Australia deal: Dumb then, dumb now, and will be dumber still in October

07/22/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Does anyone other than me find it ironic that Australia has gone ballistic (as they should) over one of their upstanding citizens being shot to death in Minneapolis by a Somali police officer (former refugee), yet the Australian government wants to send us even more Somali ‘refugees’ that they have themselves rejected?

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton fully expects Trump to take their rejected boat people in the new fiscal year. You gotta see what Dutton says about illiterate ‘refugees’ here: http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/671501/Minister-migrants-illiterate-Peter-Dutton-Immigration-Minister-australia

As I have been trying to hammer-home to readers, don’t get bogged down in the legal minutia regarding the 120-day moratorium and the back and forth between the rogue Hawaiian judge (on behalf of refugee contractors and their ilk) and the Supreme Court (that has gone way beyond its constitutional authority on refugees).

What is important is what President Donald Trump DETERMINES in September is the right number and the right ethnic groups to ‘welcome’ to the US in fiscal year 2018 (begins October 1, 2017).

By law, in September, the President sends his ‘determination’ for FY18 to The Hill for CONSULTATION.

If this year is like the previous 35 years, Congress will rubber stamp what the President sends (except LOL! they won’t rubber stamp zero!).

See below that the Australian government is now counting on a return to normal for the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program(USRAP) for October. They fully expect Trump to continue with the “dumb deal” Obama made in the waning weeks of his presidency and put these Australian rejects in his determination letter and report to Congress.

We expect the President to stick with his campaign promises and get this monster under control. This Executive Order mess isn’t what we had in mind when we voted for Donald Trump, and he can’t possibly think this short (chaotic) hiatus will solve any longstanding problems with the USRAP.

From AP at ABC News:

Australia disappointed by delay in US refugee resettlement

I have to laugh! In the first paragraph we are reminded by AP that these are Australia’s rejects!

AP at ABC News (emphasis is mine):

MANUS ISLAND DETENTION CENTRE: If Donald Trump goes through with the “dumb deal” these men from mostly Muslim countries will be placed (without your knowledge) in a town near you just to save the political neck of the present Australian government.

Australia was disappointed that hundreds of its rejected refugees would not begin resettling in the United States this month under a deal that predates President Donald Trump’s administration, an official said on Friday.

President Barack Obama’s administration agreed to accept up to 1,250 refugees among hundreds of asylum seekers — mostly from Iran, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka*** — who have been languishing for up to four years in immigration camps on the impoverished Pacific island nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru.

Immigration and Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton said Australia wanted the refugees to start moving in July, but the United States had already filled its 50,000 refugee quota for the current fiscal year.

“We’re disappointed that they haven’t been able to move this month, which was my hope, but their new program year starts on Oct. 1, and we’re working with both the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that we can get people off as quickly as possible,” Dutton told reporters.

[….]

Dutton said he was determined to close the men-only camp on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea by the end of October. [Men-only camp for up four years! And they will be free to roam in Your Town, USA!—ed]

Asylum seekers on Manus who were rejected by the United States would be transferred to Nauru, who will remain open indefinitely.

Rarely mentioned is the fact that 1,900 illegal aliens have been awarded a settlement which amounts to about $35,000 per head.

Australia last month reached a settlement of 90 million Australian dollars ($68 million) with more than 1,900 asylum seekers who sued over their treatment on Manus.

More here.

See my growing archive on the ‘Australia deal’ by clicking here. If you haven’t done it, or even if you have, write to the White House and tell the President what he should do with the US Refugee Admissions Program in FY18.

***See here where we were told that most of the wannabe US citizens housed in detention on Manus and Nauru are from Somali, Afghanistan and Sudan.

Don't get too bogged down in legal wrangling on refugees….

07/19/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

…..in September the rubber meets the road!
I haven’t the time or energy tonight to sort out the latest details of what the Supreme Court did today and I’m not losing sleep over it. I’ll have updates tomorrow after I make an early run to the airport.

What happens to your towns and cities is up to Tillerson and Trump in the remaining weeks of the fiscal year, not the Supreme Court!

But, what I want to leave you with tonight is this….
Donald Trump’s State Department (with orders from the White House) can slow-walk refugee admissions for the next 2 months and 12 days.
After all, the Supreme Court has already gone way beyond its Constitutional authority and literally written a whole new program for admitting refugee relatives past the 50,000 CEILING, so Trump can just ignore them. He is within the law!
DHS can very carefully (VERY carefully) examine each potential refugee through the remainder of the fiscal year which ends September 30th.
So don’t get bogged down in minutia that ends with the fiscal year (when the EO ends), begin now to look at FY2018.
In September, the White House sends its ‘determination’ to Congress for CONSULTATION. The determination that is being crafted at this very minute (with the contractors’*** help) will say how many refugees and from what parts of the world we will admit them.
You need to hammer the White House and your member of Congress and US Senators about what you think—NOW! If you think it should be zero (or whatever), say so!

