Category: Other Immigration

Pew: Foreign-born workers getting jobs, not so much for Americans

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The Federation for American Immigration Reform reports the following in its end of the week wrap-up:

The Pew Hispanic Center has released a new report that found that “Foreign-born workers are…experiencing a faster rate of growth in employment than native-born workers.” This continues a trend that began at the start of the economic “recovery” in June 2009, and it highlights the fact that our immigration system is operating to the detriment of American workers.

Given the influence of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other special interest groups that push for an increased immigration level, it should surprise no one that even in the midst of the worst unemployment America has seen in the past 30 years, our government continues to admit millions of foreign workers every year, with some politicians campaigning for even higher levels of admissions – Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Scott Brown (R-Mass.) being the latest.

Be sure to have a look at the Pew Report which tries to soften the blow by linking the employment rate to increased population levels of mostly Hispanics and Asians.  They say that the white and black American populations are not rising as rapidly so it stands to reason that Hispanics and Asians are getting the jobs (say what?).

Galveston and the curious case of “George” the ‘unaccompanied alien’

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Most Americans don’t know that the US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), is responsible for the care of thousands of kids a year who somehow got into the US from a foreign country without a parent or guardian— it is called the “Unaccompanied Alien Children Program.”

Not surprisingly the largest number of such “kids” come from Mexico and Central America.    Skeptical readers might wonder if they weren’t dropped off/separated from family on purpose as the largest percentage of the children are in their mid-teens.

One such “unaccompanied minor” now turned 18 is the subject of this editorial in the Galveston Daily News where editor Heber Taylor amuses readers (sort of) with his introduction to the story (emphasis mine):

The federal government owes island residents a better explanation of the strange case of “George,” an 18-year-old Honduran immigrant who came to Galveston under a program operated by the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

George had an exciting time in January.

He was accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl who, along with her family, was in a homeless shelter operated by the Children’s Center Inc., a social services agency that has deep roots in Galveston. The organization has been on the island, supported by some of its prominent families, since the 19th century.

George also was involved in the arrest of Terry Bernard, 38, whose girlfriend was convinced George was having sex with her 12-year-old daughter. Bernard told police he used the 12-year-old girl’s cellphone to send a text message to George, inviting him to the park for sex.

About six shots were fired, and Bernard, who apparently was trying to discourage the alleged relationship with the girl, remains jailed on several felony charges and is facing a parole board warrant.

While shots were fired in the park, George was unscathed in that case.

However, George was shot during an unrelated robbery, capping off a busy month.

George’s medical care for the gunshot wound was provided because he had a Medicaid card, something many people would dearly love to have.

George cannot work legally in this country, and it is not clear how he was able to acquire a cellphone and property that was valuable enough to make him a target of an armed robber.

So how did a character like George get to Galveston?

Read on.  The answer isn’t clear, but editor Taylor wants Texas readers to write to elected officials in Washington for an explanation!

Taylor raises a point I’ve wondered about too.  After the little darlings are cared for with the help of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops which both get federal grants for their “charitable” work—kids are fed, clothed, housed, educated and health care needs met—what happens to them when they turn 18?

They are EMANCIPATED of course!  I kid you not, that is the word used in the 2008 ORR Annual Report to Congress (see pages 61-65 for a description of the program) for what happens after the illegal youngsters learn “independent living skills.”  So, is that what George was learning at Catholic Charities?

Houston-Galveston Catholic Charities Sex Abuse scandal

Gee, I wonder did “George” learn a few things at this Catholic Charities that was rocked by a sex abuse scandal involving ‘unaccompanied minors’—see the shocking report here last September!

According to the Houston Chronicle story I wrote about, ORR “takes care of” over 6000 such kids a year and half of those are in Texas.  (Here is a chart with the top five states with “apprehensions” of minors).   I guess when they turn 18 they are just “emancipated” into your towns with there new skills.  And, LOL!, they will expect a Texas taxpayer-subsidized college education to boot!

New food stamp bust in Dearbornistan; Rep. Issa holds Congressional hearing

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Just as Rep. Daryl Issa’s hearing on food stamp fraud was taking place this week, we see yet more scammers busted in Michigan.   Here is the story from the Detroit News:

Detroit— Three Metro Detroit men have been charged with felony counts for a $262,000 food stamp fraud scheme at west side store.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette listed the charges Friday against 37-year-old Dani Mohamed-Kami Itani of Canton Township, Hassan Raychoini, 54, of Dearborn Heights and 22-year-old Raed Youseff of Dearborn for the alleged fraud at Schaefer Dollar Mania in Detroit.

According to the complaint by Schuette, store manager Itani and his employees Raychoini and Youseff, accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars of food stamps for purchases that did not qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) from January 2011 through September 2011. The items included clothing, electronics and watches, according to the criminal complaint.  [other reports also mentioned cash–ed]

The men face charges of racketeering, conspiracy and food stamp fraud. They were arrested by Michigan State Police Wednesday and arraigned in 36th District Court in Detroit on Thursday. A preliminary examination has been scheduled for March 20 in 36th District Court.

Using Baron Bodissey’s (Gates of Vienna) scale for measuring “International cultural enrichment” this story has a 33 and 1/3% ‘Mohammed Coefficient’!  I’ve joked (sort of)  many times about how many of the food stamp fraudsters nabbed come from a certain part of the world.

