Hawaii: Rogue judge once again rules for the Imam, attempts to thwart Trump on refugees

07/14/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This latest was predicted and reported here by Michael Leahy at Breitbart two days ago.
Update: Here is Leahy’s (Breitbart) take on this latest legal mess the Supreme Court is responsible for creating!

Judge Derrick Watson took advantage of the mess the Supreme Court made in its recent ruling (as Justice Thomas predicted) to once again attempt to stop President Trump from carrying out a simple 120-day moratorium on refugee resettlement in order to analyze the program and determine whether security screening is sufficient.
The Supreme Court literally unconstitutionally legislated when it created a way to go around a Presidentially-determined ceiling as defined by over 3 decades of refugee law and said refugees with a “bona fide relationship” to a family member or to an “entity” could come in over the 50,000 ceiling reached yesterday (here).
BTW, today we have now exceeded the 50,000 ceiling by 168. We are at 50,168 this morning.

Before I give you Politico’s version of the judge’s decision in Hawaii yesterday, let me be clear!

The US State Department under Sec. of State Rex Tillerson must ignore this decision!

(They should have ignored this rogue judge’s earlier decision as well! You should write to the White House and tell Trump to stand against this runaway judiciary!)
One Hawaiian judge deciding for one Imam (and the refugee-rejecting state of Hawaii!) should not be the one to define “bona fide” a wholly new legal term and a new construct for resettlement thanks to the overzealous SCOTUS. Where the hell is Congress, btw? Writing law is their job!
Here is Politico:

A federal judge in Hawaii ordered the Trump administration on Thursday to allow grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles and other relatives of people in the U.S. to circumvent the travel ban policy, dealing a temporary blow to one of the president’s signature initiatives.

In an order issued Thursday evening local time in Honolulu, Judge Derrick Watson also prohibited the administration from blocking refugees with a commitment from a resettlement agency in the U.S., a move that could revive the flow of refugee admissions this year.

Along with the State of Hawaii, Imam Ismail Elshikh is a plaintiff in the case (again). In case you missed it, Hawaii is at the bottom of the list of states resettling refugees having only ‘welcomed’ 3 this entire fiscal year so far.

The decision was a victory for opponents of the travel ban, who hoped to broaden the universe of people who could bypass the president’s policy, which temporarily bars travelers from six majority-Muslim nations and suspends the refugee resettlement program.

The Supreme Court issued an order on June 26 that allowed the embattled measure to go into effect, but included the caveat that affected travelers with “bona fide” ties to a person or entity in the U.S. should not be subject to the ban.

[….]

In the realm of refugee resettlement, the administration stood by the contention that a connection to a resettlement agency alone would not meet the criteria to avoid the ban.

[….]

The federal judge added that a refugee with a commitment from a resettlement agency met the standard for a “bona fide” relationship spelled out in the Supreme Court order.

[….]

“It is formal, it is a documented contract, it is binding, it triggers responsibilities and obligations, including compensation, it is issued specific to an individual refugee only when that refugee has been approved for entry by the Department of Homeland Security, and it is issued in the ordinary course, and historically has been for decades,” he wrote. [Don’t let the refugee contractors*** fool you, here we have it, this is about their compensation by you, the American taxpayer!–ed]

“Bona fide does not get any more bona fide than that.”

[….]

On Twitter, an attorney for the plaintiffs, the state of Hawaii and a local imam, celebrated the momentary legal win, which could be met with appeals by the federal government.

Appeals! The Administration better simply ignore this single judge and the Imam!

This post is filed in my ‘Supreme Court’ category, click here for other stories on the hash the Supreme Court has made of refugee law.
***Federal contractors/middlemen/lobbyists/community organizers paid by you to place refugees in your towns and cities. Because their income is largely dependent on taxpayer dollars based on the number of refugees admitted to the US, the only way for real reform of how the US admits refugees is to remove the contractors from the process.

US shuts the door on refugees, wails 'Think Progress'

07/13/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

…..and it is confirmed by their go-to commenter—Mark Hetfield of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society— who says of Trump’s ceiling that it is “lower than it’s been in history.”
But, what he doesn’t say is that even at 50,086 (the number this morning), that is not the lowest ADMISSIONS number in the history of the program as we pointed out here (and will show you below).
Here is Think Progress (John Podesta):

“We’ve reached a low point in U.S. history today with the Trump administration setting and enforcing a refugee admission ceiling which is lower than it’s been in history,” HIAS President and CEO Mark Hetfield told ThinkProgress in a phone interview Wednesday.

