In order to bludgeon the President, here comes another misinformed diatribe using theRepublican governors who consented to receiving more impoverished people for their states’ taxpayers to care for.
The writer (Steven Roberts) is a longtime Democrat who has lived in the Washington, DC/New York City elitist bubble as the husband of journalist Cokie Roberts. But, because he has lived in his bubble he hasn’t a clue about the refugee admissions program (Washington, DC gets only a handful), how it works, how it impacts communities, how it is paid for, and how it has admitted some evil, yes evil, creatures.
But, that hasn’t stopped him from running his mouth about something he knows so little about!
Roberts uses, as the star of his opinion piece, Gary Herbert, the governor of Utah who prattled on about a “beautiful cycle of charity” when he told the State Department to send Utah more refugees.
More like Esar Met?
Did the governor not know about the horrible murder committed by Burmese refugee Esar Met—the trial was front page news in Utah in 2014—when he penned his “beautiful cycle of charity” letter?
Or, is the governor hoping you all have forgotten about it? (If you don’t remember, it didn’t happen, right!)
I suppose we should forgive Roberts because the national media NEVER reported the story and frankly this is the primary reason I continue to report about the other side of the “beautiful cycle of charity.”
My mission is to balance the news! (and to remember!).
Steven V. Roberts: These Republican governors welcome refugees
Donald Trump didn’t reckon with Gary Herbert.
Since the day the president took office, he has conducted a morally abhorrent and economically absurd campaign against refugees, slashing the annual quota admitted to America from 110,00 during Barack Obama’s last year in office to 18,000 currently. [Like so many lazy lefties, he fails to mention that Obama never had numbers close to 110,000 in his previous 7 years in office.—ed]
Last fall, Trump doubled down on his appeal to the country’s worst nativist instincts, issuing an executive order that allows individual states and localities to bar all new refugees from resettling within their borders. Clearly, he thought most Republicans would join his cynical crusade.
Utah Governor Herbert, one of many Republican governors to turn on Trump!
Enter Herbert, the governor of Utah since 2009. Not only did he reject Trump’s offer, he wrote a letter to the president welcoming refugees to Utah and asking the administration to send more of them, not fewer.
“Those refugees who resettle in Utah become integrated and accepted into our communities,” wrote the governor. “They become productive employees and responsible citizens. They become contributors to our schools, churches and other civic institutions, even helping serve more recent refugees and thus generating a beautiful cycle of charity.This marvelous compassion is simply embedded into our state’s culture.”
It turns out that “marvelous compassion” is still embedded in our national culture, not just Utah’s, despite the president’s efforts to deny and destroy our heritage. Political leaders across the country, including many Republicans, have soundly rebuked the president because they know Herbert is right: Refugees are an enormous benefit to any community.
Church World Service’s CEO the Reverend McCullough is far left. That is Nihad Awad, CAIR’s head honcho in the middle. They were arrested on the steps of the Capitol this fall protesting the President. McCullough pulls down a handsome salary and benefits package for doing “moral” ‘religious charity’ work.
[….]
Some of the revulsion to Trump’s anti-refugee rampage is simply moral. The Rev. John L. McCullough, president of the Church World Service, an agency that helps resettle refugees, told the New York Times, “With one final blow, the Trump administration has snuffed out Lady Liberty’s torch and ended our nation’s legacy of compassion and welcome.”
[….]
The whole country will suffer from Trump’s poisonous policies. Gary Herbert’s “beautiful cycle of charity” is also a beautiful cycle of growth and prosperity.
You can read it all here . Roberts throws in a bit about how businesses need the cheap labor refugees provide in the “beautiful cycle of charity.”
Roberts fails to mention that for its “moral” charitable work Church World Service is paid millions annually by US taxpayers (62.3 % of CWS’s income is from federal grants according to a recent report at Charity Navigator).
Therefore it has a financial interest in opposing the President and lobbying for ever greater numbers of impoverished Africans, Asians and Middle Easterners to be dropped off in your towns and cities (but not in Washington, DC!) for local and state taxpayers to support.
One of CWS’s “moral” agitators!
This is now my third visit to USA Spendingin the last week.
Roberts’ column is syndicated so if you see it show up in your city, write a letter to the editor, use his column to get the paper to publish your views on the UN-driven Refugee Admissions Program.
Three down and six more visits ahead at USASpending.gov!
