Category: Taxpayer goodies

88 US Mayors Want Trump Refugee Executive Order Rescinded; say 100,000 is the Right Number

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 11 Comments

Two days ago the US Conference of Mayors told America that 18,000 refugees for fiscal year 2020 is too low and that 100,000 a year is their preferred number.

Washington DC mayor Bowser signed the letter. No surprise as she was a leader of the DC Women’s (pussy hats) march against the Prez. Checked the data and just as I suspected DC takes very few refugees—only 135 in TEN years.

They also made it clear that they do not want a local or a state role in deciding where refugees are placed saying it would create a “patchwork of conflicting policies.”

That means of course they are affirming that Washington (and its nine contractors that monopolize all refugee resettlement in America) knows best.  (Well, except for when Trump is in the White House!)

Here (below) is their press release and a screenshot of all those mayors who signed the letter. (I told readers three days ago that the aim of the Open Borders community organizers was to get local elected officials on board.)

This once again confirms that the Left has captured local elected offices and the only hope of pulling out of this decline is for you all to get involved locally where you live and find candidates to challenge them.  It is a tall order that will only be accomplished if Trump gets four more years to buy time for America Firsters to get to work!

From the US Conference of Mayors:

(There are 1,408 mayors in the conference, so I guess these 88 are calling the shots! What do the other 1,320 think about the Conference taking this position?)

Nation’s Mayors Urge Administration to Rescind Executive Order Reducing Refugee Admissions

 

 

Washington, DC – Today, 88 bipartisan mayors from across the country sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, urging the Administration to rescind a September 26 executive order that revamps the U.S. resettlement system and could drastically reduce, if not entirely stop, the resettlement of refugees in cities.

The mayors also urged Secretary Pompeo to return this year’s refugee admissions to previous annual levels. The Administration announced the same day that it is slashing the number of refugees who may enter the country in 2020 to 18,000–the lowest since the program began in 1980 and a reduction of nearly 80% from just a few years ago.

The feds and their nine contractors (not elected by anyone!) know best!

The letter states, “The Executive Order would fundamentally change the structure of the U.S. resettlement program by devolving key decisions primarily to the states and ultimately lead to a patchwork of conflicting policies running contrary to the purpose of a national resettlement program….

[….]

In addition to addressing the country’s strong tradition of providing safe haven, freedom and opportunity to refugees fleeing the world’s most dangerous and desperate situation, the letter also cites the positive impact refugees have on the cultural and economic prosperity of cities and the nation as a reason to increase the cap.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors has long advocated for policies that provide adequate support for refugees and refugee resettlement.

The most recent policy adopted by USCM on this issue calls for admitting at least 100,000 refugees per year.

Here (below) is a screenshot of the signatures.  Does your mayor want to cede all power to the UN/US State Department and its contractors to decide how many impoverished people your city will host?

Remember fed’s contractors only are responsible for placing refugees and getting them signed up for their “services.”  Most of their care is on you—local and state taxpayers!

That is what these mayors are asking for—more poverty for your town or city!

They say the list is bipartisan but I don’t have the time to go through and figure out who might be a Republican, so let me know and I will do an update and tell readers which ones are Rs. 

Here is what you should do!

Make sure that your mayor knows that this is not a freebie political position for them!

If you find your mayor on the list, write a letter to the local paper and say that your mayor is advocating for 100,000 refugees for America and stating unequivocally that he/she does not want to have any say on how many are placed in your city.  

The mayors who signed the letter want that decision left up to bureaucrats in Washington along with the nine contractors that monopolize all refugee resettlement in America (below):

 

HIAS Not Telling the Whole Truth as they Sue the President; Raise Money

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 1 Comment

Further confirmation that the latest legal gambit by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and its fellow federal refugee contractors Church World Service and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service***  is about making money!

Over the last few days I told you here, here  and here about the lawsuit filed this week by the three federal refugee contractors and now I see there is a follow-up appeal by HIAS for guess what—money.

There is one important point you need to know about refugee resettlement, and one that was addressed here by David James, that the contractors don’t explain to their groupies….

Refugees can move!

HIAS CEO Hetfield received Islamic Relief USA’s “Courage” award in 2017. https://www.hias.org/blog/hias-receives-courage-award-islamic-relief-usa-tireless-work-assisting-refugees

They are not required to remain even for a day in the place they are resettled.

Of course if they stay for a few months they get a lot of help from the local sub-contractor to get signed-up for their services (aka welfare, etc), but they are not required to stay where placed.

The contractor’s duties generally end in just a few months after arrival anyway, and the refugees become the responsibility of your local/state services for the poor.

Additionally, the US State Department permits contractors to place refugees anywhere within a hundred mile radius of their nearest office.

