Category: The Opposition

Church World Service CEO says Trump is catering to white-supremacists with refugee screening changes

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is one of several statements I’m seeing this morning on the Trump Administration’s latest announcement on more stringent vetting for refugees and others wanting to enter our country.

Editor: When I can’t quite figure out how much Trump is accomplishing on this issue, I can always use a ‘squawk’ gauge—what is the decibel level of the squawking from the refugee industry? It is pretty high today!

And, you know what is too bad, as the House Immigration Subcommittee holds a hearing this morning on the refugee program, there will not be one word of the fact that contractors are working against the very people who fund them—us.

As usual, in his Trump-blast, the CEO of one of nine federal contractors (paid by the head to place refugees in your towns) never once mentions that with more stringent vetting and fewer refugees entering the US, his ‘religious’ charity may have to absorb a huge loss in FEDERAL funding.

Will Rev. McCullough take a pay cut himself?

 

McCullough arrest
Taxpayers help fund his quarter of a $million annual salary! CWS CEO Rev. John McCullough being arrested in Washington, DC protesting in SUPPORT of Obama’s executive AMNESTY. Photo and story here: http://njfon.org/2015/04/08/faith-groups-challenge-fifth-circuit-court-on-presidents-immigration-actions/

 

Washington, D.C. – CWS joins our partners and communities of faith across the United States in decrying the White House’s announcement today regarding changes to the US refugee resettlement program. As a result of these changes, hundreds, possibly thousands of families that have gone through the exhaustive vetting process in good faith and were promised refuge in the United States will see their eligibility revoked and be exposed to even further danger. The disruption to the program will have severe long-term consequences. [Including, but never mentioned, the possible loss of millions of dollars to their coffers—ed]

CWS’ President and CEO, Rev. John McCullough said “today’s announcement makes the pattern undeniable. The Trump administration is seeking to dismantle the refugee resettlement program brick by brick, through any means necessary. This administration is not interested in pursuing our national interest, enhancing national security, upholding the legal frameworks that protect both us and our allies, much less our shared moral obligation to lead as a nation during the world’s largest displacement crisis. The arguments put forward to dismantle the refugee program are all just smoke screens in order to fulfill the Trump campaign’s bargain with white-supremacy.”

Continue reading here.

This past summer, I used Charity Navigator for my source of information on CWS and its income (see all nine contractors here).  This is what I learned.  In the most recent year for reporting (2016), CWS was operating on a budget of just over $88 million.  See how much of that YOU (the taxpayer) supplied.

71% of their revenue comes from the US Treasury! Yet, the good reverend is perfectly comfortable protesting, political organizing against the President, and calling any of you who have concerns about the refugee program a white supremacist! 

This organization could not exist without government grants!

 

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See if a Church World Service subcontractor is working where you live, click here.

(It was Church World Service that sent its subcontractor, Virginia Council of Churches, to the county in Maryland where I live over 10 years ago and so CWS is responsible for helping create this blog!  However, I see VCoC isn’t listed as a subcontractor on that list anymore!  Hmmm!)

And here (below) are Church World Services churches (churches representing the religious LEFT).

Is your church one of those supporting the goals of CWS? 

BTW, If your local church is doing a “crop walk” you know you are supporting more refugees being placed in America through CWS.

People ask me all the time what they can do.  If one of these is your church, you need to start speaking up to your local pastors/ministers!

 

 

No such thing as ‘Minnesota nice’ as St. Cloud mayor and council play dirty

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We told you that a St. Cloud, Minnesota councilman was planning to introduce a resolution on November 6th asking for a moratorium on refugee resettlement in order to understand better the economic impact of thousands of mostly Somali refugees being placed in the town over recent years by a Lutheran resettlement agency.

(Don’t miss yesterday’s post about Lutherans being paid directly by meatpacking companies to find and retain labor, here.)

So what happens the week before the planned debate on the moratorium resolution?

On Monday night (on the 23rd):

The Mayor and most of the council sprung a “welcoming” resolution, with no advanced warning, and allowed only a few minutes of discussion before voting in support in front of a large audience that was out of control.

Here Leo Hohmann at World Net Daily tells us what happened.  Embedded in the story is a video of the meeting that was described by many as total chaos.

