Refugee contractor (IRC) criticized in Huffington Post story as Syrian refugee pleads for more $$$

01/26/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This lengthy story in the Huffington Post is a must-read for everyone seriously looking into how the UN/US State Department Refugee Admissions Program works in your community. But, just please ignore the fact that it is a blatant pitch for refugees to receive MORE OF YOUR TAX DOLLARS!
The article begins (Ho hum! according to Journalism 101) with a sob story about a recently arrived Syrian refugee family resettled in California. The star-of-the-story’s time in jail in Syria sounds improbable to me, but only he will ever know if it’s a truthful account.

Miliband and Hillary eating — David Miliband, bff Hillary, is the CEO of the IRC which takes in approximately $350 million in government grants and contracts annually. Surely they don’t need to take $875 from every man, woman and child they resettle. Doesn’t sound charitable to me! But, gotta keep the bigwigs in 6-digit salaries!

However, this is the part of the story that interested me. With the headline, ‘Refugees Discuss Most Difficult Part Of Living In America,’ I fully expected the news to be that they found you (racist Islamophobes) their most difficult part of living here, but no, it is the refugee program’s bureaucratic mess they find challenging.

The Kanjous were one of the lucky families that made it through the screening process and were accepted as American refugees in September 2015. They, like many others, endured a long and arduous journey to get to U.S. soil. But they now face a new challenge: navigating a complex network of government and nonprofit organizations responsible for overseeing the refugee resettlement process.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement, the process of refugee resettlement varies by state. Some depend on state-administered resettlement resources, while others utilize public-private partnerships or the Wilson-Fish program, an alternative to traditional state-administered refugee resettlement programs for providing cash and medical assistance and social services to refugees. For these refugees, the process of navigating these programs can often be the greatest challenge they face in their resettlement process.

Since arriving in the United States, with the help of local nonprofit organizations, Kanjou and his family have moved out of temporary housing into an apartment. Kanjou has secured a job as a construction worker, along with healthcare and benefits. His daughters are enrolled in the local school. But according to the family, the refugee resettlement process in the U.S. has not provided the help and support they hoped for.

Kanjou implies he is being gouged by the contractor (the IRC in this case).

“Unfortunately these agencies are treating us are pretty badly because they penalize us for any minor thing,” Kanjou says. “Any paperwork they don’t have or any tiny mistake and they will deduct from our financial benefits. That really interrupts the development of our rebuilding process.”

[….]

Once the refugees land in America, the government turns over responsibility to resettlement organizations like the International Refugee Committee (IRC). These agencies are U.S. government contractors who are tasked with helping the refugees navigate the first three months of their new lives. [The reporter has the IRC’s name wrong, it is the International Rescue Committee.—ed]

The article gives us several examples of how the IRC screwed up. And, then discusses how the family relied on the local Islamic Center for help with a bit of whining from the center leader about how the refugees should be getting more money and more welfare from the government (from you!) for a longer period of time rather than the community helping them with private charity.
Then this:

Each family member receives a one-time cash gift of $1,100 upon arrival in the U.S. After three months of working with the IRC, the refugees are expected to have used their stipends to arrange for temporary housing.

I found this very informative. In fact each refugee family member is allotted $1,975 (and it may be higher now). I wonder do they know that the IRC is skimming at least $875 per family member from their government money to take care of the family which is now saying that the IRC is doing a lousy job. Did the IRC not tell the reporter about the portion they get to pocket?
In spite of his unhappiness with how much help he is getting from the US government, Kanjou is happy to be here because his young daughter has a serious medical issue that you (American taxpayers) will be paying for in the near future!
Although, remember this story, oopsy! Syrian refugee who was supposed to have cancer, and came here for treatment, is found miraculously free of cancer!
For more on David Miliband, click here. We have an extensive archive on the former British Foreign Secretary who is out pushing for 100,000 Syrians to be admitted to the US in the next year (each will be a paying client of one of the supposed refugee charities).