That is the response to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s suggestion on Fox News earlier this week that groups like Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Servicefocus their ‘Christian’ charity on vulnerable Texans.
Governor Abbott’s plea: ‘Humanitarian’ groups should take care of Texans first!
Abbott is the only governor who has said his state needs a break from the massive influx of illegal aliens, asylum seekers and refugees the state has received (like it or not!) for a decade or more.
He suggests that the ‘non-profit’ groups that are pushing refugee resettlement reprioritize and take care of Texans first, especially the homeless, because he says he does not want Texas to be California.
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service‘s new CEO, former Michelle Obama staffer, shot back in a story at theTexas Tribune on Wednesday:
Gov. Greg Abbott says Texas nonprofits helping refugees should focus on homelessness. Refugee groups say it doesn’t work that way.
Former Obama staffer, Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, became President of LIRS when Linda Hartke was pushed out over some sort of mismanagement scandal.
Gov. Greg Abbott dug his heels in Tuesday in a TV interview explaining why Texas will be the only state in the nation to reject refugees seeking resettlement, saying that aid groups working with refugees should instead prioritize other Texans in need, including the state’s homeless population.
[….]
Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, said money for resettlement can’t be spent on homelessness or any other safety net programs.
“The federal funding that nonprofit resettlement agencies administer limits its use so it can only be spent through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program,” she said in an email.
Well, this is interesting! Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) has in the last 12 months received as much as the US Conference of Catholic Bishops!
And, although the Bishops have experienced a steep reduction in their federal taxpayer provided ‘gifts’ since their top Obama year, LIRS has not!
Haven’t they been crying the blues that the President is causing them to close offices?
One reason for their steady stream of funding appears to be that the Lutherans’ budget is being propped up via $38 million from Unaccompanied Alien Children grants, while the USCCB in the same time period received $21 million for what should be more accurately labeled Unaccompanied Alien Teens. 84% of the ‘children’ crossing the border without a parent are above the age of 13. Two thirds of the teens are males.
Yup! Ms. V is right, all of their federal funding is to take care of foreigners, many here illegally, so, silly Abbott, why on earth would the humanitarian Christians bother with Americans, with vulnerable Texans—there is no MONEY in it!
From USA Spending:
Note that they are down only about $3 million from their top Obama year while the US Catholic Bishops were down by $50 million. Why? I don’t know.
See that 60% of their federal boodle is for whatever they are doing with the Unaccompanied Alien Teens (illegal aliens). Close the border and save the taxpayers millions!
BTW, I’ve been told by a reliable source that it was the Obama Administration that made this revealingUSASpending.govresource available to us.
Now, it is always fun to have a look at a recent IRS Form 990 for these ‘religious charities.’ This is the salaries page for the most recent one I found for LIRS which is 85%-90% FEDERALLY FUNDED in any given year.
Former CEO Linda Hartke was hitting the $400,000 mark just as she was headed out the door. You were paying 85-90% of that salary and the salaries of the other six-digit employees. I wonder if they are paying Ms. Vignarajah that much? (We will find out when their next Form 990 is made public).
This is fun. I can’t wait to have a look at the other ‘religious charities’ which use our money to “welcome the stranger” rather than to take care of Americans.
I sure hope good Lutherans are speaking up and making it clear that LIRS does not represent them!
Oh, and I should have mentioned that LIRS is one of the three federal contractors that filed a lawsuit and successfully halted, for now, President Trump’s first effort to reform the UN-driven Refugee Admissions Program.
Lofgren (72) has served 13 terms in the House of Representatives serving a district near Fresno, California—a district that is now 58% Hispanic. For as long as I’ve been writing RRW, a dozen years, she has been an outspoken proponent of more third world migration to the US.
When I saw her droning away on the floor of the Senate last night I was reminded to tell you that she has been a leading advocate for more refugee resettlement for decades.
In fact, late last year, she, along with Senator Leahy of Vermont, introduced the ‘Refugee Protection Act of 2019’ which among other things seeks to set a minimum number of refugees that a President must admit to the US each year.
Lofgren, Leahy and a whole host of Democrat lawmakers want the ‘Refugee Act of 1980’ changed to REQUIRE a President to set the annual cap at 95,000 or higher. Presently there is no floor and a President could set the level at zero if he wished.
A level of a minimum of 95,000 a year would keep the nine federal refugee contractors*** rolling in federal dough with not a worry about a year like this one where the President set the level at 18,000 thus straining their budgets that in many cases depend entirely on federal funding.