What happened at the St. Cloud, Minnesota, City Council on Monday night is being described as a well-organized “ambush” designed to shut down a citizen uprising or “pocket of resistance” against runaway refugee resettlement in the small city.

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Councilman Jeff Goerger, who introduced the “Welcoming and Just City” resolution before his colleague’s resolution could be introduced and voted on.

College-age students filled the council chambers. Only five people were allowed to approach the podium and speak, all of them in favor of unlimited refugee resettlement with no accountability to the taxpayer.

A resolution was hastily introduced, read and voted on.

Mission accomplished.

The ambush was successful.

And the local Somali community is now celebrating.

It all started when several of the council members who support unlimited refugee resettlement with no financial accountability to the taxpayer were informed that one of their colleagues, Councilman Jeff Johnson, planned to introduce a resolution at their Nov. 6 meeting calling for a moratorium on all resettlements in St. Cloud until an economic impact study could be completed.

Johnson’s resolution would also require the city to verify that it is in full compliance with all facets of the federal Refugee Act of 1980 as signed by then-president Jimmy Carter.

But Johnson’s opponents, clearly having collaborated among themselves beforehand, sprung a new resolution on the public at the Monday, Oct. 23, meeting and passed it 5-1 after begrudgingly allowing only a few minutes of debate.

The efforts by Johnson to support financial accountability were undercut before they were even heard in a public forum.

Councilman Jeff Goerger made sure of it.

[….]

Councilman Jeff Goerger, who introduced the “Welcoming and Just City” resolution before his colleague’s resolution could be introduced and voted on.

Goerger stated, to a resounding applause, that the city has absorbed the thousands of Somalis “without an impact on the city budget or our quality of life.”

The families of the 10 people stabbed at the mall by Dahir Adan last year might disagree with that “quality of life” remark.

There is much, much more, continue reading here.

‘Minnesota nice’ is dead and gone!

Actions like this (playing dirty) are all the more reason for citizens to organize in towns with mayors and councils like this one in St. Cloud and campaign to elect your own people to local office.  See what I said here.

You might not win the first time, or even the second time, but nothing beats the publicity you can get for your greatest concerns than having your own candidates voice them.  What do you have to lose?

The other option is to move.

See my huge archive on St. Cloud that extends back to 2008 when I first reported on the beleaguered city forever changed by Lutheran Social Services of MN.

Foreign-owned Big Meat hires Lutherans to help them find and retain refugee labor

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

That is the crux of this story and not in my wildest dreams did I think that money was directly changing hands between the meat industry and a federal refugee contractor, in this case Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service headquartered in Baltimore, MD.

jbslogo-mob

I always assumed it was an informal relationship where the largely federally-funded ‘religious’ charity (LIRS is 96% funded by you and not via the collection plate) just happened to be bringing immigrant workers to small town America.

Now we learn that there is a formal (secret!), contractual arrangement planned for pilot projects in four states with JBS USA a Brazilian-owned company.  And, it makes me wonder if this isn’t new and whether similar arrangements are being made with others of the nine federal refugee contractors.***

For those of you in places like St. Cloud, MN frustrated that you can’t get local elected officials to listen to you, remember their seemingly illogical resistance to slowing the flow of refugees has nothing to do with humanitarianism and everything to do with changing America for the almighty dollar!

From Leo Hohmann at World Net Daily:

Global meatpacking giant goes all in for refugee labor

A Lutheran resettlement agency that places United Nations refugees into dozens of U.S. cities and towns is working with the world’s largest meatpacking conglomerate to train refugees for work in four American states while also softening up the local natives to be more “welcoming.”

LIRS logo

The secretive pilot program between Baltimore-based Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and the U.S. subsidiary of JBS Swift aims to pump more refugees into Georgia, Texas, Iowa and Michigan to work in the company’s meat plants. If successful, the pilot program could be renewed for a second year and replicated at JBS meat plants across the U.S., WND has learned.

JBS Swift, the Brazilian-based global meat-processing giant, has agreed to pay Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, or LIRS, $155,000 to implement the pilot program over the next year in the four states, according to a draft of the partnership agreement obtained by WND from a person with inside knowledge of the deal.