In September we will know if Donald Trump and Congress have any intention of reforming the monstrosity that the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program has become.
***Federal contractors/middlemen/lobbyists/community organizers paid by you to place refugees in your towns and cities. At this minute they are sending ‘abstracts’ to Washington which are their personal wish lists and plans for who will be ‘welcomed’ to your towns.
Because their income is largely dependent on taxpayer dollars based on the number of refugees admitted to the US, the only way for real reform of how the US admits refugees is to remove the contractors from the process. I have ideas on how to do that, but no one in Congress every asks!

Hawaiian rogue judge has until Tuesday to respond to Trump SCOTUS motion

07/15/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Justice Clarence Thomas: “compromise will invite a flood of litigation….”

Oh, was Justice Clarence Thomas right—what a hash has been made in the courts as the fight goes on to define “bona fide relationship.”
Are you as sick of this as I am? Go here to read my previous post on the judge in Hawaii (the state that only “welcomes” a tiny number of refugees) who thinks he has the legal right to write refugee law (just as the Supreme Court did as well!).
This just an hour ago from Reuters:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court has asked the State of Hawaii to respond by Tuesday at noon to President Donald Trump’s motion to block a judge’s ruling that prevented his travel ban from being applied to grandparents of U.S. citizens and refugees already being processed by resettlement agencies, the court’s public information office said on Saturday.

In a court filing on Friday, the administration asked the justices to overturn Thursday’s decision by a U.S. district judge in Hawaii, which limited the scope of the administration’s temporary ban on refugees and travelers from six Muslim-majority countries.

Don’t get too hung up on the grandparents part of this, the important point for followers of RRW is the question of whether a federal refugee contractor*** is a “bona fide entity.”
See all of my previous posts on the really really dumb thing the Supreme Court did in the first place in my category: Supreme Court.
***Federal contractors/middlemen/lobbyists/community organizers paid by you to place refugees in your towns and cities. Because their income is largely dependent on taxpayer dollars based on the number of refugees admitted to the US, the only way for real reform of how the US admits refugees is to remove the contractors from the process.

Hetfield of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society thinks Hawaiian judge just opened floodgates

07/14/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update: By the end of the day we are now over the President’s ceiling by 194, and I think it would only be fair if HIAS set up an office in Hawaii and resettle all of those over the ceiling in that state! After all, Hawaii isn’t getting its fair share—only 3 so far in FY17.
I really don’t mean to turn RRW in to HIAS Watch***, but it is Mark Hetfield, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society’s well paid CEO who is setting himself up as the leading spokesman for the refugee industry.
Here (below) is his statement on the decision by the Hawaiian rogue judge.

Hetfield gets an award: https://www.hias.org/blog/adl-hebrew-union-college-honor-hias-work-behalf-refugees

If the Trump administration allows one judge in Hawaii to prevail, after deciding all by himself, what a “bona fide relationship” is, we might as well call it quits and go to the beach (for life!).

There is no legal standard because the Supreme Court literally made it up on the fly!

Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society:

SILVER SPRING, Md.—On Thursday, July 13, U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson issued an important ruling in Hawaii halting the implementation of portions of the Trump administration’s executive order banning refugees and travelers from six Muslim-majority countries.

As a result of this ruling, refugees with assurances from U.S.-based resettlement agencies are now officially considered to have “bona fide” relationships with a U.S. entity, as defined by the Supreme Court. The Trump administration had previously interpreted the Supreme Court order to mean that refugees with such ties would not be permitted entry on that basis alone.

In his decision, Judge Watson wrote that “an assurance from a United States resettlement agency, in fact, meets each of the Supreme Court’s touchstones,” and that “bona fide does not get any more bona fide than that.”

Additionally, the Court expanded the administration’s overly narrow interpretation of which close family ties would qualify to be exempted from the refugee ban, which had originally excluded even grandparents and grandchildren.

HIAS President and CEO Mark Hetfield said, “This is a common-sense ruling which correctly interprets what the Supreme Court explicitly wrote. Critically, thousands of refugees escaping precarious and dangerous situations should now have the chance to find the safety promised to them in this country.”

More here.

Rep. Keith Ellison was the ‘draw’ at NY anti-Trump rally sponsored by HIAS.

