Category: The Opposition

What should Trump do about refugees on January 21, 2017

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

It is not unprecedented to reduce refugee numbers dramatically, we did it following 9/11! By Inauguration Day 2017 we will already be at 35,000 for the fiscal year!

Donald J. Trump will be inaugurated on the 20th of January as our 45th President.  Many of you worked very hard to make it happen. He said he will stop the flow of Syrian (majority Muslim) refugees to your towns and cities and at minimum we expect him to do that!

But, reducing the numbers is not enough, he must demand the repeal of the Refugee Act of 1980.  The system as constructed is rotten to the core and I no longer believe it can be reformed. 

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This isn’t just an ideological battle between ‘do-gooders’ on the Left and ‘haters’ in the conservative grassroots, but a third player is the Chamber of Commerce which will fight tooth and nail to buck Trump. They want the cheap immigrant labor! Tom Donohue, friend of Paul Ryan, here: http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/10/12/chris-wallace-establishment-business-groups-ready-to-primary-conservatives-if-they-dont-play-ball-with-paul-ryan/

A simple reduction in numbers, that has been suggested by some in the immigration control movement, is not adequate.  If it is deemed in the national interest to resettle third worlders in America going forward, an entirely new program must be constructed by Congress.
In my view, there are three issues that must be addressed in a White House and Congressional review and they are:  1) National security concerns, 2) the VOLAG system where non-profits are paid by the head (out of the US Treasury) to resettle refugees chosen by the UN, 3) lack of transparency (the outrageous secrecy by VOLAGs and the feds involved in choosing target towns).   There may be others I can’t think of at the moment.

So as we knew, and as a Newsweek article yesterday confirmed, on January 21st, Donald Trump can turn off the spigot of refugees flowing in to the US and tell Congress if they want a refugee program to get to work and come up with a new one!

He can hold the hammer over their heads by turning off the flow!

But! He will have to battle the major corporations and the US Chamber of Commerce looking for a plentiful supply of CHEAP LABOR.

As much as some want to frame it this way—as a battle between two major forces of Democrat Left wing open borders ‘humanitarian’ activists on one side and Republican Right wing believers in tightly controlled immigration on the other, there is a third player with enormous power—BIG business and US Chamber of Commerce lobbyists always on the hunt for CHEAP (some say captive, compliant) LABOR!
Trump will have to battle Republican Congressional leaders who follow the lead of their industry friends!
That (above) is my main point, for those who want to wade into the numbers weeds, here is what I’ve been looking at this morning.

What do the numbers look like now?

Using data provided by the Refugee Processing Center, we have admitted 12,272 refugees of all stripes between the beginning of the 2017 fiscal year (October 1, 2016) and election day (November, 8, 2016).  This rate (319 a day) is higher than anything we have seen in the last ten years (see chart in this post).
If that rate continues until Inauguration Day on January 20th, 2017, then we will have admitted over 35,000 refugees in just over 3 1/2 months, more than we brought in 2002 and 2003.  Obama wants 110,000 for the entire fiscal year (319 a day would bring the total over 110,000).
However, it is not unprecedented to dramatically reduce numbers. See here that in the two years following 9/11 we admitted less than 30,000 refugees for each year 2002 and 2003!
So where would the greatest impact be if the spigot were closed on January 21st? On the contractors of course. They will have to close some offices, not open new ones, reduce staff and overhead, and gee maybe even reduce the excessively large salaries their CEOs are getting.  Of course they will scream bloody murder and say how mean Trump is by leaving refugees in the pipeline.
By the way, if you like to do research, check USASpending.gov in the coming weeks and see if the federal agencies—US State Department and Health and Human Services—are pouring excessively large amounts of grant money into the coffers of the nine major contractors before Obama leaves office.
More numbers….
When I checked the data this morning, I see that the following numbers have been admitted from Muslim sending countries (from October 1 to November 8):
Iraq (1,635)
Somalia (1,684)
Syria (1,602)
Smaller numbers come from places like Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. Keep an eye on Burma because originally we resettled mostly Christian Burmese, but Burmese Muslim (Rohingya) numbers are ticking up (269 since Oct. 1).
One final note:  The UN/US State Department Refugee Admissions Program is only one program of many LEGAL immigration programs admitting large numbers of Muslims and others from the third world.  I previously wrote about the Diversity Visa Lottery which admits another 50,000 migrants to America via a lottery system each year because we need more diversity (!).  I hardly see it mentioned, so I need to start writing about it again because we have the best chance ever now to review and possibly throw out programs which are detrimental to American workers and our communities.
The Republicans previously have tried to stop the Diversity Visa lottery (some call it the Green Card lottery) and I don’t know why they have shut up about it.

Refugee resettlement industry panicked; fears funds will be slashed

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

And, if funds are slashed, the numbers to be resettled in your towns and cities will be slashed because as I have told you ad nauseum the resettlement contractors have little money of their own.  They need your tax dollars or they wither and die.