“The shock here is to find out that a religious agency is being paid by a foreign global corporation to train refugees and ultimately transform the demographics of small towns in America’s heartland,” said Ann Corcoran, an expert on the international movement of refugees and the nine volunteer agencies that resettle them for the U.S.

The deal between the global meat producer JBS and the Lutheran agency has been dubbed “Rebuilding Dreams,” and is described in the draft document as a “grant and collaboration agreement” between JBS USA and LIRS in the four states.

“The primary goal of this agreement is to improve the capacity of JBS USA and local resettlement agencies to support and improve the hiring and retention of refugee employees at four pilot sites in Michigan, Texas, Iowa, and Georgia,” according to the document.

The following are the cities in those states where JBS has meatpacking plants:

Iowa – Council Bluffs, Marshalltown and Ottumwa, mostly pork production
Michigan – Plainwell, mostly beef
Georgia – Elberton, Douglas, Athens, Ellijay, Canton and Carrollton, mostly chicken
Texas – Waco, Lufkin, Nacogdoches, Pittsburg and Mount Pleasant, mostly chicken

“Rebuilding Dreams will achieve this goal by creating customized trainings and resources for key stakeholders, building stronger relationships through communications and technology platforms, enhancing the collection and evaluation of data, and improving the overall quality and culture of the workplace experience for refugee employees,” the agreement states.

The agreement also calls for improving the local “welcoming culture” in the cities where the refugees will be placed.

Part of United Nations agenda for sustainability

JBS is a transnational, global corporation that beats the United Nations “sustainability” drum on its website, and it also cashes in on the globalized “labor mobility” concept pushed by the U.N.’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Read more here. The story is a detailed must-read about how a global corporation and a supposedly religious charity are changing America by changing the people.

And as a side reading project, see this 2006 article from the Greeley Tribune involving Swift (JBS bought Swift) explaining how the meat industry went from being a desirable place for Americans to work to their model today that is increasingly reliant on the global movement of labor—-middle America be damned!

Don’t miss Bloomberg: Big Meat worried about Trump’s reduced refugee flow, here.

For Republicans it’s about money!

We know the Dems are pushing refugee resettlement in order to boost the number of Democrat voters, and if you are wondering why the Republicans aren’t doing enough to get the program controlled—look to the Chamber of Commerce and GLOBAL Corporations that have convinced the Republican leadership that the free flow of cheap and captive (uncomplaining) labor across borders is the future.

The jig is up!

Big Meat gets cheap labor, the Dems get voters, and you, the taxpayer, get to subsidize it all (including welfare for workers paid insufficient wages!). If you complain you are a hater, a racist and an Islamophobe!

lirs-building
LIRS  is headquartered here in Baltimore. This is their own description: The Lutheran Center (LIRS headquarters) is a six-story structure constructed in 1999 on property owned by Baltimore’s historic Christ Lutheran Church. The building is located near Baltimore’s Inner Harbor in the historic Federal Hill neighborhood, a charming area rich with history and an eclectic array of eateries and shopping venues. 

Making it clear! 

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service is the lead federal contractor for the following list of subcontractors.

LIRS, in Baltimore, is not a separate group from the others on the list! LIRS is the lead contractor that deals directly with the US State Department and divvies up incoming refugees between the agencies below—LOL! it is the ‘mothership’ to the following:

Arkansas
Canopy of Northwest Arkansas, Fayetteville

Arizona
Refugee Focus, Phoenix, Tuscon

California
Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Service, Los Angeles

Colorado
Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains, Denver, Colorado Springs, Greeley

Florida
Lutheran Social Services of Northeast Florida, Jacksonville
Lutheran Services Florida, Miami, Orlando, Tampa

Georgia
Lutheran Services of Georgia, Atlanta, Savannah

Illinois
RefugeeOne, Chicago

Maryland
Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area, Hyattsville

Massachusetts
Ascentria Community Services, Westfield, Worcester

Michigan
Samaritas, Ann Arbor, Battle Creek, Grand Rapids, Troy

Minnesota
Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, Minneapolis, St. Cloud

