Category: Refugee Resettlement Program

Refugee News Round-up: First Week of April 2021

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

“Biden’s delay on welcoming refugees has been a huge disappointment for refugee advocates.”

(Boston Globe columnist, Marcela García)

The refugee news from the last week primarily revolves around two main themes—the ‘children’ surging across the US border and where to put them before releasing them into the country; and why Biden has yet to sign the document to start the flow of third world refugees from Asia, Africa and the Middle East to Anytown, USA.

The ‘children’ as we have been reporting in recent weeks are not refugees even as the open-borders-promoting mainstream media wants you to believe they are.

The mostly teenagers are illegal aliens hoping to claim asylum, or so they say. 

The vast majority will never achieve refugee status because most will never appear in any asylum adjudication process, and even if they did show up few could prove that they were persecuted in their home country.

Also, as I have been saying, the largest number of those getting in are older teens who will soon age-out of the system altogether.  In one story this week a weak attempt was made to answer the question—what happens when they age-out?

See that story here:

What happens to unaccompanied migrant children when they turn 18?

They must find a sponsor—-what a joke!

Moving on to the other major theme of the week, the mystery deepens—so why hasn’t Biden signed the annual determination document that would lift Trump’s low number from 15,000 refugees to 62,500 for the fiscal year?

Refugee contractors heads are exploding as their man Chairman Joe isn’t removing Trump’s refugee ceiling.

His State Department already told Congress that the Administration wants 62,500, an absolutely unattainable number as the fiscal year ends in a little over 5 and a half months.

But, no Biden signature yet!

What surprises me most is that the refugee contractors*** who have a pipeline into the State Department, a pipeline that was functioning during the Trump years, don’t appear to know what the hold-up is.

However, a theory is developing—Biden doesn’t want to look TOO PRO-IMMIGRANT! 

WTH! 

The crisis on the border alone tells us it is a little late for that! 

Everyone with eyes can see that the Biden/Harris administration is the most PRO-immigrant and most Americans-last administration of all time.

See the Boston Globe op-ed:

Is Biden afraid of appearing too soft on immigration?

The official name of the malady is xenophobia. Donald Trump did everything he could to spread the condition, and it still infects us. [LOL! They can’t resist whacking Trump!—ed]

Unlike Trump, President Biden doesn’t fear displaced foreigners who fled their homes due to civil conflict, natural disasters, persecution, or systemic violence. Nor does he blatantly use them as handy political props. Still, he may be afraid of appearing soft on immigration, just as some were labeled soft on crime a generation ago.

That could be one explanation for why Biden hasn’t reversed Trump’s historically low refugee admissions cap of 15,000 annually, leaving many in the resettlement world baffled. It could also be that the administration is consumed with managing the influx of migrant children at the US-Mexico border.

Regardless of the reason, Biden’s delay on welcoming refugees has been a huge disappointment for refugee advocates.

The Globe opinion piece directs us to an exchange that happened at a White House press briefing with Jen Psaki on Thursday.  The reporter is not identified:

Q    Gotcha.  And then, a quick follow-up.  Why haven’t refugee flights continued at this point?  Last month, the President did announce that he intended to raise the refugee cap before the typical, you know, end of the fiscal year —

MS. PSAKI:  Yeah.

Q    — where it traditionally happens.  That hasn’t seemed to happen yet.  Why haven’t those flights continued?

MS. PSAKI:  He remains committed, but I don’t have an update on the timing of the flights.

Q    Does it have anything to do with the fact that resources are going towards the border at this time?  Or —

MS. PSAKI:  No, no, it’s not related to that.  No.

Q    Thank you, Jen.  [Reporter meekly accepts Psaki’s non-answer–ed]

More at the Boston Globe, here.

Incidentally, the Biden team has put the Temporary Protected Status program on steroids demonstrating that their pro-immigration policies are moving full steam ahead, except (strangely) for the Refugee Admissions Program.