Florida: Refugee contractors squabble over government boodle

01/22/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I have to admit this is some great reporting at the Huffington Post.
It adds considerable detail to a dispute we knew a little about, but more importantly it is a window into the ‘souls’ of the ‘humanitarian’ refugee contractors. We have been telling readers for years that resettling refugees, and in this case taking care of the so-called Unaccompanied Alien Children, is all about MONEY. It is about competition between contractors and it is about the revolving door as contractors become political appointees then return to their former boss (the contractor) as recipients of lucrative government contracts.
This is a complicated story and I’m going to urge you to read it all, but here is what you need to know about a couple of the key players in this drama.

And, let me ask at the outset! Where is Congress?

Lavinia and Negash — Eskinder Negash (left) and Lavinia Limon (second from right).

Some of the players (we have many posts here at RRW on these characters, search their names):
Lavinia Limon was Bill Clinton’s head of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and now heads the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI).
Eskinder Negash was a Vice President at USCRI before he was chosen to head the Office of Refugee Resettlement in the Obama Administration. Negash resigned suddenly in December of 2014. No one ever publicly explained his sudden departure. And, then eventually he returned to USCRI.
Bob Carey is now the head of ORR (replacing Negash) and he comes to the government job from yet another contractor, the International Rescue Committee. And, although not mentioned here, the person in charge of refugees at the US State Department, Anne Richard, came to her perch there from, you guessed it, the International Rescue Committee.
So, the IRC has two former employees heading the two major agencies involved with resettling refugees. But, that is a story for another day!
The arrival of tens of thousands of Unaccompanied Alien Children in the summer of 2014, and many thousands before and since, unleashed gobs of government grant and contract money to the same agencies (the nine big refugee contractors and two other newer contractors) not only for the care of the ‘children’ which they are pretending are legitimate refugees/asylum seekers, but also for their legal fees in their attempts to keep them here in America by transforming them into legal immigrants.

train children — The ‘children’ represent cold hard cash for non-government refugee contractors.

Which brings us to this incredible piece of reporting!
Of course, the spin here is that the children are suffering (and the legal system will be bogged down), but readers take note: this report raises questions about alleged corruption in the entire grants and contracts system run by the Office of Refugee Resettlement in the Dept. of Health and Human Services.

The tip-off that there is a problem comes when the Catholic Bishops get mad that USCRI is getting some boodle unfairly when they want the boodle!

Bizarre Contract Dispute Putting Thousands Of Migrant Children At Risk, by Ryan Grim, begins:

WASHINGTON — Thousands of unaccompanied minors who came across the U.S. border as part of the migrant crisis are at risk of being deported without due process, the archbishop of Miami has warned the Obama administration.

Although the law dictates that these children must be given legal services, recent moves by the Office of Refugee Resettlement have thrown that into doubt. ORR, which is an agency under the umbrella of Health and Human Services, awarded the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants a contract to represent the children. USCRI in turn planned to subcontract with a social services firm that employed zero attorneys at the time.

I want you to read it all. It is complicated, but oh so juicy!
Did USCRI get the contract because Negash was the head of ORR? Is this why Negash resigned so suddenly back in December of 2014? Shouldn’t there be a law that contractors cannot move in and out of government positions where they are in a position to award grants and contracts to their former bosses?
Where is Trey Gowdy (chairman of the committee responsible for refugees in the House of Representatives)? Does he know about this? Is his committee investigating?
If you are as outraged as I am by the allegations raised in the Huffington Post story, please send the article to your member of Congress and US Senators and demand they get to the bottom of this because after all it is YOUR money!

