Category: Taxpayer goodies

Article explains why Texas withdrawal from Refugee Program may benefit resettlement in state (in long run)

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

For everyone getting excited about governors withdrawing from the Refugee Admissions Program, please take a breath.
The feds will simply pick a non-profit refugee contractor to run the program unless the governor takes the second step and that is, after being declared a Wilson-Fish state, he or she joins the Tennessee Tenth Amendment case prepared by the Thomas More Law Center.

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Former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband is CEO of the International Rescue Committee which looks like it is angling to be in charge of refugee resettlement in Texas now that the state government has pulled out. Here he is his pal George Soros. See our extensive archive on how this British subject is calling the shots about who will be resettled in many states in America. https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/?s=David+Miliband (He is also best pals of Hillary Clinton. He must have had a great shock yesterday.)

Not too long about Kansas and New Jersey withdrew, but I  haven’t heard a peep out of Governors Brownback (KS) or Christie (NJ) that they would now seek to defend their state’s rights.
Here is a portion of the story about Texas from Vice magazine (emphasis is mine):

…Texas has resorted to withdrawal from the federal resettlement program—but the same number of refugees will continue to be resettled in Texas, according to Victoria Palmer, public affairs specialist for the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families. The difference is in the distribution of funds and services for those individuals and families. Currently, the State of Texas receives the funds to distribute to nonprofits, which distribute money to the refugees and offer support services. Now, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) will instead choose one or a few nonprofits to receive and distribute those funds.

“While we of course regret Texas’s decision, ORR is working to appoint designees to administer services to refugees in Texas,” Palmer told me. “ORR is working to prevent a disruption in the delivery of services and benefits to refugees and entrants in Texas.”

And the US Department of State, which screens refugees and works with ORR to distribute them, said Texas would continue to receive all groups of refugees, including Syrians.

“Applicants to the US Refugee Admissions Program are currently subject to the highest level of security checks of any category of traveler to the United States,” a State Department official told me in an emailed statement. “Syrian refugees are screened to an even higher level.”

Since Texas’s withdrawal can’t block resettlement, immigration experts told me the move was purely for show.

[….]

Lin and Palmer both told me that Texas would eventually operate resettlement through a model that 12 states already use, called the Wilson-Fish Program. Under that program, the federal government picks one or a few organizations to serve as long-term partners, distributing funds and services to nonprofits and to refugees throughout the state.

Palmer said ORR would soon make a request for “competitive bids” to serve as the distributors.

“The organizations chosen to be the main agency for the state will be more burdened, but these agencies have been doing this for a very long time,” Lin said.

Texas will be the largest state to use the alternative program—which Aaron Rippenkroeger, the CEO and president of Refugee Services Texas, said was cause for concern.

[….]

But Rubin of the IRC assured me that Texas’s withdrawal may even open the door to a better resettlement process.

More here.
Texas grassroots citizens concerned about refugee resettlement in the state must pressure the governor to take step #2 and sue! But, if you do this, you MUST make sure your Washington reps know what you are doing and how you feel—see calling on Texas (your members of Congress are in key positions to do something!). As I said yesterday, I think you would be stunned to find out how isolated your Washington reps are in their little Capitol Hill bubble.
Click here to learn more about Wilson-Fish states.

NumbersUSA prognostication on Trump Administration immigration/refugee policies

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This morning I figured I would just go back to business reporting the news from across America and across the world on what was happening with refugees and specifically refugee resettlement here and abroad.  But, all the news everywhere (typical of most of the media) was about immigrants/refugees (and groups like CAIR) freaking out.  In the case of one particular story from Baltimore, The Sun article caused my computer to freeze up for about a half an hour. (Don’t you just hate those sites, even Breitbart does it, where they run videos that simply pop up and stall your computer!).

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Does anyone think that a law created by Senators Ted Kennedy and Joe Biden (signed by Jimmy Carter) is worth saving? Is it in the best interests of your towns and cities? No! Tweaking the numbers is not sufficient. I say blow it up and start over!

