Category: The Opposition

When an NGO isn’t an NGO

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update February 15th:  Egypt accuses US NGOs of bringing anarchy to Egypt, here.

NGO stands for Non-governmental organization, with the emphasis on NON!

From time to time I’ve pointed out that the Arab Spring thing everyone was so excited about only twelve months ago had actually brought Islamists to power in Egypt and set off one more refugee stampede across north Africa and more problematically across the Mediterranean to Europe.

Tell me what good is it to America if a pro-democracy movement brings the Muslim Brotherhood to power?  Oopsie!

More confirming news that Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton and the media were applauding prematurely over the “revolution” came in the last few days as (gasp) the Egyptian government is now saying it will put on trial detained NGO workers in Egypt.   Here is the story from the Washington Times:

CAIRO (AP) — Ignoring a stern U.S. threat, Egypt on Sunday referred 43 NGO workers, including 19 Americans, to trial before a criminal court for allegedly using illegal foreign funds to foment unrest.

The decision marked a sharp escalation of the dispute between Cairo and Washington over Egypt‘s crackdown on U.S.-funded groups promoting democracy and human rights. The two countries have been close allies for more than three decades, but the campaign against the organizations has angered Washington and jeopardized the $1.5 billion in aid Egypt is set to receive from the U.S. this year. [good!—ed]

On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Egypt‘s foreign minister that failure to resolve the dispute may lead to the loss of American aid. The Egyptian minister, Mohammed Amr, responded Sunday by saying the government cannot interfere in the work of the judiciary.

[….]

Among the Americans sent to trial is Sam LaHood, the head of the Egypt office of the Washington-based International Republican Institute and the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

[….]

Already, Egyptian authorities are preventing at least six Americans — including Mr. LaHood — and four Europeans from leaving the country, citing a probe opened last month when heavily armed security forces raided the offices of 17 pro-democracy and rights groups. Egyptian officials have defended the raid as part of a legitimate investigation into the groups’ work and funding.

The NGO in question here—International Republican Institute—isn’t really a NON-governmental organization.  How could it be?  Check out its most recent Form 990 here.  Out of a budget of $85,479,348, they received $85,142,213 from the American taxpayer.

Did you happen to notice who is Chairman of the Board of IRI—Senator John McCain.  Senator Lindsey Graham is on the board too.   So we gave these guys $85 million to help bring us a radical Islamic government in Egypt—but a democracy none-the-less.

Oh, and it’s not just the rightwing “democracy” activists, but the leftwingers are agitating in Egypt too.  Kind of makes me think maybe Ron Paul is on to something after all.

What does the middle class American taxpayer get out of all this—less money in their pockets and more refugees on the way!

Bill to allow NH cities to impose a moratorium on refugee resettlement gets a hearing

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The New Hampshire legislature heard testimony this week from proponents and opponents of a bill that seeks a short-term moratorium on the resettlement of more refugees to that state.   Long time readers know that especially Manchester, NH has been a hotbed of controversy after the city leaders have repeatedly said the city cannot handle more refugees (here is just one recent post).

Here is the story from the Manchester Union Leader (hat tip to many readers who sent the story!).  A law professor claims it is unconstitutional, but I think there are wording changes that can be made to handle that supposed problem.

CONCORD — A bill allowing communities to impose a one-year moratorium on refugee resettlement is probably unconstitutional, a law professor told a House committee Thursday.

House Bill 1405 had both its supporters and detractors at a public hearing Thursday before the House Municipal and County Government Committee.

Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas has called for a moratorium on refugee resettlement until the “city can catch its breath” after about 300 refugees a year have been resettled in the city over the last few years.

Gatsas supported HB 1405 Thursday, saying the city needs time to allow the refugees currently in the community to settle into the system, get jobs and become productive citizens.

Gatsas said communication with the resettlement agencies, the state and the federal government has been poor.

“We need to take a breath, step back and figure out how to do this right,”Gatsas said at the hearing.

Along with allowing a one-year moratorium, HB 1405 would require more communication between the state, resettlement agencies and the communities where refugees are placed.