Here we see the not wanting to look too PRO-immigrant theme continued at the Buffalo News:

Refugee numbers drop in Buffalo – and Biden isn’t boosting them

Privately, some refugee advocates speculate that Biden is delaying opening up refugee resettlement so long as undocumented immigrants continue crossing the border with Mexico in record numbers, perhaps fearing political blowback from any move that might be seen as pro-immigrant.

Why is Buffalo so eager for more refugees?

Dear readers, this is a major reason why Democrats want refugees!

Democrat-run cities are dying and they see that moving the third world to their cities will be their ticket to saving them and their own political power. Nevermind that you pay for it both financially and culturally.

The Buffalo News continues….

Biden’s inaction has prompted a growing sense of frustration among those long have backed refugee resettlement as a key cog in stabilizing or even growing Buffalo’s population, such as Rep. Brian Higgins.

By the way, besides the fact that dying cities need bodies to keep Dems in power, it isn’t just the Democrats.  The globalists (including Republicans!) push for cheap labor, as outlined in a lengthy, but well worth reading treatise at the Last Refuge, explains more.

People Awakening to The Multinational Corporate Influence Over U.S. Politics – This is What the Professional UniParty, Including Republicans, Have Intentionally Kept Hidden From The American Voter

It explains why they hate Trump so much and why he had to go!

Okay, this is getting way too long!

Don’t miss my post at ‘Frauds and Crooks’ this week about the murder of a little refugee girl in Idaho.

Idaho: Guilty Plea in Horrific Murder of Refugee Child

 

There is a lot of talk about anti-Asian prejudice, but even Biden is in on it according to some in the Vietnamese community in America.

Still reeling from Trump-era policies, groups demand Biden address deportation, refugees

Although North Dakota lost its major refugee contractor, the state plans to pick up the slack.

North Dakota is not taking kids from U.S. southern border, but is hiring new refugee resettlement coordinator after LSS closure

 

It is a beautiful spring day on the farm, my garden calls, so that is enough for now!

 

***In case you are new to RRW, here are all of the contractors.

They worked to ‘elect’ Biden/Harris and as taxpayers you pay them millions annually to change America by changing the people.

Americans Last! is their motto!

Joe Biden Plans to Admit the Most Refugees in any One Year Since 1992

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Not even Saint Obama proposed such a huge number.

In the midst of a pandemic when large numbers of Americans are unemployed and struggling…

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris campaigned on lifting Trump’s so-called Muslim ban and immediately setting the ceiling to 125,000 refugees to be admitted in this fiscal year (FY21).

Trump had set the ceiling at 15,000 the lowest cap since the program began over four decades ago.

That 125,000 does NOT include those flowing toward our borders now in anticipation of Biden opening the borders and would be the highest cap in nearly 30 years.

(The 125,000 ceiling is only for those we fly into the US from the third world at taxpayers’ expense.)

Because we need to have facts, which are going to be harder to get as the Refugee Processing Center (US State Department contractor) has removed the very useful “Interactive Reporting” function we have have come to rely on for the last decade to understand who is being admitted and placed in your towns and cities, I will be posting information like this below when I can get it.  (To be archived in my Knowledge is Power category).

“Interactive reporting is no longer available”

This information (below) is available at the moment:

See that Biden has said he would admit tens of thousands more refugees than any predecessor (including Obama) for the previous nearly 30 years.

The number greater than 125,000 was 132,531 (1992), one of George HW Bush’s big refugee admission years!

The Refugee Act of 1980 was signed into law in the spring of 1980 by Jimmy Carter who of course later that year went on to lose the election to Ronald Reagan.  The vast majority of those early refugees were from Southeast Asia and they were escaping COMMUNISM.

Interesting that it was George W. Bush who really opened the flow from Africa.  And, it was Clinton who favored the flow from Russia.

President Trump admitted the least number of refugees in one year—11,814 in FY20.

Total refugees (again these are the refugees we flew into the US mostly at the behest of the United Nations)— 3,456,532—admitted over four decades.

