City Journal: Refugees bring numerous health problems with them to your towns; more reporting needed

10/20/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

LOL! But New York City dwellers need not worry too much because most refugees resettled in the state of New York go to other towns and cities. New York is virtually always in the top five resettlement states in the nation.
This article at City Journal by Jonathan Leaf is a bit strange as one is initially cautioned about using fear mongering on the subject of refugee health, but when you read carefully writer Leaf then tells readers about some serious health concerns and he wraps up with this paragraph:

Regardless of their views of secularism, constitutionalism, or jihad, refugees entering the United States from the Middle East may be vulnerable to or carrying an array of potentially serious ailments. Thoughtful reporting on this aspect of the refugee debate is long overdue.

We have been doing thoughtful reporting on refugee health issues for nine years! For any serious student of refugee health, visit our ‘health issues’ category with 319 previous posts on the topic.

congolese-fig12 — We are bringing in 50,000 from the DR Congo at this time. Communicable diseases found in Congolese refugees during domestic medical examinations in 6 states from 2010–2013 (n=2,355)* From the CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/immigrantrefugeehealth/profiles/congolese/health-information/communicable-disease/std.html

Here (below) is more from City Journal. I don’t see any mention of huge mental health treatment needed by refugees or any mention of who is paying for all the treatment (that would be you, the taxpayer).

Most of the critical comments in the press—and almost all of the hostile insinuations from our politicians—about the arrival of refugees from the Middle East have focused on the newcomers’ Islamic faith. The persistent question being asked is, “What are the implications of a growth in the numbers of Muslims in our country?” This might be a legitimate concern, but it’s obscuring immediate issues about the health of these refugees. That subject is either ignored or presented in hysterical terms.

[….]

For residents of New York City, afflictions affecting refugees are unlikely to have much immediate consequence. That’s because the federal agency coordinating refugee resettlement is bringing roughly 95 percent of refugees entering the state to locations outside the city. In addition, all refugees entering the country receive two medical screenings. One, which is intensive, is undertaken three to six months before arrival. A much briefer follow-up examination is done just before the refugee comes to our shores. [As we have said previously, having been screened does not mean they are screened out and denied entry!—ed]

[….]

Many refugees now arriving in the United States are affected by potentially serious communicable ailments. Indeed, since at least 2001, health authorities in Minnesota have known that more than one-third of those in the state with active tuberculosis cases were Somali immigrants. This problem has existed among many other immigrant groups as well, according to a study published by the National Institutes of Health, including patients from “Ethiopia, Laos, Mexico, Vietnam, Mexico, Liberia and India.” Thus, by 2014, 73 percent of tuberculosis cases in Minnesota affected the foreign-born, and approximately two-thirds of TB cases nationally are found among immigrants.

[….]

The infected may develop the disease later or act as carriers of the bacillus.

Measles has become endemic in Syria, and Syrians show high rates of infection with highly communicable hepatitis A. Refugees wishing to come to the United States must demonstrate that they have been immunized for these diseases.

Of greater concern is the incidence of parasitic infections among refugees.

On this last point, I agree with author Leaf that the parasitic infections are not being given much attention. Indeed that young Congolese boy who died at O’Hare may well have died from an E-coli infection as a result of severe parasite destruction of his intestines. (Google the story because the autopsy has been released.)
Click here to read more.
One story I didn’t get to this week, is Michael Patrick Leahy’s latest on Tuberculosis (Ticking Time Bomb) in the immigrant/refugee community. Leahy has obviously made it his mission to put the spotlight on what Leaf describes as a legitimate (and under-reported) concern.
Warning! Not only should you be concerned for your personal health and your family members’ health who must come in contact with refugees newly arrived in America, but you should be concerned for your pocket books! Obamacare does not have money trees growing in Washington no matter what the Democrats might want you to believe!

As we move Africa to America, where are all the refugees from the DR Congo being placed?