Proponents of the measure say the bill is similar to the successful bill signed into law in Tennessee last year, posted here.

Of course the federal contractors who get paid to resettle refugees are opposing the measure.

Representatives of Lutheran Social Services of New England and the International Institute of New Hampshire spoke against the bill.

The original Refugee Resettlement Act of 1980 does have a provision to opt-out of the program.  Just a reminder that the state of Wyoming does not resettle refugees (they may move there as secondary migrants, but there is no Wyoming program).  I don’t know why lawyers for opponents are not looking at ways to opt-out completely.

To tell you the truth, as this program comes under greater scrutiny, I think the Open Borders political activists (looking for more multicultural Democratic voters) will just direct their attention to backdoor amnesty for illegals, the asylum program, the diversity visa lottery, the treaty investor programs (immigrants buying convenience stores) and the temporary protected status program to pour more poverty/voters into your cities and towns in order to further destabilize your community.  They are working on a long-term plan to change America, plain and simple.

Somalis protest at Minnesota state capitol over money transfer issue; millions of questionable dollars sent back to Africa

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is an update on a story I wrote about just ten days ago, and didn’t think it was worth posting at first (you know, ho hum, same old story), but there was a bit of information that I found stunning.

So here is the story from the Twin Cities Daily Planet which began with the standard journalistic practice of telling a sob story (or do only Leftwing/mainstream media writers start with such stories?) about a woman who can’t send a few bucks to her starving relatives in the Horn of Africa because of new banking regulations.

By the way, it doesn’t start with the story of the Minnesota Somali women convicted recently (see how Minnesota political leftists are rallying around them)  for sending money to the terror group—Al Shabaab.

Twin Cities Daily Planet (via Hiiraan):

Hassan was one of about 200 mostly Somali and Oromo protesters outside the State Capitol last Friday, January 6, demanding that the state and federal government come up with a solution to allow Africans in the diaspora to send remittances to loved ones in the Horn of Africa.

[…..]

Sunrise Community Banks, the last Minnesota bank to work with Somali-owned money services businesses (MSBs), stopped transferring remittances abroad on December 30. The Somali community has scrambled to figure out alternatives ever since.

It is not just in Minnesota:

….there have been growing fears that Somali-owned MSBs may help facilitate terrorist activity abroad. Concerns heightened after two Somali women from Rochester, Minnesota, were convicted last October of sending money to the terrorist group al-Shabab in Somalia.

As a result, banks in Minnesota, Ohio and Washington State — all centers of Somali refugee population — have stopped working with Somali-owned MSBs.

The closures aren’t new. Most corporate American banks cut off ties with hawalas in 2005, after Congress passed stricter banking regulations in a post-9/11 era. The regulations designated MSBs as “high risk.”

Then here is the part I found astounding!

From Minnesota alone, $100-120 million in remittances is sent every month through MSBs, part of a global two-billion-dollar industry, Hassan said. He added that the term “hawala” is actually a misnomer, since hawalas are informal businesses. Technically, hawalas don’t even exist in Minnesota, he said.

Up to $120 million a month?  From Minnesota alone!  Readers keep in mind that many Somalis are on welfare and receiving food stamps.  Also note that earlier in the article we learned this:

Somali families typically send between $50 and $200 on a monthly basis to support the livelihoods of relatives in the Horn, she explained.

So, if I’ve done the math correctly that would mean there are 60,000 families sending $200 a month from Minnesota if they are each sending the highest amount we are given.   If they are giving the smallest amount ($50) then there are 240,000 Somali families in Minnesota—no way!

We learned just this past October that the US Census Bureau estimates the Somali population in Minnesota has risen to 32,000!    (I think the number is low, but that is what our government is saying):

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Minnesota’s Somali population is still the largest in the United States after a new Census Bureau estimate early Thursday raised the number of people of Somali ancestry in the state to more than 32,000.

That would mean that every man, woman, and child of Somali origin was sending $3750 a MONTH to Somalia. (LOL! Someone check my math!).  No way, but if the $100 -$120 million number is accurate someone is sending a whole heck of a lot of US dollars to Somalia.  Incidentally that census article says the average black family in Minnesota makes $27,500 a year.