Idaho citizens defeat proposed resolution in support of refugees

01/22/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Increasingly city and county governments are making themselves heard on the issue of UN/US State Department refugee resettlement for their communities. We told you here recently about Craven Co. North Carolina considering a resolution opposing more refugees. And, then here in Montana, the Missoula County Commission opened the door for the resettlement of third-worlders from the Middle East and Africa.
In Idaho, a heated public meeting of the Sandpoint City Council in Bonner County in the far northern reaches of the state resulted in the withdrawal of a resolution to support refugee resettlement to the community.

Sandpoint meeting — Audience cheers as mayor withdraws resolution. Boise Weekly Photo: Ben Olsen

The federal government and their paid resettlement contractors (listed here) will be quick to say that local governments have no right to say whether refugees are seeded there or not. However, they do frequently say they will not place refugees where the refugees would be “unwelcome”
If Congress was doing its job there would be a major movement to rewrite the Refugee Act of 1980 (or scrap it all together) in order to give local communities a say in what happens to their counties, cities and towns. I predict there will be increasing tension in towns across America on the controversial issue.
And, it’s not just about the prospect that Islamic terrorists might be in the refugee stream, there are very serious economic costs involved as refugees (as a special immigrant class) are able to access most forms of welfare available only to American citizens. They also add to the shortage of low income housing often pushing poor and disabled Americans to the back of the line.
From Boise Weekly:

Sandpoint City Council members voted Wednesday night to withdraw a resolution supporting refugee resettlement, bringing an end to a heated, month-long controversy.

Cheers erupted from the audience when newly elected Sandpoint Mayor Shelby Rognstad asked the council to withdraw the resolution from consideration. A measure meant to counter statements from Bonner County commissioners and Sheriff Darryl Wheeler opposing the resettlement of refugees, the resolution was intended to restate Sandpoint’s commitments to human rights, according to Rognstad.

“This resolution has only served to divide us and this community,” said Rognstad, as he requested the withdrawal. “That saddens me.”

Once again, anti-refugee activists turned out in force to oppose the resolution and, once again, the council meeting procedure was punctured by applause and shouts. When Rognstad called for order, the crowd responded with catcalls.

There is much more, continue reading here.
We have an extensive archive on Idaho, learn more by clicking here. Both Boise and Twin Falls are already large resettlement sites.
Be sure to learn more about Jan Reeves who is responsible for refugees going to Idaho. He was a 2013 Obama Champion of Change, see here.

‘Humanitarianism’ is a cover for big business drivers of more immigration.

For citizens of Idaho and everywhere being confronted with this issue, please be sure to investigate and find out what large industries are driving the resettlement where you live. Big business including BIG MEAT, Chobani Yogurt, and other manufacturing companies are looking for cheap immigrant labor and the federal resettlement contractors act as ‘head hunters’ for them.
The big business pays low wages and the remainder of the refugee family’s support comes from the taxpayer via welfare, education and medical care.
Also, find out which elected officials are receiving campaign donations from those companies. Expose them!

Now Toronto wants a pause in Syrian refugee flow to city!

01/21/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

You can’t make this up! Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (the boy who loves Muslims!) first promised 25,000 Syrians would be resettled in Canada before the close of 2015, now the goal is by the end of February of this year, but they forgot to see if they had enough housing!

justin-trudeau-davos — All the cool people are at Davos this week, including “intellectual powerhouse” Trudeau. http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/justin-trudeaus-speech-at-world-economic-forum

We reported on Ottawa yesterday, now here comes Toronto as government frantically searches for more ‘welcoming’ cities who need more Muslim immigrants!
Hitting the “pause” button!
From the Toronto Sun:

TORONTO – The federal government is briefly hitting the pause button on Syrian resettlement efforts in Toronto and looking for other cities to take in refugees.

Immigration Minister John McCallum revealed Wednesday that resettlement groups in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Halifax have asked for a temporary stop in the flow of government-sponsored refugees. But McCallum also told reporters he believes Canada is still on track to bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of February.

The pause means refugees will now remain in hotels for a few extra days after their flights land in Canada.