So instead of sorting through all the scare stories, I read what Roy Beck (NumbersUSA) said about Trump on immigration, but will have to beg to differ if this is really what Trump plans on refugees.
Geez, is the honeymoon over already?
And, so begins a new phase for Refugee Resettlement Watch!  Will we have to be the conscience—the nag—for an administration that purports to be on our side?
And what is my side? It is my job to advocate for what I believe needs to be done, not to find the compromise!
First, let me tell you what Roy Beck says in an otherwise good piece on immigration control and the American worker.
See here on Refugees:

Trump would continue refugee resettlement at more traditional lower numbers*** than the Obama Administration has sought and would emphasize a higher priority on helping more refugees in their home regions.

During Trump’s Phoneix, AZ speech in August 2016 he advocated for creating safe zones for refugees instead of permanently resettling them in the U.S.: “For the price of resettling one refugee in the United States, 12 could be resettled in a safe zone in their home region. Which I agree with 100 percent. We have to build safe zones.”

Trump has also said he will end the practice of forcing refugee resettlement on local communities against their wishes. [Easier said then done! What? take a vote in town? See who comes out with more activists in dueling rallies in the town?—ed]

Just lower the numbers?  No way!

The entire structure of the Refugee Act of 1980 is flawed and my wish is for it to be scrapped altogether.  The system of sending millions (billions!) of taxpayer dollars to non-profit ‘religious’ groups to, in cahoots with the US State Department, secretly place them (chosen by the UN!) in hundreds of towns and cities in 49 states is wrong!

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Time to blow it up and start all over?

Now, if Congress with the President deem it in our national interest to admit some permanent refugees, then they must repeal the original act (build a new program) or completely overhaul it.  I have ideas on what could be done, if that is what the soon-to-be-powers in Washington decide to do.
But, simply reducing the numbers and restricting a few countries won’t cut it! This entire flawed system must be blown up first and I will continue to advocate for that outcome.

***If you want to talk “traditional” numbers, the refugee industry will be quick to say that the RAP (Refugee Admissions Program) admitted much higher numbers in the past, in some years twice what we bring now under Obama.  So you can’t stick to the strict ‘reduce numbers’ meme with this program. And, indeed, if Trump is turned out of the White House in 4 years, then the next administration will simply up the numbers again.

Celebrate today, but tomorrow the real work begins!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

“It does you no good to have local grassroots action in a vacuum that never gets to the ears of your Washington reps!”

Get some sleep and then celebrate.
It’s a wonderful day here on the farm because it’s raining (we’ve had a drought!) and of course because the country class has risen up and soundly defeated the elite establishment ruling class all across America.

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Ryan test! Will Speaker Paul Ryan block any effort to defund the Refugee Program in upcoming lame duck session? If he does, it may be one of the first tests of whether Ryan will work with Trump, or whether his political career is over.

Since Donald Trump, President-elect of the United States, has succeeded in maintaining the Republican majority (coattails!) in both houses of Congress, it will soon be very clear whether the Republicans will work to scrap/reform the  the UN/US State Department Refugee Admissions Program (RAP) or let it move full steam ahead.

If you think that you can relax, that Trump will take care of this problem for you—forget it!  The work has just begun!

Heretofore, the open borders Republicans could point to an Obama with a veto pen as their excuse not to undertake any scaling back or reform of the RAP.  They can no longer shirk their duty!
Congress returns with Republican majorities pretty much intact for the lame duck session next week, and we will have the first test of Paul Ryan’s speakership as it relates to the budget and this program.

It is about the POWER OF THE PURSE!

Will Ryan bow to what he knows Trump wants—a scaling back of the RAP especially as it relates to refugees from countries which hate us—or will he agree to fully fund the RAP at the high level Obama wants for FY2017?
Until January 20th, Obama would likely veto a budget that defunds the RAP, but that is no excuse not to force his hand.

This is going to be the ultimate and clear test for us!