Hearing in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee

What Issa was getting at this week was the news (uncovered by Scripps Howard) that, although many stores have been busted, the Dept. of Agriculture has allowed an undetermined number of them to continue to participate in the program.

Here is the Heritage Foundation’s Bluey Reports on the hearing:

Food-stamp fraud and the government’s failed attempts to stop it were the focus of a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing yesterday.

Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) called the hearing in response to a Scripps Howard News Service investigative report exposing widespread abuse. The investigation revealed that retailers who lost authorization to accept food stamps were still conducting business despite their restrictions.

“[D]ozens of individuals who had been banned as food-stamp vendors nonetheless remained in the business in New York; Los Angeles; Phoenix; San Diego; Tulsa, Okla.; West Palm Beach, Fla.; Baltimore* and other communities across the country,” according to the report. Scripps Howard discovered this by comparing U.S. Department of Agriculture disqualification records against documents from health-inspection reports to business filings and corporate certificates.

At yesterday’s hearing, Kevin Concannon, undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, defended the government’s efforts to combat fraud. He also cast blame on the messenger.

“As with other leads and observations we receive from the public, we took this information very seriously. We began an immediate investigation into all of the stores that were brought to our attention and we have added further layers of security to our retailer oversight process. However, our research indicates that many of the cases identified by Scripps Howard do not involve improper activity,” he said.

[….]

Issa, meanwhile, vowed to keep a watchful eye on USDA, demanding additional documents and information.

“With record numbers of Americans using food stamps, with an annual price tag of $75.3 billion, anything short of rigorous anti-fraud measures will be very costly to taxpayers,” Issa said.

[….]

“The crime is as widespread as it is simple: Stores accept food stamps, but instead of requiring that customers walk away with wholesome groceries, they provide the customers a small amount of cash — typically 50 cents on the food stamp dollar. While taxpayers lose out — the money isn’t going toward wholesome food — food stamp recipients are receiving no-strings attached cash while stores are taking a hefty profit for serving as a moneychanger,” according to the Scripps Howard report.

* Baltimore too!  For my Maryland friends here (via San Diego News):

A Scripps Howard News Service investigation has found records indicating that dozens of individuals who had been banned as food-stamp vendors nonetheless remained in the business in New York; Los Angeles; Phoenix; San Diego; Tulsa, Okla.; West Palm Beach, Fla.; Baltimore and other communities across the country.

Case in point: The Foods Mart convenience store in Baltimore’s gritty Remington neighborhood. In December, Scripps identified one of the store’s owners, using Maryland corporation records and city business filings, as Nasir Pervaiz — who was permanently barred in January 2011 by the USDA.

Upon learning of Scripps’ discovery, the USDA opened an investigation and notified the storeowners that they would face a hearing, agency officials said. As of mid-February, the store was no longer taking food stamps, a visit there showed.

Here, also, is a story about Mohammed Khan and his convenience store being raided in Hagerstown, MD in 2007.  I’ve been waiting for nearly five years for the feds (for someone) to pay attention to this problem!

If you are suspicious about a store here is where you can go to report:

The USDA has a hotline — 1-800-424-9121 — and a new website for the public to report alleged fraud: www.fns.usda.gov/fightingsnapfraud.htm

Sarkozy: France has too many foreigners

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is in an uphill battle to stay in office.

Here he campaigns on immigration.  From the BBC:

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said there are too many foreigners in France and the system for integrating them is “working worse and worse”.

In a TV debate, Mr Sarkozy defended his plan to almost halve the number of new arrivals if re-elected next month.

Mr Sarkozy is trailing in the opinion polls behind the Socialist candidate Francois Hollande.

He is also competing for conservative voters with the far-right National Front party led by Marine le Pen.

The president said while immigration could be a boon for France, it needed to be controlled more tightly through tougher qualification rules for residency.

Wants to cut the number of immigrants arriving to nearly one half:

He has said that if re-elected, he will reduce the number of immigrants to France from 180,000 a year to 100,000 and introduce tighter controls on access to welfare benefits.

As president, Mr Sarkozy has already pushed through tough new immigration rules, including the controversial deportation of Roma gypsies.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Francois Fillon caused dismay among Muslim and Jewish groups by suggesting the religious slaughter of animals was out of date.

The controversy started when a TV documentary said last month that all the abattoirs in Paris region only produced halal meat.

Be sure to visit the story and check out the 600 plus comments.

Frankly, if the Socialist wins and immigration goes unabated it’s bye-bye France and French culture faster then its already leaving the world stage.  Watch for it—election is April 22nd.

Imagine any politician, let alone a President, of the US calling for a near halving of the immigration numbers!

Immigration and jobs continued: foreign college students taking low wage jobs

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

If you are wondering why the unemployment rate is so high for teens and college students looking for summer jobs—look no further than the State Department’s Summer Work Travel program that imports 100,000 kids from abroad each summer.  They work cheap and are described as virtual slaves to big business.  The Center for Immigration Studies will hold a panel discussion on the program in Washington, DC on March 13th.   Read all about it here.

If you are trying to help legitimate refugees find scarce jobs you should be telling your legislators in Washington that this program stinks!

When did the US State Department become the headhunter for big business?