Category: The Opposition

18 Arrested on Capitol Hill Protesting Trump Refugee Policy, but where was the Media?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 2 Comments

***Update***  I just went back after a few hours to see if any national media has picked up the news, and nope, nothing yet. A few more bits of news by the protesters themselves, like this Catholic news outfit crowing that the Catholics (not to be left out!) were there too!

Okay, so yesterday was the big protest day for Church World Service and the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) so I figured surely there would be gobs of media reports on the success of their anti-Trump protest especially since they succeeded in getting arrested!

Where is the WaPo?  Where is CNN?  Anyone see any coverage?

By the way, who comes up with this hokey stuff?

The only news I found so far comes from organizers Amnesty International and another Lefty outfit called Common Dreams.

Is this goofy or what! That is the Rev. McCullough of Church World Service on the far left. He pulls in an annual salary and benefits package of nearly $300,000 from the quasi-government CWS. Looks like Anne Richard, Obama’s refugee chief next to him, and then of course CAIR’s Nihad Awad fourth from the left.

Here is Amnesty:

In response to the Trump Administration’s continued assault on the U.S. refugee resettlement program, 18 leaders from the nation’s leading faith and human rights organizations, as well as a former State Department official, were arrested on Capitol Hill as part of the first ever act of civil disobedience in the name of refugee resettlement. Those 18 arrested represented the 18,000 refugee cap set by the Trump administration – the lowest in the history of the resettlement program.
Continue reading here if you want to see what each of the protesters had to say.  If not, see who sponsored the publicity stunt:
Today’s protest was cosponsored by: Church World Service, Sahloul, Franciscan Action Network, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, Center for Victims of Torture, Leadership Conference of Women Religious, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, Amnesty International USA, Disciples Refugee and Immigration Ministries, American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee, Congregations Action Network, Presbyterian Church USA, United Church of Christ, Sojourners, NOVA Friends of Refugees/One Journey.
Where is HIAS I wondered, they usually love to protest in Washington?
The large gathering…..
For more information and more photos, visit Common Dreams.

Will the President Stand Firm on Determination to Admit 18,000 Refugees this Year?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 3 Comments

Any day now, the Administration will send a delegation to the Hill to consult with the House and Senate Judiciary Committees on the President’s plan to admit a maximum number of 18,000 refugees to the US in FY2020 (the fiscal year began on October 1).

A reminder:  Trump set the level for FY19 at 30,000 and reached that ceiling on September 30th.  An 18,000 ceiling for FY20 would be the lowest in the program’s history.

Over the last couple of weeks there have been dozens and dozens of stories planted throughout America each one showcasing some poor refugee family that would not be reunited if the ceiling is that low.  And, without fail, the articles tell us which of the resettlement contractors had to close subcontractor offices.

Frankly I have read so many of these whiny stories I want to barf.  That said, I would like you to have a look at this one from Twin Falls, Idaho where the local resettlement subcontractor is expected to continue in operation for another year at least and my guess is that is in order to keep a refugee worker flow going to Chobani Yogurt.  See my Twin Falls archive here.

However, when quoting the director of the program there, the reporter, Megan Taros, says something that is not factually correct and I want to mention that to you:

A new executive order issued by President Trump last month that cuts the number of refugees the U.S. will accept from 30,000 to 18,000 this fiscal year threatens the center’s funding. The center receives federal money based on the number of people it takes in. With the new order its approved intake, which is now 140, may drop. Congress will meet on Tuesday to decide what the final nationwide cap on refugees will be.

Maybe the consultation will happen today as the reporter suggests, but Congress will NOT DECIDE ON THE FINAL NATIONWIDE CAP.  Congress’ only role under the Refugee Act of 1980 is a consultation role when it comes to setting the upcoming ceiling/cap (but of course they do appropriate the funding for the President’s plan).

That said, it will be interesting to see if over the last few weeks, the massive media PR campaign (like the one here in Twin Falls)  by the refugee industry has succeeded in getting the administration to up its original number of 18,000!

The article also reminded me to direct you to the Refugee Council USA‘s (lobbyists for the refugee industry) report which lists the subcontractor offices that have been closed since the Trump Administration began reducing the number of refugees being admitted.

Please take a minute and go here to see if an office has closed in your city.

Scroll down to page 23 to see the list.  Here is a screenshot of the first page:

Trump can’t do this alone!