Nebraska
Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska, Omaha

New Hampshire
Ascentria Community Services, Concord

New Mexico
Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains, Albuquerque, Santa Fe

New York
Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees, Utica

North Carolina
Lutheran Services Carolinas, Raleigh

North Dakota
Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota—Center for New Americans, Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks

Oregon
Lutheran Community Services Northwest, Portland

Pennsylvania
Bethany Christian Services, Allentown, Lancaster, Philadelphia

South Carolina
Lutheran Services Carolinas, Columbia, Charleston

South Dakota
Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota, Sioux Falls

Texas
Refugee Services of Texas, Dallas, Fort Worth, Amarillo, Houston

Virginia
Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area, Falls Church

Washington
Lutheran Community Services Northwest, Tacoma, Vancouver

Wisconsin
Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, Madison, Milwaukee

So what do you do?  Go to this post I wrote earlier this month and get to work where you live!

*** For new readers, these are the nine major federal refugee contractors largely funded by you, the taxpayer, see here.  Refugee resettlement is not first and foremost about humanitarianism so don’t let them shut you up!

 

 

Trump Admin. rumored to be tightening refugee screening; announcement could come this week

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

“When you put in additional security checks you can basically halt the system.”

Bob Carey

When I say “rumored” in my headline, it is because there are bureaucrat blabbermouths obviously reporting to former Obama Administration officials who are then taking the news to the likes of Reuters, here.

We learn that the bureaucrat(s) can’t speak on the record, but….

We have Bob Carey speaking on the record, former director of Obama’s Office of Refugee Resettlement.  Not mentioned here is the fact that he was also (and may be again) a senior Vice President of the International Rescue Committee (the revolving door between contractor and government is alive and well!) one of nine major federal resettlement contractors.***

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From Dutch citizen(?) Hans Van de Weerd‘s facebook page. He wears two hats. In addition to his job at the IRC, he is Chairman of the DC lobbying arm of the refugee industry that recently joined CAIR in their protest of the Trump Admin. See his bio here:    http://www.rcusa.org/staff/

Then we have Hans Van de Weerd weighing in who works for the IRC now.

So bureaucrats blab to Bob and Bob gets Hans to talk to Reuters.

But, frankly Trump is at fault for still not placing his own people in the State Department and DHS thus letting the blabbermouths run free.  Here is yet another story on that subject which I don’t have time to write about today.

Back to Reuters and the latest round of leaks and wailing from the refugee industry (in and out of government) about what could happen this week as the 120-day refugee ‘moratorium’ ends.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – President Trump’s administration has drafted a plan to pause a program that allows family members join refugees already settled in the United States until they can undergo increased security checks, two sources with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.

The measure is one of several being considered for refugees, the sources said.

The administration also may expand the use of intensive security checks by multiple federal agencies, called “security advisory opinions” (SAO) to apply to women from countries designated as high-risk by the U.S. government. Currently there are usually only mandatory SAOs, as they are called, for men from those countries, the sources said.

The administration is also considering expanding the categories of refugees required to be fingerprinted, the sources said.

The proposals, if implemented, could significantly slow down refugee admissions and leave refugees who thought they were headed to the United States in perilous situations abroad, say refugee advocates and former officials.

[….]

A 120-day temporary ban on refugees, put in place to study current procedures, expires on Oct. 24.

The sources, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak about the plans before they are announced, said the new measures could be announced at the end of the temporary ban.

[….]

“Reports on the type of vetting measures being considered for our refugee resettlement program are disturbing,” said Hans Van de Weerd, the Vice President of U.S. Programs at the International Rescue Committee. [I previously did some research on ol’ Hans here and he earlier was reporting he was a Dutch citizen. Seems that little nugget is missing from his bio now.—-ed]

[….]

“When you put in additional security checks you can basically halt the system,” said Robert Carey, the former director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement under former President Barack Obama, a Democrat.

“Every check is only good for a finite period of time and they expire and the whole process has to start all over again,” he said, adding that the level of scrutiny is higher for refugees than most any other visa applicant to the United States.

More here.

Looking for something to do?

If every one of the thousands of you who read this post took 2 minutes to write to the White House and tell the President to tighten security screening for all refugees, you might actually succeed in hitting a nerve at the White House.