I just told you two days ago (something Think Progress will never tell you), that groups like HIAS are quasi-government agencies paying CEO salaries at major corporation levels. Hetfield makes $358,718 (doing well by doing good!) annually. Only one of the nine CEOs makes more, and that is David Miliband of the IRC ($591,846). https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2017/07/11/updating-financial-data-on-refugee-contractors-big-bucks-for-humanitarian-work/

HIAS, a nonprofit organization that provides humanitarian assistance and aid to refugees, has long helped refugees resettle in the United States. Hetfield was immensely displeased that at least one HIAS client, who was approved as a refugee, will be unable to come in despite having a grandmother in the country. Others will also see their flight reservations cancelled.

[….]

“We’re at least grateful the Supreme Court prevented Trump from fully implementing his mean spirited executive order and that refugees will [with] ties to US will continue to be admitted,” Hetfield said. “It’s an embarrassment for our country to be taking in so few refugees when the needs are so great.”

Think Progress goes on to perpetuate a massive misunderstanding claiming that countries like Turkey (Lebanon and Jordan) take in more refugees than does the rich (mean-spirited) US.

Those countries do not take refugees permanently (another thing that Think Progress will never tell its readers!)

Those countries would never let large numbers of other ethnic groups (Iraqis, Syrians, Somalis, Pakistanis, Palestinians etc.) become PERMANENT VOTING CITIZENS. In our refugee program (the largest in the world even at 50,000) we do, and so….

….we are the number one country in the world admitting refugees for life!

Let’s look at historically low admissions levels (see charts here).

There were 4 years when we admitted fewer than Trump’s 50,086:

FY02: 27,070

FY03: 28,117

FY06: 41,279

FY07: 48,281

And, since the SCOTUS is allowing refugees with “bona fide” relationships to enter above Trump’s 50,000 ceiling, here are some other years that might easily be surpassed before September 30th (the end of FY17):

FY87: 58,863

FY04: 52,858

FY05: 53,813

And these next two are THE Man’s (Obama’s years):

FY11: 56,424

FY12: 58,238

I’m guessing that Trump will, in the end, be admitting in the low 60,000s, close to the average for the last ten years. The big question is—what will he propose for FY18???

First time in history of refugee program Presidential ceiling has been exceeded

07/13/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

And, you can thank the Supreme Court for unconstitutionally legislating in its decision late last month.

Refugees arriving after today are the responsibility of nine unelected justices.

I showed you here over the weekend that no ceiling has been exceeded in the over 35 year history of the program.
My worry is that what SCOTUS has done has been to literally obliterate the responsibility for refugees the law gives to the President and to Congress by defining a new standard for admittance—to those with “bona fide” relationships—ceiling be damned!
Even if one argues it is temporary, it is still an outrage! How dare the Supreme Court say that those in a newly coined category—those prospective ‘refugees’ with bona fide relationships—are not a security threat to us! That is the President’s job! Did the justices even read the Refugee Act of 1980?
But, how do you challenge the Supreme Court? And, are the contractors secretly cheering because they have longed for the day when the CEILING would become meaningless.
To top it off, there is another legal challenge before the rogue Hawaii judge that might further gum up the works (see Breitbart’s Michael Leahy on that potential legal quagmire, here).
Chaos and confusion reign, just as Clarence Thomas (with Alito and Gorsuch) predicted.
And, this was completely unnecessary because the Trump Administration could have simply lowered the ceiling when they came in to office without any Executive Order. The most they had to do was notify Congress!
As of yesterday afternoon, we have admitted 50,086 refugees to the US in this fiscal year.
Here is where the 50,086 were placed.

Here are the top ten ‘welcoming’ states. LOL! Hawaii is near the bottom as always with 3 whole refugees!

So much for Texas removing itself from the USRAP!

All of my posts on the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision are archived here.
There are many stories in the media today about the ceiling having been exceeded, if there is anything useful (other than the same old babble), I’ll update this post.

50,000 refugee cap should be reached today, then what?

07/12/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Then for the remainder of the 120-day ‘moratorium’ only refugees with certain relatives and certain “bona fide” connections to US entities will be admitted.

The Supremes—the US’s new legislative body!

Once we pass the CEILING for the first time in the history of the program, it is my view that the refugees will belong to the Supreme Court since it has taken it upon itself to unconstitutionally WRITE REFUGEE LAW!
Adding to the confusion going forward is the fact that the 120-day moratorium will run in to late October (Supremes will likely not have ruled on the merits of the case by then).

September will be the real test for Trump’s Presidency on the refugee issue….

Late October (when the 120 days will be up) is a month PAST the legally required deadline for the President to send his 2018 refugee determination to the Hill. (Here is one of many posts on the ‘determination’ for new readers.)
In September, how will the White House handle that wrinkle SCOTUS has handed them?

The real test for President Trump on refugees comes in September! What will he propose for FY18?