In HIAS CEO Mark Hetfield’s e-mail appeal for money on Friday he makes it sound like refugees will not be reunited with their family members who came before them if Trump succeeds in his dastardly plan. That just isn’t so.

***Update*** I have been informed that the EO specifically says it does not apply to family reunification placements.

Also, The US does not block anyone from moving! 

It has happened time and again that refugees simply pack up and move to another city or state at will. (Which is why, although well-intended, the Trump EO really won’t accomplish what I think the designers hoped it would.)

And, as Mr. James reported, the feds can override the wishes of a state or local government.

But, if scaring donations out of people is the goal, then telling their supporters that Trump will block refugees from joining family members is a pretty good talking point.

Here is a bit of Hetfield’s plea for donations:

Here’s why our lawsuit is so important: The administration’s unprecedented action could prevent refugees from joining their U.S.-based families – even though many have waited for years to reunite. It could block communities from welcoming refugees, even if they have long-standing and successful resettlement programs. And it could prevent resettlement agencies from maintaining local affiliate offices that provide essential services to refugees during their first critical years in our country.

So, send us money!

Click here to make a gift of $18 or more right now to stand with HIAS and fight the Trump administration’s unprecedented attempt to close America’s door to thousands of refugees.

For more than a hundred years, our shared Jewish and American values have guided our work helping refugees build new lives of safety and freedom in the United States. It is these values that compel us not to look away from this intolerance – and to take a stand on behalf of those in need of our assistance.

President Trump’s executive action is an insult to the values upon which this nation was founded, and we’re calling on you to stand with us as we fight in court for refugees seeking safe havens in American communities. Please, we’re counting on you to step up at this crucial moment:

Did we mention?  Send money!

Make a gift of $18 or more now – the need has never been more urgent – to support refugees and asylum seekers in their quest for safety and freedom.

HIAS has figured out that Trump is good for their bottom line!

*** In case you think I’m picking on HIAS, I wrote about Church World Service yesterday and I’ll shortly have a post on LIRS!  Those two ‘Christian charities’  are even more heavily dependent on you (taxpayers of America) to keep their refugee businesses flush with cash than is HIAS!

 

Church World Service, One of Three Federal Refugee Contractors Suing Trump Funded from US Treasury

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 1 Comment

Just like the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), Church World Service, representing some major churches in America,*** do not want you, taxpaying Americans, to have any say in which impoverished third worlders are placed in your towns and cities.

Read all about the lawsuit to put a roadblock before Trump’s September Executive Order that although far from perfect, at least acknowledges that heretofore you have had no say in the demographic future of America.

Nine contractors working with the US State Department make the decisions!

Church World Service CEO Rev. John L. McCullough (far left) was arrested along with CAIR’s Nihad Awad on the Capitol steps last month. https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2019/10/13/cair-church-world-service-others-plan-civil-disobedience-at-us-capitol-this-week/

 

As promised yesterday I’ve had a little look into Church World Service’s finances and say once again, if they were a true religious charity, not receiving any taxpayer dollars, we would have no quibble with the sources of their money, or how they spend it.

However, in the case of CWS they are even more heavily funded by you and me than is HIAS and so we have a right to know how our money is being used.  

As I said earlier today, tell your children to grow up to run ‘non-profit charities!’

CEO Rev. John McCullough pulled in over $1 million in compensation in just the last 4 years—lucrative work if you can get it!

Here is a run-down of CWS’s finances from their last four years of Form 990s filed with the IRS.

BTW, for new readers, it was CWS’s activities in my rural county in 2007 that ‘inspired’ me in my investigative work that has become my passion.

And, you should know that CWS also advocates for Open Borders for illegal aliens. (See right)

2015 (Obama year)

$50.1 million from government grants

$25.1 million from other sources of income

Total income: $77.8 million (other smaller sources of income included)(Conservatively 64% federally funded because some of their other smaller amounts of income are from taxpayers too.)

$27 million passed through to other organizations

$16.3 million paid in salaries (salaries do not include other payroll expenses)

$316,714 CEO (McCullough) compensation (includes other compensation from the organization and other related compensation)

 

2016 (Obama’s top refugee ‘welcoming’ year)

$61.3 million from government grants

$24.7 million from other sources of income

Total income: $88.5 million (69% federally funded.)

$29.5 million passed through to other organizations

$15.5 million paid in salaries

$333,626 CEO (McCullough) compensation

 

2017 (Trump takes over 3 and 1/2 month into the fiscal year)

$68.4 million from government grants

$24.6 million from other sources of income

Total income: $95.8 million (71% federally funded)

$41 million passed through to other organizations

$16.3 million paid in salaries

$345,366 CEO (McCullough) compensation

 

2018 (Trump year)

$39.3 million from government grants

$23.8 million from other sources of income

Total income: $66.1 million (60% federally funded.)