“If [Trump] decides to cut the state funds or federal funds for refugees, refugee resettlement will collapse…” (former Church World Service employee)

 
Here is what Newsweek has to say about the panic (hat tip: Michael). The article begins with Muslim immigrant fears, then this:

Another point of concern to many Muslim families and others is what will happen to the country’s refugee resettlement program during a Trump presidency, considering his repeated Islamophobic statements during the campaign. [At this point, reporter uses the word ‘Islamophobic’, I went back to see if this was supposed to be straight reporting or an opinion piece! It is supposed to be a straight news story!—ed]

[….]

We’re all afraid. Afraid is probably putting it mildly. Most refugee advocates are really terrified of what’s coming,” says Neil Grungras, executive director of the Organization for Refuge, Asylum & Migration (ORAM), a San Francisco-based organization that specializes in helping LGBT refugees. “From a global standpoint, this development could be a real catastrophe.”

He adds: “The world’s resettlement system—if the worst case scenario occurs—will take an extreme blow.”

Readers, pay attention to this next paragraph. Trump has the power to suspend the program, and to cut the funding (pretty much one and the same!).

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Bill Frelick of Human Rights Watch. Call me shell-shocked!

During his presidential campaign, Trump said he planned to suspend the Syrian refugee program, which is “fairly easy for him to do because this is discretionary,” says Bill Frelick, director of Human Rights Watch’s refugee program, who described himself as “shell-shocked” when he spoke with Newsweek on Wednesday. “In the U.S., there’s not a quota that has to be filled. The U.S. has a budgeted amount of money to do refugee resettlement, but there’s no requirement that the U.S. resettle a single refugee, and there’s no legal obligation to do it.”

[….]

Whether the entire refugee resettlement program will be shut down is difficult to predict, but I think it’s safe to say that from a policy standpoint, a Trump administration will be looking to limit the number of refugees resettled, and if refugee resettlement continues, it will be from countries that are ‘safe,’” says Joel Charny, director of Norwegian Refugee Council USA.

I had no idea that we were paying the UN for their work of picking our refugees, this is useful information:

In addition to resettling large numbers of refugees, the U.S. is also a key financial contributor to a number of refugee resettlement organizations, including the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR). The U.S. gave UNHCR nearly $700 million in the last fiscal year, and more than $1.3 billion in fiscal year 2015. What will happen to those contributions remains unclear; UNHCR did not respond to Newsweek’s request for comment.

[….]

“If [Trump] decide to cut the state funds or federal funds for refugees, refugee resettlement will collapse and we won’t be able to bring in any refugees to this country,” Vidhya Manivannan, a former employee of Church World Service—one of the nine U.S. refugee resettlement agencies—said in an email to Newsweek.

Click here for more.
I was interested to see that only one (former) employee of a resettlement contractor was quoted. Where is the gang? Where is the Refugee Council USA (the lobbying arm of the industry)?
More tomorrow!

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……

Refugee contractor Church World Service could not exist without your tax dollars

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Many of you may know Church World Service as the ‘church’ charity that does the annual ‘Crop Walk’ where they raise funds in your towns for their migration activities among other things.  A list of affiliated churches is below.

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CWS income from July 1,2014 to June 30,2015. http://cwsglobal.org/about/financials-2/

They are also a part of the ‘religious left’ as a member of the National Council of Churches.
My figures, based on their most recent Form 990, indicate that they are 67% funded by taxpayer dollars.  A pie chart on their website puts it at 64%.
This is the latest in my updates on how much each of the nine federal resettlement contractors receive from you:

USCRI is here (97% funded by taxpayers).

LIRS here (95% funded by taxpayers).

World Relief here (73% funded by taxpayers).

Church World Service is attempting to get an office up and running in Poughkeepsie, NY so that news reminded me to check into their finances. If these contractors were true non-profit groups raising private money for private charity their finances would not be of interest to me, but as a quasi-government agency largely funded with our tax dollars, their financial position (salaries etc) is our business.
Here is a list of all the refugee resettlement offices they have in the US already (they are adding Poughkeepsie to the list).

This is what I learned from their most recent Form 990, here, on page 9:

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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/        McCullough pulls down an annual salary of over $300,000 a year from his CWS work and from “related organizations.” Page 13- 14 http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2015/134/080/2015-134080201-0c44e710-9.pdf

They had a total income of $77,756,307.
$50,116,190 comes from federal grants (that is you)
$1,730,678 is from Refugee Services Program and likely includes the airfare loan money they pocketed (your money).
And, they have an additional income of $623,006 from something called ‘Development, Emergency, Refugee’ (assuming this is coming from taxpayers too!).
The total income from taxpayers is then $52,469,874.  The Crop Walk accounts for about half of the legitimate charitable income in their budget.
Not as bad as the three contractors we’ve already reported on above, but CWS has that Crop Walk to fall back on for extra bucks.
I’m calculating this as 67% (they say 64%) of their budget which means that either way they would die if you weren’t ‘contributing’ your tax dollars to their coffers.
Go here for our complete archive on Church World Service.
Is your church affiliated with Church World Service?

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