And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will be showing his colors too on the budget.  By the way, they could continue the present FY2016 level (not enough money for 110,000 refugees) into say March giving a Trump Administration time to weigh in on the final 6 months of the year.
You must get to work tomorrow, especially in Republican House Districts to tell your member of Congress to DEFUND the program! (We expect to see a repeat effort by Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX), and hopefully Dave Brat (R-VA) to attach an amendment to the Appropriations bill that must be passed, or kicked down the road, by December 9th).

If Paul Ryan blocks such an effort, we will then clearly know whether he will work with a Trump Administration or not!

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You can see all of my posts on the budget process by visiting the tag ‘Where is Congress.’
So many of you are working in your towns and cities to investigate the RAP, to pressure local elected officials, to look for ways to sue the federal government, to pressure your state legislators and governors to say no to more refugees, which is all good and necessary work.
However, in the next few weeks all of that effort should be directed at one outcome—DEFUNDING the program.  So, every grassroots effort must be directed at your House member and Senators.
Do not assume that if you hold a rally or other public meeting, or call upon the governor to sue the feds to oppose resettlement where you live, that your Congressman and Senators will hear about it—they are some of the least informed people you know—they live in a beltway bubble!

It does you no good to have local grassroots action in a vacuum that never gets to the ears of your Washington reps!

What must Trump do on January 21st?

First, if they haven’t resigned already, he must demand the resignations of the political appointees running the RAP.
They include Anne Richard, Asst. Secretary of State for Population Refugees and Migration and Robert Cary, Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement and any of their underlings who are there in politically appointed jobs. There is nothing to be done right now about career federal employees, let’s just hope that a recent poll that said a quarter of federal employees in DC would quit if Trump was elected follow through.
Of course, much of what happens with this program going forward depends on who Trump will place in his cabinet as Secretary of State, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Homeland Security.  Will they be people willing to slow or stop some immigration programs?
As we discussed above, Trump must work with Congress to cut the budget—appropriations are policy!
As for Obama’s ‘determination’ submitted to Congress this past September where Obama said he wanted 110,000 refugees placed in America by September 30th 2017, Trump has the power to stop that flow on January 21st.
Obama’s proposal is a ceiling only, it is not a legally mandated goal! Of course those Obama appointees and the federal contractors are already working day and night to get as many refugees, especially from Syria, in to your towns and cities by January 20th.  They are also getting as many placed in a pipeline as well so they can scream and shout about how mean Trump is to close the spigot with people in the pipeline.

And, that is why curtailing the budget NOW, in the lame duck, is so important.  It sends the signal that the spigot is closing!
One final thing! This Trump landslide victory sends a message to our friends in Europe that they can resist the Islamification by migration of Europe!

Charleston, WV 'Interfaith' leader and lawyer setting up new refugee resettlement office, planning rally

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Funny, it was only yesterday I told you that local ‘Interfaith’ groups were primary promoters of the expansion of refugee resettlement beyond the two hundred or so offices already up and running, here, into dozens of new towns and cities primarily to receive massive new numbers of Syrian Muslim refugees, among others from dozens of countries.
Now we learn from the Charleston Gazette-Mail that Episcopal Migration Ministries is applying to the US State Department to expand resettlement from the small number of refugees placed in the West Virginia capitol now by Catholic Charities (about 25 last year) to add 100 from EMM in the 2017 fiscal year.

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‘Interfaith’ leader/lawyer Lynn S. Clark. Photo and bio here: http://www.lawyers.com/charleston/west-virginia/lynn-s-clarke-1783094-a/ Go here to see what she said in 2015 about her WV ‘Interfaith’ group: https://woolfinstitute.wordpress.com/2015/12/16/interfaith-refugee-ministry-in-west-virginia-usa/

A local activist ‘Interfaith’ group is incorporating as a non-profit supposedly for the purpose of being the local resettlement subcontractor.
(If this is your first visit to RRW, be sure to see ‘Ten Things your town needs to know…’ because once opened the office will expand each year even if the city of Charleston begs for a reprieve in the number being placed.)
For background, see this previous post on Charleston, WV and follow links to earlier posts.
There is a ‘pocket of resistance’ getting firmly established there.
Wonder where the phrase ‘pocket of resistance’ came from? That is what I heard officials of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement call any community where citizens were demanding answers about the UN/US State Department Refugee Admissions Program. Go here for that 2013 post!  Imagine that! Government bureaucrats referring to citizens who might disagree with their plan for America as being in ‘pockets of resistance.’
From the Charleston Gazette-Mail:

A national refugee resettlement agency has submitted an application to the U.S. Department of State to turn Charleston into one of its “resettlement communities.”