Biden/Harris plan to put the US Refugee Admissions Program on steroids as they have promised the refugee resettlement contractors—the nine fake non-profits below.  Your tax dollars fund them to change America by changing the people.

As of July 30th, US Refugee Admissions have Resumed

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

As you know if you follow RRW, the Refugee Admissions Program came to a grinding halt in March due to the worldwide travel restrictions in the wake of the Chinese virus pandemic.

However, the US State Department announced on July 29th that our welcome mat had once again been put out for third world migration to Anytown, USA.

By the way, as I reported here on August 2nd we never really stopped bringing refugees altogether.

From CNN:

Refugee admissions to the US resume after being on pause due to coronavirus

(CNN)Refugee admissions to the United States have resumed after being put on pause for five months due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the State Department.

In March, the US put a temporary pause on refugee admissions after the International Organization for Migration, which is in charge of booking refugees on their travel, and the United Nations refugee agency announced a temporary suspension of resettlement travel. Both organizations have since moved to restart admissions.

Sec. of State Mike Pompeo Opens Refugee Admissions Program as COVID (supposedly) continues to sicken and kill Americans and destroy the economy. What’s a few more mouths to feed!

In a statement to CNN, a State Department spokesperson said Secretary Mike Pompeo approved the resumption of admissions on July 29.

“This program is a vital lifeline for the world’s most vulnerable refugees who have no other alternative and who are made even more vulnerable by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the spokesperson said, adding that the program “resumed arrivals for approved refugees effective July 30 with significant COVID health measures in place as required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

The spokesperson didn’t provide additional details on what extra health measures entailed. Refugees are usually heavily screened before arriving in the US.

 

We have admitted 196 refugees and spread them out among 22 states in the two weeks since Pompeo made the announcement according to data compiled by the Refugee Processing Center.

The top three welcoming states are Texas, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Of the 196, 41 are Muslims (there is no Muslim ban).  The 41 include 15 Burmese Rohingya people and 15 Syrians.

Just a reminder, next month the President is required by law to submit his determination (ceiling) for the number of refugee arrivals for FY2021 that begins on October 1, 2020.

We will be watching! to see what the President does.  He can, of course, postpone any decision, or he can set the ceiling at zero.

Smallest Number of Refugees to be Admitted to US in 40 Years

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

There is no question that a record will be set this fiscal year for the low number of refugees admitted to the US and moved to a town near you.

Checking the data just now at the Refugee Processing Center I see that as of yesterday, August 1, 7,905 refugees have been admitted since October 1, 2019 (the first day of fiscal year 2020).

In the fall of 2019, the President, by law, set the ceiling (maximum number to be admitted) at 18,000, but as of yesterday, not even half of that number has arrived (with only two months to go).  Of course a lot of that has to do with the worldwide travel restrictions due to the Chinese Virus.

Obama admitted 9,577 refugees in one month, July 1-August 1, 2016 compared to Donald Trump’s 151 the same month 4 years later. As Obama was winding down his presidency he was pouring refugees (and other migrants) in at astronomical rates. That is 1,672 more in that one month than Trump has admitted in ten months!

But, even with the virus supposedly spiking and millions out of work, we admitted 151 new poor people to America in the month of July.

Topping the list was Burma (36), Guatemala (21), and El Salvador (19).

Don’t ask me why we are bringing supposedly persecuted people here from those two Central American countries!  More mouths to feed, shelter to provide and more medical treatment required.

Here is a map of where the most recent batch of 151 were placed.

The refugee industry must be going mad with rage…..

 

In a few short weeks the jockeying will begin as another decision will be made, this time for Fiscal year 2021.  The President should be sending his determination to the Hill sometime in September.  We will be watching (as America is changed by changing the people)!

Eagle Forum Files Brief in Tennessee States Rights Case

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Although stymied by the courts at other levels, the important Tenth Amendment case involving the Constitutional challenge against the federal government’s ever increasing cost-shifting to the states for the care of refugees is still alive.

