Category: The Opposition

Refuting, once again, the big lie about 18-24 months of vetting!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I feel like every day I have to swat the same flies! It is maddening. Yesterday it was the c*** once again about the 110,000 PROPOSED refugee admissions ceiling for FY2017.

City councilwoman Jennifer Metzger does NOT have the facts! https://www.facebook.com/electjenmetzger

And, today I see that the big lie—that refugees are vetted for 18-24 months—is being perpetuated by ignorant town leaders!
It might take that long for the bureaucracy to move papers around, but refugees are not security-screened for 2 years.
IN FACT, in April 2016, the Obama State Department, desperate to get its promised 10,000 Syrians placed across America, REDUCED THE PROCESS TO 3 MONTHS!  He sent a team of interviewers to places like Jordan to push their papers through faster.

What got my attention this morning was a short news story from Rosendale, NY where the Town Board voted to declare their support for refugees so that they could educate the public—what with a big fat lie!
Here is the Daily Freeman:

ROSENDALE, N.Y. >> The Town Board members has declared its support of having refugees resettled in Rosendale and is asking the federal government to continue participating in a program that provides safety to people fleeing armed conflicts and human rights abuses.

A resolution adopted by the board at its most recent meeting was “partly motivated by the need to get the facts out there about the refugee crisis and the U.S. resettlement process,” Councilwoman Jennifer Metzger said.

The resolution notes, among other things, that every refugee seeking to enter the United States undergoes a vetting process that takes 18 to 24 months to complete.

NO! Not “every” refugee is vetted for 18-24 months!

Gina Kassem oversees the State Department’s refugee resettlement program in North Africa and the Middle East admits the process was shortened to THREE months.

Here at AP in April of last year, we learned that Obama accelerated the time required to process in refugees from Syria.

Obama REDUCED THE ‘VETTING’ TO THREE MONTHS!

Associated Press (emphasis is mine):

Gina Kassem, the regional refugee coordinator at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, said that while the target of 10,000 applies to Syrian refugees living around the world, most will be resettled from Jordan.

“The 10,000 (figure) is a floor and not a ceiling, and it is possible to increase the number,” Kassem told reporters.

While the resettlement process usually takes 18 to 24 months, the surge operation will reduce the time to three months, Kassem said.

Continue here for more of the AP story.  My report on it is here.
What the Trump Administration says they want to do during their proposed ‘pause’ in resettlement is review the ‘vetting’ process to make sure it is the strongest security screening possible.
The refugee contractors*** behind efforts like this propaganda campaign in Rosendale, NY, never mention that the FBI Director Comey has repeatedly said, refugees from Syria (a failed state) cannot be thoroughly screened because there are no records on them or even any way to verify who they are! (Same applies to Somalis! Rohingya! Others wandering around the globe!)
***Federal refugee resettlement contractors which are paid by the head to place refugees in most US states:

 

Horowitz: Where is Congress? Why are they not helping Trump on immigration?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

That’s been my question too!

Here at Conservative Review, Daniel Horowitz asks why Congress is not backing the President’s right to control immigration to America and determine how many refugees we admit and from where they originate.
Instead Congress is entangled in one major mess over Obamacare.  And, frankly, although important, repeal of Obamacare did not motivate voters to support Trump in the way immigration restriction did.
Here is Horowitz (emphasis mine):

Where is Congress?

Look at the House GOP’s agenda since January. It has been devoid of any substance. What other majority party with control of the White House has failed to act on a single significant issue in its first 100 days? Why are they not passing bills defending Trump’s executive order, and why are they not stripping the courts of jurisdiction over immigration?

While you are at Conservative Review, be sure to check out their very useful ‘scorecard.’ I think you will be surprised at the low scores of many members of Congress and Senators you might have once thought were conservative. https://www.conservativereview.com/scorecard

Trump’s only major accomplishment thus far was the refugee moratorium and that is hanging by a thread thanks to the erroneous outsourcing of legislative and executive authority to the courts. It’s time for Trump to work with House conservatives to bolster his immigration agenda against the courts, instead of fighting conservatives to enshrine Obamacare into law.