Episcopal Migration Ministries, one of nine national refugee resettlement agencies that works with the U.S. government and local groups to place refugees, and the West Virginia Interfaith Refugee Ministry have been working together in hopes of making Charleston a safe haven for refugees.

The West Virginia Interfaith Refugee Ministry aims to create greater understanding of the Muslim community [assumption here for this group is that they will get Syrian Muslims–ed] and the plight of refugees, including those fleeing Syria, where millions have been displaced and hundreds of thousands have been killed.

[….]

Episcopal Migration Ministries submitted an application to the State Department last month to resettle 100 refugees in the first year in Charleston. Duvall noted the State Department will determine the number if the application is approved.

[….]

Kendall Martin, spokeswoman for Episcopal Migration Ministries, said that the agency has not recently submitted any applications for resettlement communities anywhere else. She said that if the application is approved, they will hold quarterly meetings with the community.

Asked how often their applications are typically approved, Martin said they had only submitted one other site application, for Wichita, Kansas***, to the State Department in the past five years, and it was approved.

Lynn Clarke and Ibtesam Sue Barazi, two of the local volunteers, said they are working on bylaws for their group and preparing for the possibility of establishing a nonprofit organization if the application is approved.

A pro-Syrian refugee rally is scheduled for 5 p.m. on November 15th.

There is only one reason for such a rally and that is to create the impression that West Virginia is wildly welcoming of refugees from the third world and from countries that hate us!  It is about swaying the media and the US State Department.

Barazi, a Syrian immigrant who has lived in West Virginia since 1975, said they also are planning a “West Virginia Welcomes Refugees” rally to be held at 5 p.m. on Nov. 15 at Haddad Riverfront Park, followed by a candlelight vigil. The rally follows a similar event last year that drew hundreds of people. Organizers say they want to “respond to fear with love.”

Visit the Charleston Gazette-Mail for more information and to see the cool graphic showing the other locations around the country where EMM has offices.
One more thing! If Clark and her cohorts succeed and get an office open, they won’t be choosing the refugees, but will be required to take what Washington sends them.  Ultimately, refugees will come from dozens of countries, thus, in some ways, making it harder and more expensive for the city and county to deal with the myriad languages.  Remember local and state taxpayers are responsible for providing interpreters for medical care, schools, and the criminal justice system!
P.S. If you are a West Virginian reading this and getting angry, there are 3 people to complain to: Rep. Alex Mooney (R) who represents Charleston in the House of Representatives and the two US Senators: Shelley Moore Capito (R) and Joe Manchin(D). By the way, if anyone talks to Mooney, tell him to get his history straight about that damn plaque on the Statue of Liberty. It was added later, the original statue had nothing to do with immigration.
***Wichita, Kansas is a prime example of refugee overload as the school system is swamped with refugee kids speaking many languages and it is subsequently BROKE, see here. Do you want this problem in Charleston?

New refugee office opening! At least Poughkeepsie media is trying to get answers!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

What a difference 9 years makes!
In 2007, I started writing Refugee Resettlement Watch because my local newspaper editor wouldn’t send a reporter out to find the answers and explain to the public how it was that a Virginia-based ‘church’ group could choose our county seat in Maryland in which to place impoverished people.  I assumed, and I think correctly, that most local papers back then wouldn’t discuss the program in any way other than to report on fluffy-puffy stories about refugees seeing their first snow.