$20.9 million passed through to other organizations

$13.3 million paid in salaries

$353,220 CEO (McCullough) compensation

 

Interesting trend line!  Unlike HIAS whose budget is growing via private money under Trump, CWS’s is declining (sharply from 2017 to 2018, no wonder they are ticked off).

However, despite the wailing when Trump came in, CWS had an exceptional year in 2017 when it was 71% federally funded.

But the best fun fact is that as the organization’s resources declined in 2018 (closed offices and reduced staff), the Reverend McCullough’s compensation continued an upward climb.  Hmmmm!  Doing well by doing good!

*** Find out if your church is a member congregation of CWS, see here.

Legal Group Suing Trump is Taxpayer Funded Too!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is how progressives do it!  They set up overtly political organizations masquerading as simply humanitarian enterprises and get most of their operating capital from taxpayers!

When I wrote yesterday’s post about the three refugee resettlement contractors, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Church World Service and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service***, hiring a legal firm to sue the President over his September Executive Order, I wondered who funded the International Refugee Assistance Project?

The lawsuit aims to stop the Trump Administration from taking local citizens concerns into account when the feds (with their paid contractors) place refugees quietly into communities large and small.

They will argue in court that refugee law already has a process for taking local concerns into account, but if they think the quarterly consultations are sufficient, let me tell you they are not!

At the local level the contractors and their government supporters do everything in their power (including locking doors and changing meeting locations) to block attendance of critics of the program.

And, of course quarterly consultations are done after the town or city has become a resettlement city.  There is no process in place to give citizens an opportunity to speak up before the city has been chosen.

As I said yesterday, I suspect this is all about attacking Trump AND raking in more money for the organizations bringing the suit.

Here is what you should know about the International Refugee Assistance Project created just last year and headed by Becca Heller.

They are a project of a New York City-based supposedly charitable organization called the Urban Justice Center, set up over three decades ago to protect vulnerable poor people in New York.

Here is what wikipedia reports:

Another warrior for the poor who rakes in hundreds of thousands in compensation annually!

The Urban Justice Center is a non-profit legal services and advocacy organization serving the New York City area. It is known as an incubator for progressive programs and initiatives and for being a significant legal presence in the struggles of New York’s poverty stricken and minority populations.

[….]

The UJC sponsors the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), which works to organize law students and lawyers to develop and enforce legal and human rights for refugees and displaced persons. They have offices in New York City, Jordan, and Lebanon. IRAP is a plaintiff in the 2017 decision International Refugee Assistance Project v. Trump and co-counsel in Darweesh v. Trump. [Someone will need to update wikipedia with their latest stop Trump case—ed]

The Urban Justice Center is largely funded with taxpayer dollars!

According to the most recent Form 990 available, the UJC pulled in $19.4 million in government grants in a total income stream that year of $31.2 million, making them 62% taxpayer funded!

Tell your kids to grow up to be CEOs of non-profit ‘charities!’

Head honcho Lasdon received $224,873 in direct compensation and another $8,995 in other compensation from the organization or related organizations.

I’m chuckling as I recall telling a young friend who worked for peanuts for another NYC charity for poor people to look up how much the CEO was making.  My friend was shocked and didn’t stay much longer….

*** In case you think I’m picking on HIAS, I’ll shortly have my posts done on CWS and LIRS!  They are even more heavily funded by you—the taxpayers of America!

HIAS Sues Trump Again, Contractor Does Not Want Local Citizens to have a Say in Placement Decisions

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 5 Comments

It is as simple as this:  HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) wants to continue to call the shots from Washington, DC about where refugees will be placed in America.

HIAS has been protesting Trump from the moment he was elected. Here CEO Mark Hetfield led a February 2017 anti-Trump rally that featured then Rep. Keith Ellison.  https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2017/02/14/breitbart-federally-funded-refugee-resettlement-contractor-hias-organized-ny-rally-against-trump/

You, who live in cities large and small are expected to shut up and let the professionals and experts determine which third world refugees will be resettled in which communities.

Never mind that as we pointed out here, the President’s Executive Order really doesn’t do much and never mind that there are yet no published guidelines from the federal government about how the Executive Order would be carried out, HIAS is nevertheless getting a jump on it by beating their anti-Trump drums and filing a lawsuit.

Clearly they have no interest in listening to what citizens have to say about their community being forever changed by federal contractors working for the US State Department. 

I suspect this new lawsuit is all about raising more money from an outraged constituency and I’ll tell you why I think that after you see what HIAS said yesterday.