Bottomline, there is a lot of money involved and so it is no surprise that Rep.Keith Ellison (first Muslim Congressman) and the Local SEIU leader were ringleaders at last weeks rally to demand that the banks reinstate the transfer of your money to prop up Somalia.  In addition there must be lots and lots of money involved in the transfer “business” right there in Minnesota.

Changing the subject only slightly, it is the huge amounts of money involved (remittance money) that drives decisions on such things as TPS, here.  Your social welfare money is propping up El Salvador too (while some, like certain people in Montgomery County, Maryland) are making money in the transfer business.

Al Gore is responsible for the Kosovar refugees in the US

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

….he was importing Democrat voters!  I’m jesting, it is actually much more disgusting then that.

I guess by now you’ve seen the news about the Kosovo-born Muslim immigrant who planned to ‘off’ a few infidels in Tampa, FL.  He wanted to bring terror to his “victim’s hearts.”    If you haven’t heard the news from yesterday then check out Gates of Vienna, here.  Limits to Growth, here and Creeping Sharia, here.

I’m guessing that the arrested terror-plotter is one of the thousands of refugees admitted to the US in the wake of Bill Clinton’s Bosnian war, or is a relative of one of those who came in 12 years ago.   Our perp would have been a child if he had been part of the infamous airlift (but so was one of the Fort Dix jihad plotters, remember them) when he arrived with the largest group of Kosovars we admitted.

Here is the simple version.  In 1999, we brought 15,000 Kosovars to the US and later that year we flew about 10,000 back.   You see they didn’t really want to be here in the first place. I reported on this incredible situation here in 2009.

But, it wasn’t until March 2010 that I learned what really happened when I found this declassified report from the National War College.  The paper written by David Robinson (still involved with the State Department refugee program I believe) basically said that the federal refugee contractors were crying that they didn’t have enough bodies to resettle in the US (and therefore not enough money in their coffers since they are paid by the head to resettle refugees) and the administration wanted a humanitarian excuse for the whole damn war!  So in April 1999 Al Gore sprung a surprise on the professionals in the State Department with the announcement that the photo op of “refugees” arriving in NJ was coming their way whether they liked it or not.

This is what I said in that 2010 post:

I just came across this report from the National War College about how the volags (supposedly voluntary agencies but really federal contractors*) were basically in need of warm bodies to resettle (for $$$) in the US in 1999 so they pushed Gore and the National Security Council to go against professionals in the State Department and even against the wishes of the UN and airlifted tens of thousands of Kosovar “refugees” to the US during Bill Clinton’s phony baloney Bosnian War.

The Clinton administration got its photo op.  The NGOs got their contract money (emergency money too from Congress) and then later that year (surely at taxpayer expense), about ten thousand unhappy “refugees” were returned to Kosovo.    A few thousand stayed in the US.  Again, I don’t know if the Tampa terrorist was in this group, but if he is a naturalized US citizen he got into the US through some legal program.

This is how Robinson begins the 2000 report:

Why did the United States offer permanent resettlement to Kosovar refugees during
Operation Allied Force? Neither the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) nor the Government of Macedonia (GOM) requested U.S. resettlement
assistance. Even the three federal agencies with principal responsibility for refugee
admissions–State, Justice, and Health and Human Services–balked at the idea. Most
importantly, the refugees themselves strongly resisted being moved from the close
proximity to home of the camps in Macedonia to safer, more pleasant quarters elsewhere.

Nevertheless, during a speech at Ellis Island on April 21, 1999, Vice President Gore
announced that the United States would immediately begin processing for American
residency up to 20,000 ethnic Albanians who had fled Serb persecution in Kosovo. His
decision caught the bureaucracy off-guard. The U.S. Coordinator for Refugees, Assistant
Secretary of State Julia Taft, learned of it only an hour before the speech was carried live
on national news.