10/07/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Since I was just telling you that we (the Department of State) jumps when the UN says ‘jump!’ I thought it might be a good time to show you the numbers of refugees we are now taking from the DR Congo after Asst. Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration, Anne Richard (formerly a VP at federal resettlement contractor International Rescue Committee) agreed here in 2013 to take 50,000 refugees from the DR Congo off the UN’s hands.

dr-congo — Civil wars in Africa produce refugees that the UN determines must be moved to the West—especially to the US. Once we get the 50,000 Congolese placed in your towns, watch for the big lobbying push for large numbers from South Sudan. https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2016/10/05/un-gearing-up-to-promote-new-wave-of-refugees-to-the-westus/

By the way, the Republicans did this too when the UN wanted to clean out its Bhutanese camps on the border of Nepal and then Bush Administration Asst. Secretary Ellen Sauerbrey agreed to invite 60,000 Bhutanese to the US over a five year period—they are still coming!
Here in 2014 we learned the Bhutanese numbers to the US were up to 80,000. But, surprise! Some of them want to go home.
Since fiscal year 2012, we have placed 33,212 from the DR Congo in all but five states (see map below).
The vast majority are Christians of some sort, but there are 1,240 Muslims in the bunch. In FY2012 we resettled 1,863, but by FY2016 we took 16,370 in one year. Expect 2017 to be even higher as the drive is on to get as many refugees in to the US as possible before Obama leaves office.
Our interest in reporting the Congolese numbers was stimulated by the mysterious death this week of an 8-year-old Congolese boy at O’Hare Airport. His family was bound for Texas.
These are very poor people, mostly with limited educations, who will need a couple of generations of care by the US taxpayer before they can return anything to the US economy.
Early reports are that the women are especially traumatized and will need costly mental health treatment.
Here is where the Congolese (DR Congo) refugees have been placed between FY2012 and FY2016 (inclusive). Map from the Refugee Processing Center. Hawaii got zero (didn’t fit on the map), but it rarely gets any anyway.

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Feds tickled, just short of 85,000 refugee ceiling for FY 2016 achieved, more "clients" on the way this week

10/03/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Voice of America has a wrap-up article for the FY16 UN/US State Department Refugee Admissions Program (saves us looking up the numbers). What tickled me was the US Conference of Catholic Bishops head lobbyist referring to refugees as their “clients.” We’ve been telling you that this is a business—big business—a several $ billion a year business.
Voice of America:

WASHINGTON —The United States narrowly missed its refugee cap for the fiscal year, closing out 12 months of political turbulence over admissions policies just five people short of the administration’s target of 85,000.

Special Event: on “Common ground for the common good” (to mark the concluding day of the World Interfaith Harmony Week (1–7 February 2012), as proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 65/5 (A/RES/65/5)) (organized by the Office of the President of the General Assembly, in cooperation with the NGO Community at the United Nations Bill Canny - Catholic RElief Services — Bill Caney (at the UN) is the head honcho for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. Here he confirms for us what we knew—refugees are “clients” because this is a business, a lucrative one! The USCCB is paid by the head for each refugee it resettles, so this has been a good year financially.

State Department data as of midnight October 1, the start of the 2017 fiscal year and the reset point for the government’s financial calendar, is the closest the refugee program has come to meeting the presidentially established limit in 24 years. [You knew they would bring them in here fast and not thoroughly vetted because Obama had to speed up his seeding plan—ed]

Among the largest groups of refugees this year were more than 12,500 Syrians, following a self-declared goal by the administration last September to admit at least 10,000 people fleeing civil war and Islamic State violence there.

Refugee Arrivals to the U.S. for FY2016

Dem. Rep. Congo: 16,370
Syria: 12,587
Myanmar: 12,347
Iraq: 9,880
Somalia: 9,020
Bhutan: 5,817
Iran: 3,750
Afghanistan: 2,737
Ukraine: 2,543

Refugee and resettlement officials told VOA last week that travel for some refugees who were scheduled to arrive by the end of September was postponed because the limit had been met. A State Department spokesperson did not confirm how many refugees were affected, but said that those who were delayed would be included in the coming fiscal year, which begins October 1. [See our post of a week ago about the “ceiling” each year—ed]

Our additional “clients” will be arriving shortly says USCCB honcho!

