Category: Taxpayer goodies

Linda Sarsour, CAIR’s top gun Nihad Awad, and Imam Suleiman among those arrested on Capitol Hill this week

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This story isn’t something I would normally bother posting (it is a ho-hum story), but since I was just introduced, via NPR, to Dallas Imam Omar Suleiman yesterday I thought it was an interesting coincidence.

Omar Suleiman, CAIR Director Nihad Awad and Linda Sarsour arrested. Refugee contractor Church World Service helped organize the protest.

 

Yesterday we learned that Muslim leaders who had once said they would open their mosques to people of all faiths escaping ICE, have changed their minds. 

I described how Suleiman so skillfully deflected and snowed the NPR reporter. He shifted the blame to Trump and his merry band of haters when I suspect their change of heart had more to do with realizing that having a bunch of infidels living in their mosques could be problematic.

But when I looked more deeply into the demonstration story this morning, I saw that one of the nine federally funded refugee resettlement contractors—CHURCH WORLD SERVICE—was an organizer of the media stunt making this story very much of interest to RRW because taxpayers fund CWS to the tune of $62 million a year!

Now here is Al-Jazeera on the demonstration:

Muslim-American leaders have been arrested at the US Capitol while urging Congress to stand against President Donald Trump’s effort to end a programme that protects certain young immigrants.

This is a still shot from the corny CHURCH WORLD SERVICE video from a corny demonstration. I guess they mean ‘democracy’ is sick and weak as the actor is being held up by none other than Nihad Awad (CAIR!) and Suleiman. Who comes up with this stuff?

Omar Suleiman, Dawud Walid, Mujahid Fletcher, Talib Shareef and Nihad Awad of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Zahra Billoo, and Linda Sarsour advocated immigration reform before getting arrested on Monday.

The protesters participated in an act of civil disobedience at the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, demanding that he meet them to hear their concerns.Muslim-American leaders have been arrested at the US Capitol while urging Congress to stand against President Donald Trump’s effort to end a programme that protects certain young immigrants.

[….]

Quoting Malcolm X, Talib Shareef of the Muslim Alliance of North America said: “Almighty Allah has told us to stand for justice. We are not weak in faith and we are here for a mobilization.

“We stand here in the spirit of Malcolm X with the people who are affected by these policies.”

Imam Suleiman, who I read about yesterday, depicts himself as a moderate Imam deeply involved in the Dallas interfaith community.  But, make no mistake—it is “white supremacy” he sees as the root of all evil (and so must Church World Service!).

“This is creating real fear,” Suleiman said, adding that the imams are fighting white supremacy because Islamophobia, racism and hostility against immigrants all stem from the same roots.

CHURCH WORLD SERVICE

Couldn’t figure out how to link the hokey video, but if you go to their twitter feed for March 5, you can find it.

Church World Service was clearly an instigator of this comical demonstration.

It should drive all of you crazy to know that according to a recent accounting, they received 71% of their income from US taxpayers—that amounted to about $62 million for the one year!

They can have free speech all they want, just not with our money!

(Where is Congress? Where is Paul Ryan allowing our money to be used for stunts like this?)

Recently they protested outside the White House as well, see here.  And, this is what I said in that post:

If you belong to any of these churches (below) know that Church World Service was representing you outside the White House in January and this week at the Capitol. 

They also hold the annual “Crop Walk,” so if you disagree with their political tactics you need to start speaking up!

Are they speaking for your church? They obviously believe they are!

And, incidentally it was a Church World Service subcontractor responsible for placing refugees in Western Maryland where I live and so they are directly responsible for birthing RRW (nothing to do with white supremacy and everything to do with transparency and how our government spends our money).

See all of my previous posts on CWS by clicking here.

Here are the churches they represent:

Member Communions

    African Methodist Episcopal Church

Dear Donald, give Bibi a gift today, cut federal funding to HIAS….

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

…..and help yourself too!

[On refugees] right now we’re setting a very bad example.