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The member of Congress representing Poughkeepsie is Sean Patrick Maloney(D) who began his political career in the Clinton White House. Just like every district in America, if you want to slow the flow of refugees (or not start the flow in the first place), there is only one place you should direct your ire, your energy, your political pressure, and that is at your MEMBER OF CONGRESS. They don’t want you to know they could use the power of the purse if they weren’t either complicit in the plan to seed your towns with third worlders/cheap labor, or were too scared to use it. Rep. Maloney is probably hiding, claiming he knows nothing about the plans, but he should know, it is his job!

See my 2007 post and the questions I thought the Hagerstown Herald Mail should answer for the public. By the way, Church World Service (setting up shop in Poughkeepsie) was the major contractor where I live too. Virginia Council of Churches was the immediate subcontractor in charge.
I thus chuckled when I saw this report at the Poughkeepsie Journal this morning.  The paper is at least making some effort to educate the public.  I would like to add more facts and quibble with some of it, but because of a shortage of time, here are just a couple of reporter Jordan Fenster’s points I want to mention.  He lists five things your city needs to know, I have Ten Things, see here.
For new readers see our previous three posts on Poughkeepsie, here, here and here.
Poughkeepsie Journal:

Plans to settle 80 refugees in Poughkeepsie have caused much discussion: Can the Church World Service Network set up shop and resettle refugees wherever it wants? Who has authority over the resettlement process?

Here are five things to know about the process of refugee resettlement:

[….]

2. Federal law requires the use of outside contractors

The Refugee Act of 1980 asks the director of the ORR to cut costs whenever possible, and specifically requests the use of outside contractors.

In 2014, the ORR paid out $606,805,703 to state, resettlement and nonprofit agencies, $29,422,396 of which went to programs in New York.

The Church World Service Network is considered an effective agency by the ORR, which tracks refugees’ path to self-sufficiency. In 2014, 83 percent of the organizations refugee clients were deemed “self-sufficient,” more than any other agency contracted by the ORR.

I’m glad to see that the reporter tells readers about the enormous federal TAXPAYER outlay!  The Refugee Act of 1980 set up the system of so-called public-private partnerships, but the understanding was that it would be a 50-50 deal, not a 90-10 (or worse deal where taxpayers shell out 90% of the costs, sometimes more).  This last bit about self-sufficiency is bogus because a refugee can be on medicaid, food stamps and live in public housing and still be labelled “self-sufficient.”
But, the most interesting thing about #2 above is the use of the word CONTRACTOR.  They were not identified (accurately!) as such much before 2007 that I know of. They are federal contractors just like Haliburton is a federal contractor.
Jumping to Poughkeepsie Journal’s point #4 where the reporter made a good choice in choosing Amarillo as an example of a ‘pocket of resistance’ to highlight. One of our posts on Amarillo is near the top of our all-time most read posts.

4. Amarillo argued for more state and local control

Amarillo Mayor Paul Harpole went to the Texas state house in April to argue against what he said was an inordinately large number of refugees coming into his city, as the Amarillo Globe-News reported.

Harpole testified that his city receives about 500 refugees a year, “more refugees per 100,000 population than any city in the world.”

The problem, according to Harpole, is that he, state leaders and even federal representatives have no say in how many refugees are resettled in a specific location.

“What the Senators are talking about is why the federal government gives the state no control over this and no insight,” he said.

More here.
At this point in time, state officials may have little or no say, but it is one of the major areas of reform needed if there is going to be a refugee program going forward.
But, I don’t want readers to assume that whatever Obama (or God forbid Hillary) want with the UN/US State Department Refugee Admissions Program will happen as if no one has any power to push back.  Even Senators Ted Kennedy, Joe Biden and Pres. Jimmy Carter (creators of the 1980 Act) knew that there is a way to rein-in this program any time it wanted and that is for CONGRESS USE OF THE POWER OF THE PURSE!
Unfortunately, Congress has shirked its duty for decades!
See one of many of my recent posts on DEFUNDING the program in the upcoming Lame Duck session of Congress.
If Hillary is elected on Tuesday and Sean Patrick Maloney is returned to Congress, without a doubt, there will be no hope for Poughkeepsie……