Syracuse: Refugee group buys Catholic Church, will be converted to a mosque

….because Muslim refugee population is growing.

Holy Trinity’s last mass was held in February 2010. http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/02/holy_trinity_church_in_syracus.html

It is a cold and rainy Sunday morning and I’m not easily discouraged, but I have to say this story is depressing.  Most people don’t understand that Islam marks its victories by turning Christian churches into mosques.  Surely there are other buildings available in Syracuse.

***Update*** American Thinker has published a post on this travesty today as well.  Thanks to Judy for bringing it to my attention.

***Update April 4*** Landmark Preservation Board wimps out—crosses to be removed, here.  Hat tip: Caroline

From CNYCentral:

For close to six decades, Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church on Syracuse’s north side was Anna Giannantomio’s church. She fought the Catholic Diocese decision to close it in 2010. While she believes everyone should be free to practice the religion they choose – she doesn’t understand why a new Islamic society wants to remove the crosses and move into the historic catholic church.

“This place was put into historical preservation and rightfully so,” said Giannantomio.

Crosses to be removed:

Holy Trinity was recently purchased by the North Side Learning Center, a volunteer group that assists refugees and immigrants. North Side Learning Center will lease the church to an Islamic society which would rename it Mosque Of Jesus The Son Of Mary. The North Side Learning Center has also filed a request with the Landmark Preservation Board to remove the crosses on the steeples and grounds.  [Those who care in Syracuse should file a protest with the Preservation Board—ed]

Professor Margaret Thompson from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School says nearly 75% of refugees settling in Syracuse are Muslim and that religious freedom has been bringing immigrants to America for hundreds of years.

“Holy Trinity was founded to welcome German immigrants to Syracuse when it was originally built and now its welcoming a new cohort of immigrants,” said Thompson.

Anna Giannantomio wants everyone to have a place to worship. She immigrated from Italy as a teenager and understands the discrimination many Muslims face in America but Giannantomio wishes the church that welcomed her to the U.S. would stay a Catholic church.

“I don’t want to hurt anybody but the building should remain as it is,” said Giannantomio.

The North Side Learning Center is now making repairs to the buildings. They hope the mosque will be ready to open in June.

Syracuse refugee program is changing and we recommend if you live there you need to start researching and reporting to your local community. The Northside Learning Center is probably operating on taxpayer dollars so you have a right to demand more information about their activities.

Syracuse is a preferred resettlement site chosen by the US State Department, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (HHS) and the contractors.

New York is one of the top states with a large African and Middle Eastern Muslim population, here.  Demographic change is what it’s all about.  Once they get the population numbers almost nothing else matters.

Ironically the largest resettlement contractor, bringing the most Muslims to your towns and cities, is the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Obama push for amnesty responsible for flood of “unaccompanied minors’ into US

They are coming in at the rate of 120 a day!

And, immigration lawyers stand ready to smooth their way!   Senator Jeff Sessions was right when he said it’s all over, amnesty is effectively here.

Attorney Felice Schonfeld advises two undocumented minors Denis Girón, 17, left, and Javier Girón, 14, brothers who crossed the Mexican border unaccompanied by adults and are now in South Florida seeking a green card. Photo: Miami Herald

From the Miami Herald (hat tip: ‘pungentpeppers’).  The story begins with the usual stars of the story and their tales of woe!

Irene Granados celebrated her 16th birthday while walking through the desert two years ago trying to reach the United States — and safety.

Brothers Javier and Denis Girón, 13 and 17, floated on a raft across the Rio Grande last year — also in a bid to reach safety.

Granados and the Girón brothers were fleeing their native Central American countries where gang violence is spreading. The three are part of a surge in unaccompanied children and teenagers flowing across the Mexican border to the United States.

Numbers, of “kids” coming alone to the US, are on the rise according to the Catholic Bishops.  We told you about the USCCB report here and reminded readers that the Bishops are making big bucks as Office of Refugee Resettlement contractors to care for some of the “kids.”

The USCCB (in their report) denied the “kids” were coming due to the lure of Obama policies; this article puts a lie to that assertion.

A report issued in November by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) showed the sharp increase. Every fiscal year between 2004 and 2011, the report said, the number of children detained by immigration authorities averaged about 6,800. But apprehensions jumped to more than 13,000 children in fiscal year 2012 and to more than 24,000 in fiscal year 2013.

Up to 120 unaccompanied youths are arriving each day, and some estimates suggest that the annual number could soon reach 60,000, according to a Feb. 21 story in the Los Angeles Times.

The “kids” expect amnesty to pass Congress and be signed into law!  Gang violence back home just the excuse!

Immigrant-rights activists say more and more unaccompanied minors are arriving for various reasons. Many are fleeing gang violence, like Granados and the Girón brothers. But children are also being sent by families who believe they could qualify for immigration reform — if Congress ever acts on it — or for President Barack Obama’s 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program known as DACA.  [The article goes on to explain that the stars of this story do not qualify as “dreamers.”—ed]

If they are too old to be “dreamers,” the “kids” in this story do qualify for green cards with the help of immigration lawyers waiting to serve them!