Click here.

Update!  I did not find that link above to work! Try here.

***For new readers, these are the nine federal refugee contractors that monopolize all refugee resettlement in the US. Go here and see my latest financial report on all of them. The more refugees admitted to the US, the more funding they get from you!

The IRC is the largest financially (the Catholic Bishops place the largest number of refugees in your towns) and pays out some whopping big salaries. David Miliband, CEO of the IRC, is not a US citizen and he is raking in annually just short of $600,000 partially supplied by you—US taxpayers!  Doing well by doing good! And, changing America to boot!

 

Lutherans on the offense in St. Cloud, plan propaganda webinar

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

LIRS logo

Readers, I do have news from elsewhere that needs to be posted, but the St. Cloud upcoming council vote is shaping up to be a pivotal event.

What I truly don’t understand is why Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota (a subcontractor of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service headquartered in Baltimore) is so hell bent to bring more third worlders, especially Somalis, to a town where they (Somalis AND LSS) face such a backlash.

You would almost think the Lutheran resettlement contractor is benefiting financially beyond its per head payment for the refugees they place in Minnesota communities.

Now they plan to put on a webinar in mid-November to supposedly tell the public that refugees don’t cost taxpayers a dime just when a member of the city council wants a REAL economic assessment of what resettlement is costing the community beyond the trouble in schools and neighborhoods and the general social and cultural upheaval that comes with cities being rapidly changed demographically.

When you look at their list of handpicked webinar speakers (below from the St. Cloud Times), see who is represented and who isn’t:

No one from the police department is listed

No one from the school system

No one to explain the costs for interpreters in the criminal justice system and in hospitals etc.

No one who can speak to the amount of remittances being sent out of St. Cloud and back to Africa

No one to address the issue of jobs that refugees take from low-skilled American workers….

And, how about they put a representative of the Minnesota Meatpacking industry on the panel to explain how they need the Lutherans to supply their cheap labor!

Of course they won’t do that, and they won’t do this ‘fact finding’ in a public meeting because here they can control the information, who registers and what questions are asked in this webinar format. (Ha! Ha! wouldn’t it be fun to have a counter webinar that same day and time!)

Teresa Bohnen
The presence of this panelist explains much. Teresa Bohnen is not only President of the St. Cloud Chamber of Commerce, but also Vice Chair of the state chamber and works closely with the US Chamber of Commerce that lobbies for amnesty for illegals and for more refugee laborers. If only they would all be truthful about their wish for a steady flow of migrant labor. Come on just say it! We work for the meat industry! http://www.sctimes.com/story/money/2016/02/05/bohnen-elected-state-chamber-board/79840982/

Here is the St. Cloud Times announcing the webinar:

A group hopes to distinguish between fact and myth about refugee resettlement with a public webinar in November.

Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota will have a webinar from 3-4:30 p.m., Nov. 14.

Panelists, including staff and state and local leaders, will talk about how resettlement works and the costs and benefits of the program in the St. Cloud area.

Panelists include:

Yusuf Abdi, director of refugee services, Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota.

Karin Blythe, resettlement supervisor, Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota.

Teresa Bohnen, president, St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce.

Melissa Huberty, human services administrator, Stearns County Human Services.

Mary Zelenak, health protection and promotion supervisor, Stearns County Public Health. [Be sure to ask her about TB rates in Minnesota immigrant population!—ed]

Rachele King, state refugee coordinator, Minnesota Department of Human Services.

The discussion over the cost of refugee resettlement in St. Cloud has been reignited recently, as a St. Cloud City Council member announced a plan to temporarily stop refugees from resettling in St. Cloud.

Jeff Johnson, who represents St. Cloud’s Fourth Ward, submitted a draft resolution this week calling for a moratorium on refugee resettlement in St. Cloud.

The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations also launched a petition Tuesday urging the St. Cloud City Council to vote no on the moratorium, which the organization called a “despicable, racist, Islamophobic, and ill-informed motion targeting refugees.”

More here.

There will be discussion at tomorrow’s council meeting and the vote on Johnson’s resolution could happen on November 6th.

For new readers, I have an archive on St. Cloud that goes back to 2008, click here to learn more.