“We understand that some clients may be held back these days and booked immediately in October. Thus, we expect no effect on clients,” said Bill Canny, who heads migration and refugee services for one of the country’s longest-serving resettlement agencies, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

More resettlement cities have been chosen….

anne-richard-in-black — Anne Richard, Asst. Sec. of State for PRM and a former VP at a federal contractor (International Rescue Committee) is delighted to report that they have secretly chosen more towns in which to place refugees (they have 350 towns already) she says.

The article also says that the largest category for FY17 (for the first time) will be the Near East and South Asia category. We will be taking 40,000 of those. (Near East and South Asia includes: Afghanistan, Bhutan/Nepal, Iran, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Syria.)
Anne Richard, Asst. Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration, reported to VOA on the growing number of cities that will ‘welcome’ refugees! We knew that!***

Richard also said the number of cities where refugees are resettled in the U.S. is “likely to grow” in the coming months. Programs are already in place in roughly 350 cities in nearly every state.

The refugee industry’s lobbying arm weighed in with this:

Naomi Steinberg, director of Refugee Council USA, an advocacy group for 22 NGOs that work in refugee resettlement, said that what stood out for her after what she called “a difficult year of nasty political rhetoric” is that the U.S. continued a “proud tradition” of welcoming those fleeing persecution.

“We know that as loud as those anti-refugee voices are, that they are still in the minority,” said Steinberg.

Please get your testimony off to Senator Sessions today or at the latest tomorrow! Let Sessions know that Ms. Steinberg is blowing smoke!
***These are the new towns/cities we have learned about so far (we have heard that there are 47 new ones!). The selection process is mostly done quietly and out of public view.
Asheville, NC
Rutland, VT
Reno, NV
Ithaca, NY
Missoula, MT
Aberdeen, SD
Charleston, WV
Fayetteville, AR
Blacksburg, VA
Pittsfield, MA
Northhampton, MA
Flint, Michigan
Bloomington, IN

The report to Congress that accompanies the Presidential determination is always useful

09/14/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday the Dept. of State delivered Obama’s final ‘determination’ about refugee numbers for the upcoming fiscal year to Congress. For all of you sleuths out there in ‘pockets of resistance’ the document that goes along with the determination is always a very useful source of information.
For example on page 60 the State Department predicts that Obama’s 10,000 Syrian Muslims by September 30th, 2016 will actually be 13,000.
Also, be sure to go to near the end (p.69) to see how they are estimating a much lower cost than would be expected for 110,000 refugees. Are they trying to fool the Judiciary Committees in to thinking it is all less costly while the Appropriations Committees know the truth (do they talk to each other?).
Click here to see the full (very useful) document (if you find anything juicy let me know!):

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The big lie! Refugees are being vetted

09/10/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We hear Ad nauseam that Syrian refugees entering the US now by the thousands are being vetted in a process that has been shrunk from the original 18-24 months down to 3 months. It is a lie, they can’t be vetted and truth-be-told neither can the Somalis, the Burmese Rohingya, the Afghans, the Sudanese, the Ethiopians and a good many of the Iraqis.
Forget the most egregious case, the Syrians, for a minute.
How do you find data on Somalis who have wandered all over the world, some on boats to Europe (to Malta!***) where we then pick them up and magically transform then into refugees for your town?

rohingya-boat-people-1 — Vetting Rohingya boat people in Malaysia? Not a chance! Malaysia is a safe Muslim nation, why can’t they be granted asylum in Malaysia? Why has the Obama Administration admitted thousands to your neighborhoods? And, where are the Republicans in Congress?

