Since we have been talking about security screening for refugees, and since the deadline for the annual “diversity lottery” is this Sunday,   I thought it might be a good time to remind readers that besides refugee resettlement there are many additional immigration programs administered by the US State Department.   This highly questionable one came under fire from the General Accounting Office this past fall because of its potential security risk.   This was written by James Pinkerton and published at the Houston Chronicle a couple of days ago:

A little-known immigration lottery that grants 50,000 visas a year poses a ”pervasive fraud risk” and could be used by terrorists with false documents to enter the U.S., according to federal auditors.

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Called the “diversity visa,” the program is designed to bring variety to the stream of immigrants legally entering the country. The deadline to apply for this year’s lottery is 11 a.m. Sunday, and it is open to citizens of 170 countries that sent fewer than 50,000 immigrants during the past five years, according to the U.S. State Department.

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But at six of 11 consular posts reviewed by Government Accountability Office investigators, officers found ”widespread” use of fake documents, including counterfeit birth and marriage certificates and passports, according to the agency’s report in September.

I had to laugh about the need to “bring variety to the stream of immigrants.”  We don’t have enough variety in the Refugee Resettlement program?   In  Appendix A of the 2005 Annual report to Congress there are 24 differant countries and regions listed from which we receive refugees.  A couple of those are listed only as former Soviet Union or Yugoslavia which actually represent many additional countries.   This “diversity visa” demonstrates the grip multiculturalism uber alles has on our sappy State Department.

This past weekend I attended two days of meetings in Washington about immigration.  It was a great opportunity to learn more about the subject and to meet national leaders from around the country.  From time to time I’ll refer to aspects of the meeting as it relates to other things we are writing about at Refugee Resettlement Watch.

But this morning, I’ll just tell you about this one eye-opener.  The immigration reform movement encompasses people from across the political spectrum.

My education and early employment was in the environmental field.  I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that many environmentalists have found a home with those seeking to stop illegal immigration and reform legal immigration.   The major national environmental groups are so fearful of their leftwing funders that they shun the issue.  But, many environmentalists see the ever-increasing numbers of immigrants as a severe threat to open space, clean water, clean air and just the overall quality of life.  

Steve Camarata of the Center for Immigration Studies reported on his statistical work that predicts a 100 million increase in US population by 2050 almost exclusively due to immigration if it remains at the present level.   The audience that heard this information, again across the entire political spectrum, is not moved by any multicultural/diversity is great/save all the people of the world yammering we are so used to hearing in our local and national media.  The focus was entirely on what hard policy decisions do we make now that will bring America through this century as the greatest nation on earth in which to live.

Dr. Esam Omeish’s  tenure on a Virginia commission to address immigration problems in that state was shortlived when tapes of past statements supporting Jihad came to light.    Omeish is President of the Muslim America Society (MAS) an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.  Go to the Center for Vigilant Freedom here for the full story.

For readers in Washington County, Esam Omeish was on the front page of the Herald Mail on January 1 of this year speaking at a religious event at the Islamic Society of Western Maryland. 

Over 200,000 Muslim refugees have entered the US since the State Department began tracking their numbers in 1988.

A follow-up thought this morning (the 28th):  Note that the Herald Mail doesn’t identify Esam Omeish as the President of a national Islamic organization.  Where is the journalistic curiosity?

Your tax dollars:

Every time you turn around there is some new angle on this issue of immigrants, refugees and mass migration.  This time its Remittances—the money immigrants send home and out of the US economy.    According to this article in the Washington Times yesterday, we really did not have a handle on how large a problem this was until after 9/11 when we began tracking terrorist financing.

The US lost a staggering $41 billion in 2005 alone ($22 billion went to Mexico), and according to this article much of it untaxed.  I guess it’s no surprise that the US has the largest outflow of money in the world. 

The article also touches on the concern many  leaders of the world’s less well-off countries have and that is the brain drain issue.  Actually this is something I’ve been wondering about—if everyone wants to live in the US, how will other countries ever improve the condition of their people?   And, if they improve largely because of remittances from the US, won’t that eventually kill that goose laying the golden eggs?

Globally, remittances — the cash that immigrants send home — totaled nearly $276 billion in 2006, according to the World Bank. Remittances have more than doubled since 2000, and with globalization increasing the number of people on the move, there’s no end in sight.

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Analysts tracking the phenomenon said they have gotten a much clearer picture since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when authorities trying to cut the flow of cash to jihadists began taking a harder look at how immigrants move their money around.

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 Mass migration, they say, has spawned an underground economy of staggering proportions.  

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There are other downsides: fears of brain drains and a vast permanent army of economic exiles, and the untaxed earnings flowing out of host nations.

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 The U.S. lost $41.1 billion in 2005, according to the World Bank…

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Mexicans wire home the most cash — nearly $22 billion — most of it earned in the U.S.

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Much of the world’s migration is illegal, and although many immigrants work at menial jobs, some are doctors, engineers and other professionals. Their departure can mean a brain drain of highly trained personnel and create an immigration culture.