(HIAS CEO Mark Hetfield told the Israeli press last month)

 
It really is outrageous.  Taxpayers shelled out $24,493,743 in federal grants to the ‘non-profit’ Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society according to its most recent Form 990 available and the group is in Israel community agitating and badmouthing the Trump Admin at the same time.
 

hetfield-at-wh
HIAS CEO Mark Hetfield at the White House last month protesting the Trump Administration refugee policy which reduces his organization’s income.   https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2018/02/17/australian-christian-magazine-goes-to-bat-for-us-refugee-resettlement-contractors/

 
HIAS (they changed their name a few years ago, dropped the Hebrew) is helping organize protests in Israel against the deportation of illegal aliens.
I’m not challenging their right to free speech elsewhere in the world, but shouldn’t there be some law against using taxpayer dollars to do it!
I’m sure they will say they have great bookkeepers working to keep their pots of money separate.  However, their taxpayer funding makes up half of their budget each year and they couldn’t exist without it (and they sure couldn’t pay these huge salaries, below).
Here is news directly from the HIAS horse’s mouth:

The diverse coalition of Israeli and North American groups calling for more humane treatment of asylum seekers is gathering momentum at a critical juncture, with the first wave of deportations scheduled to begin in April.

[….]

While in Israel for a visit, HIAS President and CEO Mark Hetfield told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that he felt encouraged the narrative was finally beginning to shift back in favor of the asylum seekers.

“Israelis are beginning to realize these are people with asylum claims, and they should be given a fair asylum hearing,” he said.

“If the government is unable to set up a system that is fair, it should give these people social and economic rights until it is safe for them to go back home. We’re not talking about a lot of people anymore.” [Last figure I saw was 37,000, a very high number for a small country to absorb—-ed]

[….]

HIAS, along with partners at the New Israel Fund, T’ruah, and Right Now, organized a call-in day last week in coordination with the #LetUsHelp Campaign, urging North Americans to call their local Israeli consulates and ask them to stop the deportation plans.

In his interview with Haaretz, Hetfield spoke about the relationship between Israel’s policies and attitudes back home in the United States.

“In the eyes of the American-Jewish community – particularly the younger generation – this is very upsetting and it’s just going to cause further alienation from Israel,” he warned. [He hopes it will!—ed]

Hetfield also noted that Trump Administration’s policies may be playing a role.

“The United States often sets examples for how refugees and asylum seekers should be treated, and that’s what’s happening now. We either set a good example or a bad example – and right now we’re setting a very bad example.

And, to think that we help pay his exorbitant salary!
From that recent Form 990:
Screenshot (211)
 

Come on Mr. President, turn off their pipeline to the US Treasury!

Looking for something to do? Contact the White House and tell the President to cut HIAS loose!
For new readers:
HIAS is one of nine federal resettlement contractors.
The original Refugee Act of 1980, that set up this monstrosity, envisioned a public-private partnership that over the years has almost completely morphed in to a federal program.
The number in parenthesis is the percentage of their income paid by you (the taxpayer) to place the refugees and get them signed up for their services (aka welfare)!  From most recent accounting, here.

More of Australia's rejected asylum seekers leave for US

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is an update on the movement of illegal aliens who tried to get in to Australia by boat, were placed in Australian detention centers, but thanks to former President Obama’s “dumb deal” they are coming to the US as refugees.

australian-detainees-on-the-way
Photo is of a bunch that was headed our way in January.  https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2018/01/23/australian-rejected-refugees-on-the-way-to-us-this-week/

(A refugee designation is the highest class of legal immigration one can hope to get because it comes with the works—a furnished apartment, job counseling, case workers to sign you up for your ‘services,’ etc.)
If you are a new reader, you need to know that Donald Trump agreed to honor the deal he once called “dumb,” but at least the administration seems to be slow-walking the process.
This time we learn that the latest batch includes a few families in addition to the larger number of single men, that Australia did not want on its mainland, being placed without your knowledge in Any Town, USA.
From the Australian AP via the Daily Mail:

Four more families of refugees and a cohort of single men have left immigration camps on Nauru to start new lives in the United States.

The group of 29, including eight children, who flew off the island nation on Sunday is the fifth cohort to depart Nauru under Australia’s refugee resettlement deal with the US.