You can read about other changes the Democrats want to see, here.
I must say again that this is why the Leftists are successful—they push and they push and they push—while those of us who want to see immigration brought under control must always play defense.
Trump changed that dynamic and that is why they want him gone.
Personally I think it is Trump’s America First! immigration policies that are driving the Dems to a state of insane frenzy. They are comfortable with Chamber of Commerce Republicans who quietly go along with ever-increasing numbers of cheap labor coming into the country…
...but, a Republican on the offensive is something new and frightening.
The Senate bill is cosponsored by 16 Senators: Senators Leahy, Harris, Booker, Hirono, Markey, Shaheen, Gillibrand, Blumenthal, Cardin, Wyden, Murray, Sanders, Reed, Merkley, Warren, and Klobuchar.
The House bill is cosponsored by 31 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives: Representatives Lofgren, Nadler, Jayapal, Neguse, Castro, Crow, Dean, DeLauro, DeSaulnier, Engel, Escobar, Espaillat, Garcia, Grijalva, Higgins, Johnson, Khanna, Lowenthal, McGovern, Napolitano, Norton, Pallone, Panetta, Quigley, Raskin, Sires, Smith, Swalwell, Watson Coleman, Welch, and Tlaib.
The Refugee Protection Act of 2019 is endorsedby a wide range of refugee, asylum, immigration, and faith-based organizations. A short outline of the bill can be foundhere, and a sectional analysis can be found here. Text of the legislation can be found here.
*** For new readers these (below) are the nine federally-funded refugee contractors that operate as a huge conveyor belt monopolizing all refugee placement in America.
And, they do not limit their advocacy toward only legal immigration programs, but are heavily involved in supporting the lawlessness at our borders.
The question isn’t as much about refugees per se, but about who is running federal immigration policy now and into the future?
(I plan to say this once a day from now on!)
I continue to argue that these nine contractors are the heart of America’s Open Borders movement and thus there can never be long-lasting reform of US immigration policy when these nine un-elected phony non-profits are paid by the taxpayers to work as community organizers pushing an open borders agenda.
Readers, please forgive me! This is the third post in three days about the US Catholic Bishops inability to report the truth that they are paid millions of taxpayer dollars to “welcome the stranger.”
As I have said in my two previous posts (here and here), I’ll keep reporting the truth as they continue to hide it. As a federal refugee resettlement contractor, the US Bishops ‘Christian charity’ runs on MONEY extracted involuntarily from you—taxpaying citizens. It does not come from generous parishioners as they want you to believe.
All I am asking is that they admit that the Refugee Act of 1980(Kennedy, Biden and Carter) set them up as the middlemen to pass along your money to ‘new Americans’ and then pretend they are benevolent Christians.
And, of course they keep a cut for their overhead and lobbying office! It’s been a sweet deal for four decades—until Donald Trump came along.
Here they are again this morning—high-fiving the judge and disparaging the President.
Washington D.C., Jan 21, 2020 / 02:01 pm (CNA).- A federal judge’s ruling has halted President Donald Trump’s executive order that allows states and localities to refuse permission for refugee resettlement. The ruling drew praise from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops,which stressed the need to help refugees to safety and to maintain a uniform refugee policy.
“Today’s ruling is a welcome step in our ongoing ministry to provide refugees, who are fleeing religious persecution, war, and other dangers, with safe haven here in the United States,” said Bishop Mario Dorsonville, an auxiliary bishop of Washington who chairs the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Migration.
“Jesus Christ, who was part of a refugee family, calls us to welcome the stranger….
[….]
Dorsonville noted the Catholic bishops’ previous “deep concerns” about the executive order.
“We feared the negative consequences for refugees and their families as this Executive Order would have created a confusing patchwork across America of some jurisdictions where refugees are welcomed, and others where they are not,” he said.
Wouldn’t common sense tell them that knowing where refugees were welcome, or conversely not welcome, should benefit refugees they place. The most welcoming places would then be made clear to them. But, no, they want to decide, without you ‘deplorable’ citizens having any say, where they want them placed!
Next, praise for the consenting governors:
“Once more, we see the intention to act united as a nation in the effort to provide solidarity to those who need it most and are encouraged by the compassion that this nation has towards refugees,” Dorsonville said.
The U.S. bishops said that federal officials will “diligently engage” with state and local officials to ensure local concerns are taken into account, but federal officials will have the final decision over refugee resettlement.