Trump must demand that Congress back his immigration order in the April budget bill by defunding the refugee resettlement program and the issuance of any visas from the six countries on his list. House conservatives should also work with Trump to defund Obama’s executive amnesty.

Instead of threatening conservatives with primary challenges if they fail to betray Trump’s own election mandate, why not threaten to primary the RINOs for not backing his immigration agenda? Or is it easier to go after conservatives because they are politically expendable?

Read the whole column here and see how “rogue” judges are taking control of the immigration issue in America.
For more on Congress, see my tag ‘Where is Congress‘ especially on the appropriations issue!

Idaho refugee contractor: Refugees pay taxes!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Who are you trying to kid?
Message to the head of the local resettlement agency in Twin Falls, Idaho: It is not a good idea to start putting out information about a refugee’s tax liability that can be easily checked!

70% of the workers at Idaho dairy factories are immigrants, many illegal, however refugee labor is being employed not just at Chobani Yogurt in Twin Falls, but at the milk production end as well. https://www.pri.org/stories/2013-10-31/lesson-immigration-reform-head-idaho-dairy-farm

Zeze Rwasama spoke earlier this month to the Pocotello Rotary Club and made the claim that refugees are not getting much in the way of taxpayer support:

“Resettlement in the U.S. in not for them to become a burden to our public assistance,” Rwasama said. “Yes, we help them for only eight months. After that, they become taxpayers as well. That means we can help more. … A single refugee brought in 2014 working in a dairy made about $26,000 that year. But when you look at how much the agency spent on that person, it was only about $4,600. When you look at the W-2 form and see how much money that person paid into tax that one year, it’s actually close to that $4,600. So in one year this person has paid into the tax funds the total amount of money that was spent on him. That means we can help more because they are coming here to contribute and coming here to support themselves.”

LOL! I’m betting members of the Rotary Club were doing some mental math as he spoke—$4,600 federal tax liability on $26,000 annual income? No way!
Do you see how Rwasama has parsed his words. His dairy worker “paid into tax” close to that $4,600, but when you check his tax liability it is about $2,255 ($2,345 less than the $4,600 withheld).  He will get a tax refund of that difference—approximately $2,345!  (That tax calculation may vary depending on which year, but you get the idea!).
And, then Zeze Rwasama is only referring to the $4,600 his agency paid to subsidize the dairy farmer’s employee and doesn’t mention the medical care, food stamps and possibly even a housing subsidy that the refugee making $26,000 a year would be eligible for!
And, I just realized that what is never calculated is the cost of the overseas processing of this dairy worker: the vetting, the medical checks, the cost of sending US workers to do the paperwork.
BTW, if the dairy farm employee took a refugee wife on this salary (filing jointly) he might only pay in about $530 in federal income tax.
Rwasama’s agency would presumably have spent $4,600 on her and the couple would then have cost you $9,200 (not including Rwasama’s salary and office expenses, which you paid too!).
If you are interested, just search around for news on Idaho (Oregon, Wisconsin) dairy farms and refugees=controversy!
See our extensive Twin Falls archive by clicking here.
For all of you working in ‘pockets of resistance’ be sure to find out what industries are driving the resettlement where you live.  Look for large corporate farms, meatpackers, hotels, manufacturers requiring few skills, and anyone needing cleaning staff. (This is why you see little interest on the part of Republican leaders in Congress to reform the US Refugee Admissions Program.)
This is not about humanitarianism!
Endnote: If there is some accountant out there who has better numbers than I can find, have at it! Let me know what you find. Wouldn’t it be great if someone followed one of these dairy (or hotel, or meatpacking) workers from a camp in Thailand, Kenya or Nepal all the way through the system to see how many tax dollars support the delivery of one (captive) worker to BIG MEAT or BIG DAIRY.