If you want to see the Refugee Program dumped or reformed, you must get involved now where you live.  This is no time to sit back and assume the President is taking care of this.  The refugee industry is extremely well funded and has a massive media network.

As soon as the Trump Administration ends—it will sooner or later—they will be back full steam ahead and they have been laying the ground work with the sob-story news reports spread throughout small city newspapers everywhere.

One thing you can do right now is to send letters or opinion pieces to papers like this one to express the theme I think is most powerful—why aren’t we taking care of our own vulnerable people first?  After all, we the taxpayers are paying for all of this!  Use some statistics or sad stories about your community.

And, it goes without saying, you absolutely must attempt to elect people to local offices that represent your views on the subject of mass migration!  Start now by dogging candidates for the 2020 Elections and press them on their views on immigration!

 

CAIR, Church World Service, Others, Plan “Civil Disobedience” at US Capitol this Week

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 14 Comments

For new readers, Church World Service is one of the nine federal resettlement contractors with subcontractor office spread throughout the US.  They receive millions of federal dollars amounting to 62% of their entire budget from you—the US taxpayer.  See here.

Here they plan to join the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) on the Capitol steps looking to get arrested in a protest of the President’s refugee policy.

CWS CEO McCullough (annual salary $272,000) must enjoy being arrested. Here he is under arrest for an illegal protest of OBAMA’S DEPORTATION POLICIES in 2014. https://cwsglobal.org/cws-ceo-arrested-at-white-house-protesting-presidents-deportation-policies/

Press release from Amnesty USA:

FAITH LEADERS, HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS, AND FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE STAGE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE FOR REFUGEES

On Tuesday, October 15th, 18 protestors–including heads of Amnesty International USA, America’s Voice, CAIR, and Church World Service, as well as a former Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration–will risk arrest on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The leaders will wear life vests symbolizing the life-saving refugee resettlement program.

Faith communities, human rights groups, clergy, refugees, and refugee agencies will hold a major action on Capitol Hill as Secretary Pompeo meets with Congress to finalize the administration’s 80% cut to the refugee admissions program.

WHAT: Protest and Civil Disobedience Responding to Decimation of Refugee Resettlement

WHERE: Capitol Lawn Area 9, Constitution and First St NE

WHEN: Tuesday, October 15th at 1:00 PM

DETAILS: 18 protestors–including heads of Amnesty International USA, CAIR, America’s Voice and CWS–wearing life vests symbolizing the lives that could be saved or lost through the resettlement program will risk arrest on the steps of the US Capitol. Supporters will hold 95 photographs of refugees, a nod to the historic average refugee cap of 95,000.

LEADERS RISKING ARREST INCLUDE:

Anne C. Richard, Former Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM)  [She’s back!—ed]

Margaret Huang, Executive Director, Amnesty International USA

Rev. John L. McCullough, President and CEO of Church World Service

Nihad Awad, National Executive Director, Council on American-Islamic Relations

From time to time,  and like the Reverend McCullough, CAIR’s Nihad Awad seems to like being arrested on the Hill. Here he is in March of 2018 leading a protest, and, yes, Church World Service is there too. One trick ponies! https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2018/03/07/linda-sarsour-cairs-top-gun-nihad-awad-and-imam-suleiman-among-those-arrested-on-capitol-hill-this-week/

 

Frank Sharry, Founder and Executive Director, America’s Voice

Sarnata Reynolds, former counsel for the House Judiciary Committee


OTHER SPEAKERS:

Sami Muya, a Refugee from Somalia separated from family members by anti-refugee policies

Endnote:  I am so happy to have RRW back so history isn’t forgotten and images like those above can continue to be available for all to see.
You should take a minute and have a look at the church member congregations Church World Service is representing (see this post). Is your church among them?

Syracuse Letter Writer: Take Care of Americans First!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 1 Comment

Easily the first question anyone asks who is hearing for the first time that we have admitted to the US, at great taxpayer expense, hundreds of thousands of refugees over the last four decades is this:

Why aren’t we taking care of our own vulnerable people first?

The other day when I said that we need a grassroots group called ‘Migration Moratorium Now!’ I figure the subtitle would be something like this: ‘Take Care of Americans First!’

And, that is the gist of this letter, thanks to reader Joanne for sharing it, at Syracuse.com:

Syracuse is falling apart, and Mayor Walsh’s priority is refugees?