Remember readers, this is all about their “compensation,” about money (taxpayer money!) for each refugee they place in your towns. It is about their office overhead, their staff salaries, their travel budgets, and their ability to put on anti-Trump rallies like this one.
***This gives me an idea. Readers are always asking me what they can do. Here is something: Start a “watch” for each of the nine contractors. Pick your favorite from the list below and write your own blog! If I can do it, so can you!
If you decide to choose HIAS we have a huge archive on them here (a good place to start!).
Federal contractors/middlemen/lobbyists/community organizers paid by you to place refugees in your towns and cities. Because their income is largely dependent on taxpayer dollars based on the number of refugees admitted to the US, the only way for real reform of how the US admits refugees is to remove the contractors from the process.

Hawaii: Rogue judge once again rules for the Imam, attempts to thwart Trump on refugees

07/14/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This latest was predicted and reported here by Michael Leahy at Breitbart two days ago.
Update: Here is Leahy’s (Breitbart) take on this latest legal mess the Supreme Court is responsible for creating!

Judge Derrick Watson took advantage of the mess the Supreme Court made in its recent ruling (as Justice Thomas predicted) to once again attempt to stop President Trump from carrying out a simple 120-day moratorium on refugee resettlement in order to analyze the program and determine whether security screening is sufficient.
The Supreme Court literally unconstitutionally legislated when it created a way to go around a Presidentially-determined ceiling as defined by over 3 decades of refugee law and said refugees with a “bona fide relationship” to a family member or to an “entity” could come in over the 50,000 ceiling reached yesterday (here).
BTW, today we have now exceeded the 50,000 ceiling by 168. We are at 50,168 this morning.

Before I give you Politico’s version of the judge’s decision in Hawaii yesterday, let me be clear!

The US State Department under Sec. of State Rex Tillerson must ignore this decision!

(They should have ignored this rogue judge’s earlier decision as well! You should write to the White House and tell Trump to stand against this runaway judiciary!)
One Hawaiian judge deciding for one Imam (and the refugee-rejecting state of Hawaii!) should not be the one to define “bona fide” a wholly new legal term and a new construct for resettlement thanks to the overzealous SCOTUS. Where the hell is Congress, btw? Writing law is their job!
Here is Politico:

A federal judge in Hawaii ordered the Trump administration on Thursday to allow grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles and other relatives of people in the U.S. to circumvent the travel ban policy, dealing a temporary blow to one of the president’s signature initiatives.

In an order issued Thursday evening local time in Honolulu, Judge Derrick Watson also prohibited the administration from blocking refugees with a commitment from a resettlement agency in the U.S., a move that could revive the flow of refugee admissions this year.

Along with the State of Hawaii, Imam Ismail Elshikh is a plaintiff in the case (again). In case you missed it, Hawaii is at the bottom of the list of states resettling refugees having only ‘welcomed’ 3 this entire fiscal year so far.

The decision was a victory for opponents of the travel ban, who hoped to broaden the universe of people who could bypass the president’s policy, which temporarily bars travelers from six majority-Muslim nations and suspends the refugee resettlement program.

The Supreme Court issued an order on June 26 that allowed the embattled measure to go into effect, but included the caveat that affected travelers with “bona fide” ties to a person or entity in the U.S. should not be subject to the ban.

[….]

In the realm of refugee resettlement, the administration stood by the contention that a connection to a resettlement agency alone would not meet the criteria to avoid the ban.

[….]

The federal judge added that a refugee with a commitment from a resettlement agency met the standard for a “bona fide” relationship spelled out in the Supreme Court order.

[….]

“It is formal, it is a documented contract, it is binding, it triggers responsibilities and obligations, including compensation, it is issued specific to an individual refugee only when that refugee has been approved for entry by the Department of Homeland Security, and it is issued in the ordinary course, and historically has been for decades,” he wrote. [Don’t let the refugee contractors*** fool you, here we have it, this is about their compensation by you, the American taxpayer!–ed]

“Bona fide does not get any more bona fide than that.”

[….]

On Twitter, an attorney for the plaintiffs, the state of Hawaii and a local imam, celebrated the momentary legal win, which could be met with appeals by the federal government.

Appeals! The Administration better simply ignore this single judge and the Imam!

This post is filed in my ‘Supreme Court’ category, click here for other stories on the hash the Supreme Court has made of refugee law.
***Federal contractors/middlemen/lobbyists/community organizers paid by you to place refugees in your towns and cities. Because their income is largely dependent on taxpayer dollars based on the number of refugees admitted to the US, the only way for real reform of how the US admits refugees is to remove the contractors from the process.