notable. Obama’s father’s family seems to be both Muslim and non-Muslim as far as I can find out. The WBZ article continues:

Onyango hired a top immigration lawyer from Cleveland to help fight her case. We asked how she afforded that lawyer, when she claimed poverty.

“When you believe in Jesus Christ and almighty God, my help comes from heaven,” she responded.

As with Obama, one can’t help asking what she really believes. She seems like a sharp woman, but not necessarily an honest or straightforward one. But I never can help laughing at the idea that Obama has an ounce of compassion when he lets not only his Auntie but his brother George and various other relatives live in poverty without even a word of regret or encouragement.

There’s more at the above link including a video of the interview.

Our previous posts about Auntie Zeituni are here.

Update, 9/24: Here is part 2 of the interview.

Surprise, refugees stressed because there are no jobs

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

As the end of the fiscal year approaches on September 30th we see that the US has admitted 60,566 (figures as of July 31, here) refugees to that date with 14,836 of those being Iraqis.  President Obama, this time last year, pledged to aim to bring a record 80,000 refugees to the US during the recession. It will be interesting to see what the figures are for August which should be available shortly.  I’m guessing they are trying really hard to pour in the refugees in the final weeks in an effort to come close to their goal.

Meanwhile, of course, the complaints keep coming that there is no work for large numbers of these refugees.  Here is a report from Oregon:

But less than half of the refugees coming to the U.S. this year will find work, according to Kay Bellor. She’s the vice president of the International Rescue Committee. Bellor says the bad economy has caused refugees to experience stress levels similar to the trauma they faced in their home countries, even for Iraqi refugees who’ve just left a war zone [emphasis mine].

Kay Bellor: And to come seeking safety and have the safety, but then realize you’re faced with the possibility of not being able to keep that roof over your head, it’s a huge strain on the refugees.

It’s a strain that employment specialist Lucy Merlot knows all too well. She says refugees face evictions. Some have turned to illegal activities like dealing drugs and prostitution. Merlot says they’re getting desperate and frustrated, even with her.

Merlot (Lucy who works for Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization: They are trusting that we are going to be their saviors, and the reality is we are trying our best to assist them, but we have our hands tied.

Merlot and the relief agency she works for have their own set of challenges. IRCO recently laid off a handful of staff members to keep the books in the black. For now, its budget is safe, until the new fiscal year begins in October. After that, even Lucy Merlot may be looking for work.

Shortly, if its not out already and as the recession continues, we will see how many refugees President Obama will be proposing for admission to the US in FY2011.

Obama State Department: No Iraqi refugee airlift anticipated

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We told you way back in January of 2009  that the “progressives” at John Podesta’s Center for American Progress (George Soros) began pushing the Obama team to commit to airlifting Iraqis to the US in the tens of thousands before they had even taken office.

Now, as the US draw down has begun, Eric Schwartz, Asst. Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration told Maryland Senator Ben Cardin (among others) that the refugee program was so successful there would be no need to airlift Iraqis who helped the US.  (See also Schwartz connection to George Soros, here.)    Hat tip:   Friends of Refugees blog here.  By the way, since I’ve been busy elsewhere, read FOR for all the latest on refugees being left in the lurch by their federally contracted resettlement agencies.

From the Washington Post:

At a recent hearing, Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin warned the State Department’s top refugee official that Iraqis who had worked for the U.S. military would be in increasing jeopardy during the American drawdown.

“Let me just remind you that in 1996, we had an airlift of Iraqis” involved with U.S. organizations, when their security was threatened, said Cardin (D-Md.).

“You don’t have to remind me” about the airlift, replied the official, Eric P. Schwartz. “Because I managed it at the National Security Council.”

Fourteen years after that dramatic operation, Schwartz is again grappling with the resettlement of Iraqis – this time, as assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration.

During the first several years of the Iraq conflict, the administration of George W. Bush was intensely criticized for accepting only a trickle of the 3 million or more Iraqis who had fled their homes.

But the flow of Iraqis to the United States has dramatically expanded, to 18,000 last year.

It is now the largest refugee resettlement program in the world.

Read it all.

Note to Senator Cardin, maybe you should look into all the cases of Iraqi refugees who have been brought to the US and are profoundly unhappy with their resettlement—some have even returned to the Middle East.  Or, maybe hop on over to Senator Lugar’s office and learn more about how the refugee program is working on the ground in overburdened cities like Ft. Wayne, IN.

Check the numbers here.  The fiscal year ends on September 30th.  The Obama refugee resettlement goal was 80,000 for this year.  They have now resettled 60,566 as of July 31st.  14,836 are Iraqis (the largest single group of refugees admitted, with Burmese coming in a close second).

Virgil Goode: Anchor babies cost taxpayers–bigtime!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Your tax dollars:

Former Virginia Congressman, Virgil Goode, has published another good piece on a hot immigration issue at Frontpage magazine this morning.   It begins:

In his address to the country on immigration last week, President Obama said that “being an American is not a matter of blood or birth.” Our current government policy of giving automatic US citizenship to the children illegal aliens [not just illegal aliens but any other foreigner who happens to be here temporarily–ed] who are born on American soil makes being American solely a matter of birth.

Americans are quickly waking up to the disaster that is the arbitrary government policy of guaranteed automatic citizenship to the children of illegal aliens. A Rasmussen Poll found that 58% of Americans opposed granting citizenship to the children of illegal aliens, while only 33% supported it.

Birthright citizenship creates a massive fiscal burden on the American taxpayer.

Read it all, especially the part about how Obamacare will be used by illegal aliens through their children.

We have posted other works by Rep. Goode, use our search function to find those.

Note to readers: Regular readers know I’m working on a political campaign and don’t have time to read and write extensively for RRW.   I’ve suggested new readers check our categories and you will find dozens of posts on your topic of interest.  Use our search function for key words.   Also, note in the right hand column the “Top Posts”—most visited posts in the last few days.   Although sometimes older posts readers obviously continue to find them useful.