The writer, Paul Strail, is responding to a lengthy opinion piece written by the latest liberal mayor of Syracuse, Ben Walsh, with the help of Michael Melara executive director of Catholic Charities of Onondaga County.

Here is just a bit of Mr. Strail’s response to the mayor:

Mayor Ben Walsh establishing his bonafides as an Anti-Trump liberal.

The Post-Standard recently reported that Syracuse is still one of the poorest cities in the country. Nevertheless, Mayor Ben Walsh wrote in your paper that President Donald Trump was wrong to limit the number of refugees that the United States could allow (“Dear President Trump, Syracuse wants refugees,” Sept. 26, 2019).

This seems like a strange priority for Walsh to stake out, especially because his city is falling apart . At times, there seem to be homeless men and women panhandling on every street corner. Many of these folks are veterans.

[….]

The murder rate in Syracuse is too high. Academic achievement in the city schools is too low. So, when the mayor should be focused on meeting the many vital needs of his own city, he has to let everyone know that his real concern lies in preventing Trump from restricting the flow of foreign refugees into his city. How that misguided priority will help improve the crime rate, boost academic achievement in the schools, elevate the standard of living of the city’s poor and homeless, and give struggling homeowners some kind of tax relief, is anyone’s guess.

The truth is that Syracuse’s reputation as a sanctuary city must be maintained if Walsh hopes to win the support (and donations) of enough liberal Democrats in the next election. Loudly criticizing the president is the best way to do that. The suggestion that the president must hate refugees because he is an extraordinary bigot is the means by which Walsh is feeding red meat to Syracuse’s Trump-haters.

I dare not copy any more of it, please read Mr. Strail’s sensible analysis.

One thing that the refugees of Syracuse have done is to turn this Catholic Church into a mosque. Read about how the crosses were removed and how there was to be no media coverage of the conversion. https://www.syracuse.com/news/2015/08/from_church_to_mosque_syracuse_islamic_group_cuts_crosses_tries_to_connect_to_ne.html

One of the first things I would ask the mayor is this: Since Syracuse has ‘welcomed’ 10,000 refugees to the city over a recent ten year period, where is the proof that they have revitalized the city?

Indeed are they still there, or like the Bosnians who supposedly helped boost the economy of St. Louis have they moved out of a city run by progressive politicians?

Amazing how either people don’t read, or have very short memories.

In 2015 we reported on a story from the Atlantic about how Syracuse is falling into perpetual poverty as its poorer sections become poorer with the importation of already impoverished refugees!

I call this illogical argument—that refugees bring economic boom times to struggling cities—the big lie!

Refugee Industry Agitators Launch Social Media Campaign; 95,000 Refugees Each Year by Law!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 1 Comment

Today, while reading one more story about how the President is killing the US Refugee Admissions Program, it reminded me that I wanted to go back and have a look at the Refugee Council USA report where they list the many refugee offices that have closed in the last two years.

Longtime readers may remember that in the heyday of the Obama Administration the US State Department was working feverishly (and secretively) with its nine major contractors to find new locations to place refugees.  We wrote about it many times.

In fact, in June of 2018, Judicial Watch sued in an attempt to get the list of proposed Obama sites and the criteria used to choose them, see here.  I don’t know where the case stands, but will find out.

However, when I went to the Refugee Council USA site for their report on Trump-era office closures this morning, the report was blacked out.  WTH!  Readers were directed to a new initiative.

This is a good opportunity to hammer the point again—they never give up! 

The Open Borders pushers are always on the offense coming up with some new effort to show their supporters they are working hard to move the needle in their direction in support of mass migration.

Frankly, other than Trump, people who want to see restraint used in how much immigration America can sustain are almost always playing defense!

Anyway, here is their latest initiative which began yesterday.  For some strange reason they want their supporters to black out their social media accounts.  But, more importantly they are looking for support for the so-called GRACE ACT which seeks to set a minimum refugee number each year of 95,000!

Go here to see the GRACE ACT which would. among other things, set the minimum number of refugees to be admitted to the US each year at 95,000.

You are probably saying, that it won’t go anywhere and you would be right.

However, with each of these campaigns where they are on the offense and the media laps it up, they move the needle in their direction.

So why can’t we do that and demand a moratorium—zero admissions—until our whole US immigration system is revamped? 

We could (and it would help Trump!), but it would look extreme and heaven-forbid the immigration control groups running the show in Washington don’t want to look extreme, not ever!

How about a new group!  Something like Migration Moratorium NOW!