LOL! Of course one thing the President could do is send a Determination to the Hill for FY18 of zero and tell Congress to reform the program in a serious way during a year-long moratorium.

(The Labrador bill isn’t much.)
Here is the story at KPCC radio in Southern California that got me going on this subject again this morning:

Federal officials expect the national cap on refugee admissions for fiscal year 2017 to be reached Wednesday, ushering in the Trump administration’s temporary travel ban affecting refugees.

Once that happens, all refugees will have to prove they have close relatives in the United States or established ties such as a job before they can gain entry. The new rules will remain in effect for at least 120 days, starting from late June when the U.S Supreme Court ordered the partial reinstatement of the Trump travel policy.

[….]

The State Department posted guidance listing the accepted categories of relatives: “a parent (including parent-in-law), spouse, fiancé, fiancée, child, adult son or daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, sibling, whether whole or half. This includes step relationships. The following relationships do not qualify: grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, and any other ‘extended’ family members.”

A department spokeswoman told KPCC by email that refugees scheduled to travel to the U.S. will be allowed in until the end of Wednesday. Then, “beginning July 13, only those individuals who have a credible claim to a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States will be eligible for admission through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.”

A relationship with a U.S. entity, such as a university or employer, can also qualify a refugee for entry on a case-by-case basis. However, the spokeswoman said refugees are not likely to have such ties and are more likely to have connections to relatives.

The State Department made clear that a relationship with a U.S. resettlement agency does not count as a qualifying relationship.

Remember when Donald Trump rolled out his first Executive Order and wanted to prioritize Christians and the contractors*** went crazy and said that was not fair. The lead squawker was the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society!
Well, you need to know, before you read this next segment of the story, that we have been prioritizing Jews from, first Russia, and now Iran (processing them after they get to Austria as visitors) as refugees to America! Learn about Lautenberg here.

The agency that Castro directs settles many Iranian Jews who travel to the U.S. via Austria, arriving through a refugee program that benefits religious minorities. He said one of his agency’s refugee clients has been waiting in Austria. She is being vetted by U.S. officials but likely will be stuck in Austria because she has no close relatives in this country.

Resettlement agencies say they have yet to receive guidance from the federal government about what happens once the 120 days of the temporary refugee travel ban are up. [Again, the 120 days puts us in to the new fiscal year—what will Donald do in September?—ed]

“I suspect that what will happen is there will be a push to make this more permanent in some form,” Castro said. “I can’t imagine going back to the status quo prior to the order.”

I can’t imagine that either! It would be political suicide for Trump if he reverts to the old system of secret refugee seeding by phony ‘religious’ charities!
All of my posts on the Supreme Court’s overreach are here.
***Federal contractors/middlemen/lobbyists/community organizers paid by you to place refugees in your towns and cities. Because their income is largely dependent on taxpayer dollars based on the number of refugees admitted to the US, the only way for real reform of how the US admits refugees is to remove the contractors from the process.

Yet another appeal to the (soft touch) court in Hawaii

07/10/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Frankly this is really getting in to the legal weeds as the Open Borders Left/refugee pushers try one more time to stop the Trump State Department’s (DOS) interpretation of the Supreme Court decision on the ‘travel ban’ and 120-day refugee moratorium.
Of course the ‘pushers’ want every possible relative and they want any and all non-profits and refugee contractors to be considered “bona fide entities” so they can continue to haul in as many paying clients to the US as possible.

Hawaii is begging for more diversity, so how about if all refugees admitted for the remainder of FY17 be sent to Hawaii! Artwork from Hawaii.edu https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/erl/CULTURAL%20DIV%20PAGE/cultural_diversity.htm

And, they don’t want any disruption to other of their pet programs at the DOS.
Michael Leahy at Breitbart can lead you through the legal weeds better than I can, see here.
But don’t miss Leahy’s closing lines:

Of the 49,803 refugees who have been resettled in the United States during the first nine months and seven days of FY 2017, only three–all from Burma–have been resettled in Hawaii, according to the State Department interactive website.

In FY 2016, the last full year of the Obama administration, not a single refugee was resettled in Hawaii out of the total of 84,995 that were resettled in the entire country.

In the fifteen plus fiscal years since FY 2002, a total of 127 refugees have been resettled in Hawaii.

What you can do (if you have the talent)!
Someone should come up with a bumper sticker idea or poster that we could send out widely along the lines of: “Hawaii lacks diversity, send them refugees!” (or something more clever)
If you don’t have the talent for creating a poster or bumper sticker, then write to the White House today and tell the President: all refugees entering the US in the coming months (year!) should be sent to Hawaii!
All of my posts on this issue, the Supreme Court ruling, are filed in my ‘Supreme Court’ category.