There was a time when I thought that the political process was the place to change refugee policy in America, but truthfully I am seeing little hope of any real change as Trump enters his fourth year in the White House.

Cutting the number of admissions is fine, but no real structural changes have been sought for the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program by the administration. (The governor approval process seriously backfired, and Congress is useless as members cower in fear of being called racists.)

Maybe there is still some hope that the courts will see how unfair and unconstitutional it is for states to carry a financial burden placed on them by the feds.

From the Thomas More Law Center:

Eagle Forum Files Brief Supporting Thomas More Law Center’s ‘Federalism Challenge’ to Tennessee Refugee Resettlement Program

ANN ARBOR, MI – The Eagle Forum and its Tennessee chapter added their influential voices urging the U.S. Supreme Court to grant the Thomas More Law Center’s request to review (“petition for certiorari”) a Sixth Circuit Court decision which held that the Tennessee General Assembly lacked institutional standing to challenge the Federal Refugee Resettlement program. Their amicus brief (“friend of the court brief”), authored by Nashville attorney Joanne Bregman, was filed late last week.

Bregman observed, “The ongoing conversations between the President and state governors concerning recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is bringing a renewed interest in federalism – the same constitutional principle of dual sovereignty which is the basis of the General Assembly’s lawsuit against federal commandeering of state dollars to fund the federal refugee resettlement program.”

The Thomas More Law Center (“TMLC”), a national nonprofit public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and John Bursch, a nationally prominent appellate lawyer are representing the General Assembly without charge. Bursch authored the General Assembly’s petition for certiorari, which asks the Supreme Court to overturn the Sixth Circuit’s ruling.

The petition for certiorari, filed on March 16, 2020, objects to forcing Tennessee taxpayers to pay the costs of the resettlement: “If a state legislature cannot vindicate its rights in court when the federal government picks the state’s pocket and threatens the state if it dare stop providing funds, then federalism is a dead letter.”

Richard Thompson

The Eagle Forum, a national conservative organization with 80,000 members founded by the late legendary Phyllis Schlafly in 1972, has significantly impacted public policy at both state and national levels. The Tennessee chapter headed by Mrs. Bobbie Patray was the first state chapter to question the power of the federal government to coerce state legislators to use state revenues to fund the federal refugee resettlement program.

Richard Thompson, TMLC’s President and Chief Counsel, commented:

“Justice Scalia considered the principles of federalism, the same principles that undergird our challenge to the federal refugee resettlement program, more important to the American democracy than the Bill of Rights.

Considering the continued controversy between the Nation’s governors and the President over the best way to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, a grant of certiorari would present the Supreme Court with an opportunity to calm the waters over their conflicting claims of power by expounding on Federalism 101.”

Continued Thompson, “Because of the significance of this issue, I’m grateful that the Eagle Forum and its Tennessee chapter were able to assist our efforts to obtain Supreme Court review.”

According to the amicus brief: “Forcing state legislators to expend state resources outside of the normal appropriations process directly interferes with their duties to the state and to their constituents. If the federal government cannot compel a state to fund federal programs, then a state should not be forced to divert funding from essential and traditional state government services in order to operationalize a federal program from which the state has withdrawn.”

Tennessee initially agreed to participate in the federal refugee resettlement program. But when the federal government refused to cover the state costs as it originally promised and as the 1980 Refugee Act intended, Tennessee withdrew from the program in 2008. Nevertheless, the federal government merely designated Catholic Charities of Tennessee, a non-governmental private organization, to continue the program while still forcing the state to pay for it.

Bregman notes the threat to state sovereignty powers by federally coerced spending, especially at a time when the needs of Tennessee’s citizens are dire, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic and a series of deadly tornadoes which ripped through 100 miles of Tennessee counties.

The amicus brief concludes, “There is no room in the Constitution’s framework to permit the federal government or its agencies to take state funds without the express consent of the state’s appropriating body.”

Read the Eagle Forums’ entire amicus brief here.

Read TMLC’s Petition for Certiorari here.

Two additional briefs were filed, see here and here.