But some of the children arriving now can qualify for a green card if it can be demonstrated in juvenile court that the child has been abandoned, abused, or neglected. By demonstrating any of those three elements, the court can issue a dependency order. When children are adjudicated as dependent, the court assumes jurisdiction over them and that qualifies them to be considered for green-card status.

Please continue reading the article because it gives a detailed account of how the “kids” get through the legal system and will likely never leave again.

Obama has put the screws to the Republicans who will not have the fortitude to deport the 120 “kids” arriving in America every day!

And, LOL! check out that Ms. Granados says she wants to be a doctor.  I would like to have a buck for every time I’ve heard an illegal alien “kid” say they want to be a doctor—could they have been coached?

Human Rights First legal team arriving in Houston in the nick of time!

Mostly men from Central America ‘saved’ from Houston “stash house.” http://www.click2houston.com/news/photos-more-than-100-immigrants-in-suspected-stash-house/25055884

Surely you heard the news about 100 plus Central American illegal aliens held in a “stash house” in Houston this week.  The story broke a couple of days ago, coincidentally about the same time that Human Rights First announced its new legal office would be opening in, wait for it, Houston!

You can bet most of these 100 ‘persecuted’ Central Americans will be looking to file asylum claims—a growing worldwide racket!  Human Rights First will be there to help.

We wrote about the invasion of Europe this week, this is the invasion of America!

From the Houston Chronicle (op-ed from HRF):

Houston asylum seekers! We are on our way!

Asylum seekers in Houston come from dozens of countries – from Honduras to Congo, from Belarus to Bhutan. They are victims of torture, survivors of genocide, women fleeing the threat of rape, honor killings and sometimes brutal domestic violence, former political prisoners, or minorities persecuted because of their race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. The United States has a well-deserved reputation for welcoming persecuted refugees. But we fall short when they are left to sort out their legal status without the help of a lawyer.

Some 75 percent of immigrants detained in Houston have no legal representation; the rate is only somewhat better for those who are not detained. This in a system where having a lawyer can mean all the difference. Houston’s eight legal service providers are overstretched, and most do not specialize in helping refugees seeking asylum.

To help meet this urgent need, the nonprofit Human Rights First is bringing its award-winning pro bono operation to Houston. Human Rights First has more than three decades of experience in this field. Through a proven partnership with private law firms, it recruits and trains attorneys to represent asylum seekers on a pro bono basis. Often, the relationships between refugees and their lawyers are mutually beneficial – lifesaving for refugees, and life-changing for lawyers.

Houston’s generous civic spirit and the array of leading law firms makes it a perfect place for Human Rights First to expand. And South Texas College of Law in downtown Houston is the perfect place for Human Rights First’s newest home.

More clients for Human Rights First!  Syrians and Somalis are on their way!

Texas is the second largest resettlement state in America—turning red states blue!

UNHCR Guterres meets with Catholic Bishops in Washington, praises them for protecting Muslims

Guterres also said the US must show the world how to be generous to refugees (bring in the Syrians!) and that European nations are just flat out “very selfish” (note he didn’t chastise the Muslim countries, like Saudi Arabia, which refuse refugees and deport any who sneak in).

Antonio Guterres is the former Socialist President of Portugal and noted in his tet-a-tet with the Bishops that not much in the violent world has changed in the ten years he has been the UN High Commissioner for Refugees—gee I wonder why—could it be continued Muslim aggression?

UNHCR Guterres at the Washington, DC offices of the Bishops. The word around town is that the US State Department funds this office! That is the Bishop’s migration chief Johnny Young (center).

Before we tell you about the meeting, keep the following information firmly in mind.  This is where the USCCB Migration and Refugee Services gets its money—mostly from the US taxpayer!  From their most recent published annual report, here (p.11).  The USCCB is effectively a federal agency!  They are the largest of the nine major federal refugee contractors.

Revenue (in rounded numbers)

Federal grants/contracts:  $66 million

Refugee travel loans (your tax dollars too):  $3.6 million

Total revenue:  $71 million (which leaves less than $1.5 million from private charitable giving)

Guterres visits the Bishops (he was probably in town to lobby the Obama Administration to open our doors to Syrians).  From the National Catholic Reporter:

The role of the Catholic church is invaluable in keeping refugees safe, said the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, but his agency and others working with migrants need much, much more.

Speaking to a meeting of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Migration and staff members of church agencies that deal with migrants, Guterres said the church is vital to helping victims of situations such as the volatile upheaval in the Central African Republic.

There, although the recent conflict is often described as a Christians versus Muslims crisis, the reality is that “religion is being used by unscrupulous political partisans,” Guterres said. That created an environment that’s very difficult for humanitarian agencies to handle. “They began using religion for propaganda.”