They included two Sri Lankan, one Rohingyan and one Afghan family and single men from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, refugee advocates said.

Two hundred and twenty four of a projected 1,250 have been selected.

Since resettlements under the deal started in September, 139 refugees have left Nauru and 85 from Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island.

Ian Rintoul
Australian open borders activist Rintoul wonders why no more vetting interviews have been scheduled.

However, the Refugee Action Coalition said it was remarkable there were no Iranian, Somali or Sudanese refugees among those who have left this year, despite Australian Border Force officials denying any particular nationalities were banned from resettling in the US. [It makes no sense that the Trump Admin is blocking Iranians, Somalis and Sudanese, but allowing Afghans, Pakistanis and Rohingya!—ed]

Hmmmm……slow-walk?

RAC spokesman Ian Rintoul said US officials were expected to remain in Nauru for another couple of weeks but had not yet scheduled any new vetting interviews for another round of refugees.

Under the deal Australia reached with the previous Obama administration – derided as the worst ever by now-president Donald Trump – the US agreed to take up to 1250 refugees from the offshore detention centres.

Go here to learn more about the Australian “dumb” deal. We have been following it for months.

Breitbart roundup: Refugee contractors whine as revenue plummets

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Michael Leahy at Breitbart has pulled together in one article a litany of complaints from representatives of the refugee industry.
The newest data that came in here on the first of March will surely set off a new wave of temper tantrums aimed at Trump. But, I will remind readers that the contractors who must now fire low level workers in the industry and close small offices, have brought this on themselves by their nearly complete dependence on the US Treasury and their laziness about raising private money.
Why bother with chump change when the taxpayer spigot is wide open? See my post here.

David Miliband the king
Not crying for you! International Rescue Committee CEO David (Moneybags) Miliband pulls down an annual salary approaching $700,000.  Think how many refugees and low level staff could be sustained on that!

Even if the refugee numbers being admitted are low, there are still plenty of refugee lost souls they brought in last year or the year before who could use their help (if they had private money! Private ‘religious’ charity!).
(It isn’t really about humanitarianism, these are organizations working to change America by changing the people.)
Here is how Leahy begins his roundup of complaints:

The federally funded non-profits known as voluntary agencies (VOLAGs), who collectively have received more than $1 billion annually to resettle refugees, are whining now that refugee admissions, and their own associated revenues, are down dramatically during the first five months of FY 2018 under the Trump administration.

Despite a slight uptick in refugee admissions in February to 1,927, the total number of refugee admissions during the first five months of FY 2018, which began on October 1, is only 8,635, according to the State Department’s interactive website – the lowest number of refugee admissions for the first five months of a fiscal year in more than 15 years.

If the average monthly arrival rate of 1,727 during the first five months of FY 2018 continues at the same pace for the final seven months of the fiscal year, total refugee admissions for the 12 months of the full fiscal year will be under 21,000, less than half the ceiling number of 45,000 President Trump announced in September.

The nine VOLAGs (Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, the International Rescue Committee, HIAS, Church World Service, Episcopal Migration Ministries, Ethiopian Community Development Council, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (Catholic Charities), and World Relief),*** all of whom are almost entirely dependent on federal funding tied to the number of new refugee arrivals they resettle around the country through local affiliated agencies, are now in the midst of a cash crunch unheard of in the agency.

Consequently, they and their political allies are complaining loudly and often about both Trump’s lowered refugee ceiling admission number and the increase in the time and length of the Department of Homeland Security’s security vetting of potential refugees.

One of those complaining is Bob Carey:

Bob Carey, a prominent critic of the recent reduction in refugee admissions by the federal government, is a prime example of the cozy revolving door the Trump administration has disrupted.

Carey spent most of his career as an executive with the International Rescue Committee, one of the nine VOLAGs supported almost exclusively by government funding. While there, he served as chair of Refugee Council USA. [And headed the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement in Obama’s second term.—ed]

Much more here.
Photo: Just so you know I’m not making it up!  Have a look at this recent (2015) Form 990 salary page for the International Rescue Committee.
Doing well by doing good!
 