The Burmese Rohingya are leaving Burma and Bangladesh on boats headed for places like Malaysia where we pick them up and Catholic Charities delivers them to your towns.
We are picking up Afghans and other Middle Easterners in, of all places, Austria in Europe.
Who are these men? Do we query the government of Afghanistan for background data on Mohammed who has ‘made his way’ to Vienna? These migrants are basically other countries’ illegal aliens that we take off their hands and put on welfare in America!
Here is a good description from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (hat tip: Paul) which talks about the use of ‘vetting jargon’ to lull the American public into complacency about their new neighbors.
From FAIR (emphasis is mine):

“Vetting” is a term rarely used in everyday English. Nevertheless, it has appeared regularly in recent coverage of the Syrian refugee crisis and the mass movement of Middle-Eastern migrants into Europe. Media outlets and government officials have repeatedly discussed vetting as if it were some magical process that grants access to otherwise inaccessible information. But what does vetting really mean?

Simply put, vetting means conducting a background check on someone. If you have ever applied for a credit card or renewed a drivers’ license, you have been vetted. Vetting may consist of conversations with references, as when applying for a job; or it may consist of a review of information found in computerized databases, as when applying for a home loan.

[….]

In the United States, we regularly engage in business and governmental transactions where we furnish personal information. That data is captured and stored in various databases. When we apply for a drivers’ license the DMV captures our names, photographs, addresses and biographical details. In some cases, our fingerprints are also captured.

Successful vetting is dependent upon access to information that is reliable and verifiable. Therefore, it is relatively easy to vet people who live in the United States. As they go about their daily business, their information is regularly captured and updated – and can be checked against multiple government or commercial databases. It is also relatively easy to vet people who come to America from countries where businesses and government agencies are operated in a manner similar to the United States – as long as their governments are willing to share information with the United States.

[….]

Problems arise when attempting to vet people who come from countries where there are few reliable public records or countries that are unwilling to share information.

[….]

Prior to its civil war, Syria did not share significant amounts of background information on its citizens with the United States. Even if Syria were now willing to share its information, the Syrian civil war has caused the destruction of many government records and very little reliable, verifiable information is currently being compiled either by government or non-governmental organizations operating within the country. As a result, Syrian passports, birth certificates, drivers’ licenses and other government documents cannot be adequately verified.

[….]

Although USCIS claims that all Syrian applicants for refugee status are being thoroughly vetted, this is simply untrue.

[….]

Hiding behind jargon connected with the background check process will not conceal the shortcomings of that process. The American public has a right to expect that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will not admit refugees, and other seekers of immigration benefits, to the United States until it is reasonably certain that they pose no threat to those currently residing here. Failing to deny admission to those who have not, or cannot, be completely and thoroughly vetted constitutes a complete abdication of DHS’s responsibilities to secure the borders of the United States and ensure the safety of the American people.

It isn’t just the Syrians!

Back to the Freedom Caucus and their phony-baloney plan to attach a bill to the ‘Continuing Resolution’ requiring the Obama Administration guarantee Syrians are being vetted, I say, what about the Somalis, the Burmese Rohingya, the Afghans, the Ethiopians, the Iraqis, the Sudanese etc. They aren’t being thoroughly vetted either!
I checked the US Department of State’s data base for Muslim refugees arriving in the US for the first 11 months of the 2016 fiscal year (that is as of Sept. 1, 10 days ago) and here are some of the Muslim refugee numbers as of that date.

Syria: 10,600

Somalia: 7,967 (why are we still bringing in Somalis, it has been 30 years, does it ever end?)

Iraq: 6,840

Burma: 2,794 (they now have the Rohingya! flow in motion, look for 30 more years of this!)

Afghanistan: 2,128

Sudan: 997

Ethiopia: 456

(I didn’t do all of the Muslim countries)

Get this! We are constantly told that the refugees from DR Congo are all persecuted Christians, but this year alone we admitted 422 Muslims from the DR Congo! In 2013 we promised the United Nations we would admit 50,000 total refugees from DR Congo over 5 years.
Without a doubt, these migrants fleeing war and failed Middle Eastern and African countries cannot be vetted!
It is time to DEFUND THE REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM!

***Someday I hope a real investigative reporter digs in to the illegal process the Bush Administration put into place where we take some illegal alien Africans who make it to Malta and transform them into refugees and bring them to the US. We have a massive archive on Malta here at RRW for your reading pleasure.