Hypocrisy Alert! They want the feds to have the final say in this case, but it is an entirely different matter when it comes to sanctuary cities they support! In the case of sanctuary cities, the cities run US immigration policy!
And, just a reminder. Under the Refugee Act of 1980, the President can decide to admit zero refugees—watch how loudly they will be wailing if that ever happens!
And, too funny that CNA’s editor makes that comment (above) about truth at the end of this story.
Just so you know, as we reported a couple of days ago, according to USA Spending, the Bishops have lost millions of federal dollars for their ‘migration fund’ during the Trump presidency (so far).
From USA Spending. Federal grants to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. Down from over $104 million in most lucrative year under Obama.
For readers who are wondering where is the ACLU and other groups working for the separation of church and state—they ignore the billions going out to the ‘religious’ charities bringing in refugees and working for amnesty for illegal aliens because they are all on the same team. They are all Leftwingers working toward a socialist America.
Good and faithful Catholics must speak up in your parishes!
Endnote: Let’s hope I don’t see another deceptive media report about the Bishops tomorrow!
I’m going to be busy (possibly bore you), but I am going to have to follow through on my promise of yesterday and point out the fact that Catholic Bishopsare paid handsomely to do their ‘good works’—paid by you, the US taxpayer.
Once again we have a ‘welcome the stranger’ sob story with no mention of the millions of federal dollars the refugee industry, the nine federal contractors*** (including the US Conference of Catholic Bishops), has enjoyed for near FOUR DECADES!
I have a dream that one day I’ll see an article in the mainstream media that actually tells the public about the Bishop’s pipeline to the US Treasury.
(CBSDFW.COM/CNN) – The bishops of Dallas and Fort Worth are among the 16 Texas Catholic bishops who have denounced Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to reject new refugees in 2020. Texas is the first state to do so under a new executive order signed by President Donald Trump.
The bishops released a joint statement Friday after the decision was made. They called Abbott’s decision “deeply discouraging and disheartening” and “misguided.”
“It (the decision) denies people who are fleeing persecution, including religious persecution, from being able to bring their gifts and talents to our state and contribute to the general common good of all Texans,” the statement read.
“As Catholics, an essential aspect of our faith is to welcome the stranger and care for the alien,” the bishops added. [Yes! But with private Christian charity, not with money taken from taxpayers!—ed]
Bishop Olson of Fort Worth: We need to get our MONEY! Well, no, he didn’t say that and that is why I am posting on their MONEY again.
Texas is home to about 8.5 million Catholics, nearly 30% of the state’s population. Bishops Edward Burns of Dallas and Michael Olson of Fort Worth represent the dioceses in North Texas.
[….]
Since 2010, Texas has received more refugees than any other state — about 10% of the nationwide total, the governor said in the letter. The Pew Research Center reports that since 2002 Texas has accepted more than 88,000 refugees — more than any state but California.
“Texas has carried more than its share in assisting the refugee resettlement process and appreciates that other states are available to help with these efforts,” Abbott said.
This is why they are so upset! From USA Spendingposted yesterday.
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has lost millions of federal dollars under President Trump’s refugee resettlement reform effort.
From USA Spending. Federal grants to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Do the 8.5 million Catholics in the state of Texas condone the Bishops living off the US taxpayers and keeping that fact secret?
I bet the vast majority of Catholics think that they are taking care of refugees by passing the plate at mass.
By the way, the Bishops were not alone. Texas Muslimsblasted Governor Abbott as I reported earlier today.
*** For new readers these (below) are the nine federally-funded refugee contractors that operate as a huge conveyor belt monopolizing all refugee placement in America.
A ‘religious’ message from CWS’s “ministry!” CWS is one of three federally funded contractors suing to stop the President’s effort to reform the UN-driven Refugee Admissions Program.
And, they do not limit their advocacy toward only legal immigration programs, but are heavily involved in supporting the lawlessness at our borders.
The question isn’t as much about refugees per se, but about who is running federal immigration policy now and into the future?
Go here to see that the nine contractors sucked down over $3 BILLION in federal grants in the last 11 years.
(I plan to say this once a day from now on!)
I continue to argue that these nine contractors are the heart of America’s Open Borders movement and thus there can never be long-lasting reform of US immigration policy when these nine un-elected phony non-profits are paid by the taxpayers to work as community organizers pushing an open borders agenda.