Screenshot (232)_LI
 
Think about this: the IRC is a federally funded non-profit. A Member of Congress/Senator makes $174,000 a year! A Supreme Court Justice $213,000!
Where is Congress? The refugee slowdown has demonstrated that the Refugee Act of 1980 set up an insanely flawed system that must be dumped now!
***The number in parenthesis is the percentage of their income paid by you (the taxpayer) to place the refugees and get them signed up for their services (aka welfare)!  From most recent accounting, here.
If you are wondering, I post this list every chance I get because we have new readers daily and because I want all of you to know that for reform to be possible these nine fake non-profits have to go.

 

Seattle: Tax dollars go to special programs for special people—Somalis

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I couldn’t help seeing the irony yesterday when I posted on how Denmark is attempting to break up ethnic ghettos that have developed in certain housing projects in that country, see here, while we in the US are still building our ethnic enclaves even using tax dollars to do it!
And, before you move on, don’t miss Leo Hohmann last night who posted on a startling comment from German Chancellor Angela Merkel—yes, she admitted they have no-go zones in some German cities. 
In Seattle they are literally building-in separateness!
So much for assimilation!

Somali girls basketball
Special grant program so that Somali girls can play basketball. I sure hope if other girls of other ethnic groups, or even white Americans arrived they would be permitted to play too.

Although I am not sure the grant money is still flowing from the feds (the Office of Refugee Resettlement) to specific ethnic groups as it had been several years ago, this local grant continues the foolish idea of separating needy people by their ethnicity (country of origin).
How on earth do political leaders and grantmakers expect assimilation to ever happen when division and special treatment by country of origin is encouraged!
I wonder if someone formed a club entitled say: Americans of British Ethnicity Youth Club, would it even be permitted to exist let alone get nearly a million bucks from taxpayers?

Somali Youth & Family Club gets nearly a million dollars for after school programs for Somalis

From the South Seattle Emerald:

A crowd of young Somali girls has just finished an hour of basketball. Now they head to the classroom upstairs for tutoring, and of course an occasional dance to Drake’s “God’s Plan.”

These girls, most of them first-generation immigrants, are Skyway residents in the Somali Youth & Family Club, a nonprofit program which holds afterschool programs in Skyway’s Creston Point Apartments. Creston Point has almost 500 units, and many of the residents are Somali immigrants and refugees.

Around 100 Somali youths are in the program, which holds sessions five days a week and allows children of all ages to participate. Members can receive tutoring, play basketball, read and write poetry, and swim.

The nonprofit program is able to run events like this thanks in part to a recent $855,000 grant from King County’s Best Starts for Kids initiative. The grant more than doubled the program’s budget, according to Kelsey Dale, Education Program Manager for the Somali Youth & Family Club.  [Let’s see, $855,000 divided by 100 kids=$8,550 per Somali kid—ed]

The program started in 2007, and is currently overseen by Aden Hussein, a Somali immigrant who came to Skyway in 1999. Hussein says the program has been remarkably successful.

More here.

What is Drake’s “Gods Plan,” I wanted to know.

Apparently it is a song that is all the rage in the last few weeks.
The lyrics are here.
You can listen here (if it isn’t visible in your e-mail, then come to RRW see it or search for it on the net).

 
And here is a story about what five religious leaders say about the song and Drake giving out money in the music video.
The Islamic leader says this about it:

Mona Haydar, The Islamic Center at NYU, New York, NY

“The video had me in tears and made me wish that we would talk seriously about things like reparations in America for indigenous and Black peoples. It made me think about stolen lands and stolen peoples and the inequity we see as a result of those oppressions and how we become numb to it like the way we come to see poverty as simply the condition of a people instead of a symptom of systemic infrastructural injustice. People say that the system is broken and I don’t believe that’s true — I think the system is fully functional and is rigged the way it is to keep some people up and some people down. The video reminded me of unfettered capitalism and the destruction of our Earth mother.

Sigh…..
This is a song and video you might want to keep away from your children, just saying!