The next day, an interagency team, led by the State Department’s Bureau of
Population, Refugees and Migration and including representatives from the
Immigration and Naturalization Service, the International Organization for Migration,
and the International Rescue Committee, flew to Skopje. Its mission was twofold: first,
to convince the UNHCR, the GOM, and the refugees that U.S. resettlement was a
preferred option; and second, to build an in-country processing program from scratch.
The team succeeded, but the question remains. Why did the White House insist on this
particular course of action?

LOL!  Maybe Bill just needed more cheap laborers for his friends at Tyson Foods (IBP)—remember it was Clinton who brought Bosnians to Iowa for meat packing jobs.  Lavinia Limon who heads one of the federal contractors now was Clinton’s head honcho in the Office of Refugee Resettlement, so she would know!

But, here is one reason Robinson gives us (and it should make you all weep):

But public support for committing American airmen to combat rested on the refugee issue. The White House could not simply turn its back on the Kosovars while in their name it rained high explosives on Serbia. It desperately needed another gesture, even if only symbolic, to keep the humanitarian rationale for military action credible.

Readers, if any of you see news on how the Tampa Islamic terror plotter got into the US in the first place, send it my way.

Oh, and then send your thanks to Al Gore and good ol’ Bill.

Salvadoran foreign minister coming to US to lobby for extension of TPS

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Readers:  This is cross-posted from Potomac Tea Party Report and I thought some of our readers here might find it interesting.   TPS is another “legal” immigration program that has gone wrong.

TPS is Temporary Protected Status and is perhaps the ultimate scam and backdoor amnesty for illegal aliens in the US.   Whenever you are tempted to say that “legal” immigration is a good thing, think about TPS. It is legal alright but truly a scandal.

I’ve told you about this on many occasions, but Salvadorans who got into the US illegally decades ago can continue to stay and work (and receive all the benefits of an American citizen short of voting) when TPS is extended for them every few years.

It works like this:  illegals (like all the Leftists, including Sandinistas, who got in here in the 1980’s with the help of the “sanctuary movement”) got lucky when either hurricanes or earthquakes, or sometimes political unrest, hit El Salvador and the US government said, oh poor babies, we can’t send you back right now because it would be a hardship on El Salvador—you can just continue to stay!

Salvadorans make up perhaps the largest segment of the so-called “Hispanic” population in the Maryland/DC area.

I’ve been expecting this—the big political push for another extension (the present TPS expires in March for Salvadorans).

And, by the way, they now have the far Left government in El Salvador they have longed for, and as far as I know there are no natural disasters happening at the moment—-IT’S TIME TO SEND THEM HOME!

Here is the news yesterday:

San Salvador, Jan 4 (Prensa Latina) Salvadorean Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez will travel on Friday to the United States to promote the extension of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to immigrants.

The TPS was adopted after the 2001 earthquakes and its validity expires on March 8 this year. It covers the stay in that country of some 215,000 Salvadoreans so far.

[This 2001 TPS designation was not the first one!—please search PTPR (or here at RRW) for ‘Temporary Protected Status’ and ‘Sanctuary movement’ for the many posts I’ve written on this because I’m too tired to pull all the links tonight.—ed]

Martinez said the U.S. government could announce the extension between January 6 and 9.

We have always said that we have great and very positive expectations that the announcement is positive, but it corresponds to U.S. authorities to make that decision, said Martinez.

*Martinez met in Washington in November with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to request an extension of the TPS.

According to U.S. officials, some 2.5 million Salvadoreans live in the country, mostly undocumented, and Martinez said that the Foreign Ministry is ready to help their compatriots to register with the TPS.

So why do you think Martinez wants so many of his countrymen to stay in the US, besides the fact that this is part of the Marxist infiltration of the US?  Because El Salvador wants all the US dollars the illegal aliens send “home”!  And, remember that Montgomery County set up special banking arrangements with El Salvador—there are bucks to be made all around.

And, what do you think the chances are that Obama will deny this extension in the election year (or ever for that matter)—zilch, zero, nada!

*An afterthought this morning:   Martinez isn’t coming here to lobby, it’s probably a done deal.  He will be here to be seen in some photo-op when the deed is accomplished in a few days.