Guterres said several times during his meeting Monday that although much of the violence in Central African Republic appears to be based upon religion, the reality is that in many hot spots there, the Catholic church is keeping Muslims safe. That includes the chief imam of Bangui, Omar Kobine Layama, who has been sleeping in the home of Bangui Archbishop Dieudonne Nzapalainga for safety.

Conflicts unchanging over ten years!

Guterres, a former prime minister of Portugal, said in the nearly 10 years he has headed the U.N. agency charged with protecting and resettling the world’s refugees, he has come to see that the type of conflicts around the world are both unchanging and multiplying.

We are all for free speech, but it is just so infuriating that this is being said on our dime! Europe trying to save itself from cultural and economic annihilation is selfish?  Johnny and Antonio probably went off to a lavish lunch on us as well!

European nations, for example, “have become very selfish,” he said. Although many European countries are dependent upon migrants to maintain the vitality of their society, new laws are making it difficult for refugees and other migrants to resettle.

Guterres:  Catholics need to keep lobbying the government to bring in more refugees, especially the Syrians!

He urged the church to continue to advocate for the U.S. government to set an example for the world of generous treatment of people who must flee their homelands.

“The U.S. has the largest refugee resettlement program in the world,” Guterres said. “The way the U.S. behaves is extremely important” to how the rest of the world responds.

He said he hopes the U.S. will soon announce a resettlement program for Syrians…

Every American Catholic concerned about the Bishops’ hands being in the taxpayers’ pockets (and thus possibly being controlled by the federal government) must start speaking up in your parishes.

So what’s up with Turkey and why is David Miliband kissing up to the Turks?

The word over the last few days, apparently still unconfirmed, is that Turkey has closed its borders to Syrian refugees.

Miliband, as British foreign secretary, met with Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2009 to discuss Iran.
http://www.news.az/articles/turkey/1735

At the same time we have David Miliband, the new CEO of the International Rescue Committee, one of the largest of the taxpayer-funded resettlement contractors, praising Turkey for its generosity to Syrian refugees.

Don’t tell me they are planning to reward Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with a prize as they did Hamid Karzai a few years ago!

Our interest here at RRW is why is Turkey allowing Syrian Muslims to cross its other border into Bulgaria thus swamping that tiny poor European country with thousands they can’t possibly take care of and who are now causing social unrest there?

Then to top it off, Turkey’s Prime Minister (pal of Obama) has asked Obama to go after Erdoğan’s chief opponent who lives where?  In Pennsylvania!

Turkey closing its border to Syria?

Here at Turkish Weekly:.

Yesterday several media organs reported that Turkey had closed its border to Syrians fleeing their country on account of the fact that the number of Syrians in Turkey would jump up to five million in a very short time. This information has not yet been corrected by AFAD or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, nor has it been denied.

If this is Turkey’s new policy it will have critical long-term ramifications for host communities, including Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, and for Syrian civilians. Turkey is one of the biggest host countries for Syrians, and while the Turkish government estimates that a total of 700,000 Syrian refugees are in Turkey, local and international non-governmental actors who are managing the crisis on the ground have a more realistic estimate: 1.5 million.

Big smooch from Miliband to Turkey.  Does Miliband think he is still Britain’s foreign secretary?  He is the well-paid head of a US resettlement contractor, that’s all (right?).  Speculation abounds that the IRC is really a covert arm of the US government.

From World Bulletin:

Turkey deserves applause in receiving Syrian refugees fleeing the violence in their country and providing assistance for them, stated David Miliband, Britain’s former Foreign Secretary and president of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) during an interview in Washington.

Miliband attended a panel which was held to draw attention to the plight of the Syrian refugees on Thursday and spoke to Anadolu Agency (AA) correspondent in the aftermath of the panel.

Praising Turkey’s policy on the refugees, Miliband said he was in close cooperation with Turkish officials and attached importance to a very strong partnership with Turkey.

I had to laugh and wondered if the IRC was getting ready to award a prize to Erdoğan like they did Hamid Karzai—to “embrace political Islamism” as David Miliband would say.  The IRC and Miliband recently said they would like the US to take 12,000 Syrians this year.

They can’t get to Bulgaria without having passed through Turkey!

Bulgaria

Bulgaria is swamped by Syrians flowing in from Turkey. Why isn’t Turkey stopping them on their side of the border? Is Turkey facilitating the invasion of Europe by Muslims? Why do news accounts never mention the fact that in order to get to Bulgaria they had to cross Turkey? Here is yet one more story about poor Bulgaria, this time at The Seattle Times:

Bulgaria, the poorest nation in the EU, has a refugee crisis. In the second half of last year, hundreds of undocumented Syrians arrived every week, putting a strain on a country ill-prepared for the flood of refugees escaping a civil war.

Bulgaria built a border fence with Turkey which has slowed the flow somewhat.

Pennsylvania?

Don’t miss this story at Creeping Sharia!  Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wants Obama to go after his enemy and close the schools of the  Fethullah Gülen movement!

Meanwhile, Erdoğan is building a mega-mosque in Maryland.

Can we pull all the threads together—NO!  But, keep an eye on Turkey and the IRC!