Here is Mark Hetfield, HIAS CEO in an e-mail announcing the lawsuit:

Dear Friend,

In September, President Trump issued an executive order (EO) purporting to give state and local governments the authority to block refugee resettlement in their jurisdictions. This state-by-state, city-by-city refugee ban not only violates federal law, but also keeps refugees apart from their families, and prevents willing and able American communities like yours from welcoming people in need of safety. [Cry me a river!—ed]

This morning, HIAS, joined by two other refugee agencies, filed suit to stop this latest attempt to shut down refugee resettlement.

Now here is just some of their press announcement:

Today HIAS, together with two other refugee resettlement agencies, took President Trump to court over his recent executive order giving state and local officials authority to block refugee resettlement in their jurisdictions.

HIAS, Church World Service (CWS), and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) are suing the administration because it is attempting to enact a state-by-state, city-by-city refugee ban.

[….]

The president’s order, signed on September 26, would require resettlement agencies, including HIAS, CWS, and LIRS, to obtain written consent from all localities and states in which they plan to resettle refugees. If written consent cannot be obtained, it could prevent resettlement agencies from maintaining local affiliate offices that provide essential services to refugees already in the area.

According to the complaint, filed this morning in U.S. District Court in Maryland, the executive order violates federal law, which  requires federal agencies to make decisions about where refugees are to be placed within the United States according to a detailed list of factors, leaving no room for state and local governments to veto such decisions.

What factors? What are the detailed list of factors on which the feds (with their contractors) base their placement decisions? Shouldn’t we be given that information? We are the ones paying for it in more ways than one!

HIAS continues…

HIAS sued the Trump administration in 2017, when the president’s executive order called for halting refugee resettlement and banning people from seven majority Muslim countries with an exception for non-Muslim religious minorities.

HIAS, CWS, and LIRS, are represented by the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP).

[….]

Melissa Keaney, Senior Litigation Staff Attorney for IRAP called the order “a back-door attempt to decimate the refugee resettlement program.” and noted that a single local politician should not be able to stop Americans who have been waiting years to reunite with family members.  [Their willingness to flat out lie is disgusting!  A single local politician could not stop resettlement!—ed]

“Trump’s War on Refugees” as they call it, has been very lucrative for HIAS!

I suspected that HIAS, and maybe some of the other contractors, was financially hurting as the Trump Administration has severely cut back on the number of paying clients (aka refugees) that the contractors are paid to ‘care for’ for a brief time, but I was wrong.

HIAS is better off financially today than it was at the pinnacle of the Obama Administration when refugees were pouring in by the tens of thousands.

We are getting into the weeds here, but hang in there.

I went back to the last four years of HIAS’s IRS Form 990s and guess what I confirmed?  HIAS is richer today than when Obama’s refugee spigot was wide open.

Their federal dollars have fallen only slightly while their private fundraising has mushroomed with the addition of over $10 million to their income between 2015 and 2018.

They are making money hand over fist because Donald Trump is in the White House!

In addition they are paying out more in salaries and giving less to other organizations.

Let me be clear.  If HIAS was a truly charitable organization that was not partially funded by taxpayers, I wouldn’t care about where their money came from, where they spent it, or how large their salaries are, but we, the taxpayers of America, are involuntarily paying for their overtly political activities and thus have a right to know how our money is being spent.

Here is a summary of some key data points on their IRS forms (I’m rounding numbers to make it easier to follow the money!):

2015  (Obama year)

$20.4 million from government grants

$15.2 million from other sources of income

Total income: $40.6 million (other smaller sources of income included)(Conservatively 50% federally funded because some of their other smaller amounts of income are from taxpayers too.)

$8.5 million passed through to other organizations

$12.2 million paid in salaries (salaries do not include other payroll expenses)

$375,000 CEO (Hetfield) compensation (includes other related compensation)

2016 (Obama’s top refugee ‘welcoming’ year)

$24.5 million from government grants

$17.4 million from other sources of income

Total income: $45.3 million (54% federally funded)

$12.2 million passed through to other organizations

$13.9 million paid in salaries

$344,000 CEO total compensation

2017 (Trump takes over)

$20.7 million from government grants

$19.9 million from other sources of income

Total income: $48.4 million (43% federally funded)

$8.9 million passed through to other organizations

$15.9 million paid in salaries

$322,000 CEO total compensation (took a little pay cut)

2018 (Trump)

$19.1 million from government grants (just about what they were raking in during Obama’s 2015!)

$27.4 million from other sources of income

Total income: $50 million (38% federally funded)

$6.6 million passed through to other organizations

$14.9 million paid in salaries

$330,000 CEO total compensation

Bottomline:  HIAS is wealthier today ($10 million wealthier) than they were four years ago and I suspect they are fully aware of how the President, and their campaign against him, has enormously helped their fundraising operations.

The lawsuit will likely bring in gobs more money for them!

And, just so you know, I’ll be looking at the Form 990s of the other ‘religious charity’ partners in this lawsuit.