“The flow from the airplanes is not slowing down at all,” McCallum said during a speech in Toronto. ”It’s just certain towns or cities need a pause. There will be other places in Canada who will receive the refugees.”

Canadians in other cities beware!

The feds are actively seeking more cities to take in government-assisted Syrian refugees.

Photo: Will Trudeau heed the warning of the World Economic Forum founder, Klaus Schwab, who anticipates a massive flow of migrants out of Africa this year. Or, perhaps he will be pulled into the ‘feel good’ crowd around Mr. Chobani Yogurt?

So-called SAFE Act fails in the Senate, contractors crow

01/21/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

As we told you a couple of days ago, the federal refugee resettlement contractors were whipping their forces to tell their Senators to oppose a bill that had passed the House in November with broad bipartisan support. The contractors were so afraid of losing their Muslim ‘clients’ (a large portion of those for which they are paid by the head to bring to your towns).

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 23: Donald Trump listens at the Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C Groundbreaking Ceremony at Old Post Office on July 23, 2014 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/WireImage) — Senate Dems showed their abject fear of Trump by bringing him into the debate as they did.

Yesterday, the Senate failed to get cloture and move the bill with enough votes to assure Obama would not veto it. From insiders we learned that the bill, if it ever passed and was signed by Obama, would have been a fig leaf and not done much to keep us safe from terrorists getting into your neighborhoods from places like Syria and Iraq.
The vote, however, was informative. All Democrats except Bernie Sanders who missed the vote, and two brave souls, voted to kill the bill. Republicans including the three US Senators running for President voted to move the bill.
The two Dems who bucked the party (and the grassroots working for contractors) were West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp.
Here is the roll call vote.
This is what Reuters says about the vote:

U.S. Senate Democrats on Wednesday narrowly blocked legislation that would slow the entry of refugees from Syria and Iraq to the United States in a contentious vote cloaked in presidential election-year politics.

Democratic Senators Manchin and Heitkamp voted with Republicans to at least say they have concerns about security screening for refugees from Syria and Iraq.

The vote was 55-43, with “yes” votes falling short of the 60 needed to advance the Republican-backed measure in the 100-member Senate. No Republicans voted against the bill, and only two Democrats backed it.

Among other things, the bill would halt the admission of refugees and require high-level U.S. officials to verify that each refugee from Iraq and Syria posed no security risk before being allowed into the United States. [This is the part of the bill that was so weak because the Obama Administration (and a Hillary one too) would simply verify that screening was adequate.—ed]

Republicans said the tighter screening was essential to ensure the safety of Americans and prevent attacks within the country by Islamic State and other militant groups.

“This bipartisan bill would allow Washington to step back, take a breath and ensure it has the correct policies and security screenings in place,” Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in the Senate before the vote.

[….]

All three Senate Republican 2016 presidential hopefuls, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio, backed the bill. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders missed the vote.

Dems tried and failed to bring Donald Trump into the debate. Who in their right mind would have gone along with this trick!

Democrats also sought to play politics. They tried and failed to reach a deal with Republicans to set up a vote on an amendment establishing a religious test for would-be immigrants.

That vote was planned to see if Republicans would side against presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has advocated barring Muslims from entering the United States.

The Syria refugee bill passed the House by a large margin days after the Nov. 13 Islamic State attacks in Paris. The bill was supported by dozens of Democrats who defied Democratic President Barack Obama’s veto threat.

There is mention in the story that refugees are screened for 18-24 months which is a joke. They are briefly screened, then they wait for their plane tickets and their assignments to your towns!
Conclusion! Democrats, except those in West Virginia and North Dakota, are on the side of flooding America with refugees from terror-producing countries. That is pretty clear.
And, it is also pretty clear that there is much work ahead (Congress is not going to save us!) during Election 2016 to educate the public through whatever means possible about the Refugee Admissions Program which is being effectively directed by the United Nations choosing America’s refugees.