Muslims and non-Muslims given guidance on how to fight Trump's refugee slowdown

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

From a publication called Truthout comes words of advice for open borders activists on how to think, organize and push back against the Trump Administration’s refugee admissions and travel pause Executive Order.
Entitled ‘A guide to resisting Muslim ban 2.0’
(Here are just a few snips of advice from author Hoda Katebi, emphasis is mine)

Two big no-nos here according to author Katebi. Don’t pretend you are a Muslim, and for Muslims, don’t wrap yourselves in American flags! Reuters photo here: http://www.rediff.com/news/report/pix-in-new-york-protesters-take-to-the-streets-to-say-i-am-muslim-too/20170220.htm

….if national security is actually the problem — if the US government actually cares about ending the killing of American citizens — why does it not start with dismantling its own police forces? These forces comprise an armed, emboldened and deadly organization that receives training from a foreign apartheid state (Israel), and kills almost 1,000 people annually (including already over 200 people this year). United States law enforcement officers are a larger threat to the safety and security of individuals living in this country (particularly Black and Indigenous people) than “radical Islam” — whatever that means — ever will be.  [Any sane person could see immediately the anarchy, looting and lawlessness that would engulf US cities in minutes if law enforcement officers stood down or were non-existent!—ed]

In fact, it is important to recognize that “national security” is only a code word for anti-Muslim policies domestically, as well as the justification for US military violence against Muslim communities internationally, which is often erased from public view.

[….]

Wherever you see it, challenge the normalization of bans on immigration and refugee resettlement. Do not ignore the rhetoric of the people around you. Do not think that this is OK. Do not think that this can go unchallenged. Here are some things to remember and steps to take as we move forward:

[….]

4. Do not make compromises. Do not compromise your values for the sake of having an extra white person join your protest.

[….]

6. As always, be intersectional. Half of the officially banned countries are Black-majority countries. Black, Muslim immigrants and refugees are oftentimes left out from both Black and Muslim spaces, so be intentional about centering those who are on the margins of the margins. Beyond making sure not to exclude your own people, keep in mind that Customs and Border Patrol, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security, municipal law enforcement and other violent institutions that target people of color are just different enforcement mechanisms with the same goal: upholding white supremacy. You cannot succeed by ignoring those relationships.

And for our non-Muslim allies:

1. Show up. Support the ongoing efforts of Muslim-led organizing in resisting the ban. If you’re an immigration lawyer, volunteer. If you’re a teacher, connect your Muslim students to resources, and talk to your class about what is happening. If you’re a journalist, document the movement. Share the work of Muslim artists, writers, creators, organizers and scholars. Hold your racist friends and family accountable.

2. Do not claim an identity that is not yours. No, you are not #Muslimtoo — and claiming such only covers the voices of actual Muslims trying to share their real experiences. Rather, listen to the leadership, direction and experiences of Muslims who are speaking out and up. [Non-Muslim activists must listen to Muslims! Do what you are told!—ed]

3. Be careful not to perpetuate anti-Muslim undertones in your conversations. When talking about the Muslim ban, do not challenge it by saying there have been “no fatal attacks by immigrants from countries listed in the Muslim ban.” While that is true, this not only provides a justification for banning immigration from countries that have had someone commit violence, but also legitimizes collective punishment. Also, we are not all immigrants — that concept erases the histories of Indigenous people native to this land and Black people who were forcibly enslaved and brought here. Moreover, a Muslim refugee from a country the United States destabilized is not the same as an immigrant from the UK who is here getting a PhD. See Number. Another thing: Stop draping American flags over our hijabs.

I recommend that you read the whole thing, here.

Hawaii needs refugees! Sues feds over refugee pause, travel restrictions from certain Muslim countries

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

You can’t make this up.
Surely you have already seen the news that the state of Hawaii is claiming that the Trump Administration’s latest Executive Order limiting travel to the US from certain countries and pausing the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program will hurt Hawaii!

Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin spoke at Muslim Association of Hawaii, alleges they aren’t getting enough Muslim refugees (he didn’t really say that exactly), but they clearly need some! http://www.civilbeat.org/2017/03/hawaii-becomes-first-state-to-challenge-trumps-new-travel-ban/

I’m going to propose (when the refugee pause and the travel restrictions are lifted) that the state of Hawaii be placed at the top of the refugee-receiving list and get its FAIR SHARE of refugees especially from Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan etc. to make up for lost time in reaping the rewards of diversity!

Hawaii resettled a grand total of 123 refugees in 14 years, 5 months and ten days (up to today).

I’ll show you below with more numbers how completely ignorant and ill-informed Hawaii’s AG sounds.
Here is Seattlepi:

Hawaii has become the first state to mount a federal court challenge to President Trump’s revised executive order blocking travel from six predominantly Muslim countries and barring Syrian refugees for 120 days.

Attorneys for the Aloha State on Wednesday asked a U.S. District Court judge in Honolulu to block the new Trump order.

“This new executive order is nothing more than Muslim Ban 2.0; under the pretense of national security, it still targets immigrants and refugees,” Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin said in a statement.

[….]

In its court filing, Hawaii argues that the rights of its citizens, and its tourism economy, will be damaged by the revised Trump order, which takes effect March 16.

The new executive order will damage Hawaii’s “economy, educational institutions and tourism industry,” the state argues in its brief.

Rolling on floor laughing my head off! Hawaii “welcoming persons from all nations around the world into the fabric of its society.”

“It is damaging Hawaii’s institutions, harming its economy and eroding Hawaii’s sovereign interest in maintaining the separation between church and state as well as in welcoming persons from all nations around the world into the fabric of its society.”

Ismail Elshikh, Muslim Association of Hawaii is a co-plaintiff in suit against Trump Administration. http://www.civilbeat.org/2017/03/hawaii-becomes-first-state-to-challenge-trumps-new-travel-ban/

Now, here is the real power behind the suit—Muslim Association of Hawaii!

Seattlepi continues….

The state’s suit has a co-plaintiff, Ismail Elshikh, the imam of the Muslim Association of Hawaii, saying the Trump order “inflicts a grave injury on Muslims in Hawaii, including Dr. Elshikh, his family and members of his mosque.”

Let’s look at Hawaii’s refugee program!

Checking Wrapsnet this morning, here is a summary of the refugees admitted to Hawaii in the last 14 years, 5 months and 10 days:
Of the total 123 refugees they “welcomed” to Hawaii, the largest number (66) were Vietnamese who came in the early years (FY03,04,05).  Another 40 were Burmese (most Burmese are Christians).  Only 5 from any Middle East country came.  In 2004, 1 Iranian was resettled there and in 2013 they got a grand total of 4 Iraqis.  None of the thousands of Syrians admitted to the US in the last 2 years were seeded in Hawaii!
A smattering of Russians and Ukrainians were placed there over the years.
There were no refugees sent to Hawaii at all in FY11 and last year!
Zero Africans were planted in Hawaii in all those years.  That is interesting since when I read some books on Obama’s father arriving in Hawaii in about 1960, see especially this book, I learned that Hawaiians were not partial to Africans and that Barack Sr. attracted much attention because of his race and demeanor.  Hmmmm?
Why wasn’t the state of Hawaii begging for refugees over the last 14 years, 5 months and 10 days?

Seems it might be just the right time to send Hawaii its fair share of Somalis, Ethiopians, Eritreans, and Congolese!

BTW, how is the welfare system in Hawaii, does anyone know?

Here is an idea!  There are no travel restrictions between Minnesota and Hawaii.  Maybe load up a few planes with excess refugees there and send them to Hawaii (I hear that the climate is much better!).

This post is archived in our ‘laugh of the day’ category, here.