A Tennessee judge this week moved to dismiss a case that would have, we believe, once and for all, settled the issue of whether the federal government can place refugees in a state and expect state taxpayers to pay for many of their needs. So sad. I had such high hopes for AG Sessions. He of all people should have known how significant this case is.
But, as you read the story, remember that the Judge was dismissing the case because the US Justice Department (Jeff Sessions) asked for the case to be dismissed.
We told you back in Maythat DOJ lawyers were pushing for dismissal. I find it stunning that AG Jeff Sessions did not see the significance of this Tenth Amendment case for, not just the refugee resettlement program, but for other programs where the feds dump financial responsibility on states that don’t want it! (And, don’t tell me he might not have known what his lawyers were doing!).
Here is Neil Munro writing atBreitbarton Tuesday:
A March 19 federal court decision requiring taxpayers in Tennessee to fund the federal government’s refugee program ignores a 2012 Supreme Court decision, says Richard Thompson, president of the Thomas More Law Center.
The judge’s 43-page decision on the refugee program “is filled with appealable issues,” Thompson told a Tuesday event hosted by the Center for Immigration Studies. “Our view is that we should appeal it” at no cost to state taxpayers, said Roberts, who is the lead pro-bono lawyer in the case.
“We would relish that … this case could very well end up in the Supreme Court,” he said.
A Supreme Court majority ruled in 2012 that the federal government cannot force states to fund federal programs, so “the judge basically backed off because it was too controversial and ruled on the basis of standing,” Thompson added.
The case is important for many states because the federal refugee program forces state taxpayers and governments to fund most of the welfare, aid, and education costs of federal government’s policy of dropping refugees and their children in the states, he said. If states balk at paying the costs, the federal government can threaten to cut their share of federal funding for the Medicare program, he said.
In Tennessee, the federal Medicare program funds one-fifth of the state budget, or $7 billion per year.
[….]
The judge did not hold a hearing on the case but relied on written statements from the plaintiffs and defendants.
The judge’s decision shows the political power of the federal program, said Mark Krikorian, director of the center. “A state can check out of the refugee program, but it can never leave,” he said.
More here.
As I understand it, it is now up to the state of Tennessee to decide to take theThomas More Law Centers‘ offer to appeal the case, free of charge. (Or, will big industry—meatpackers!—prevail on the pols to drop the whole thing so their steady supply of cheap refugee labor continues to flow into the state.)
Ten years ago they hid the fact that those poor third worlders coming in to the US as refugees were providing a steady supply of cheap labor for big business, now they are admitting it right up front and trashing Trump because he has cut their supply. Do you humanitarians out there really understand that the US Refugee Admissions Program is first and foremost for the pleasure of the Chamber of Commerce and businesses large and small which want to keep wages low? Why do you think the Republicans in Congress have made no serious move to reform the program?
And, secondly it is about giant ‘non-profits’ like Samaritas(formerly Lutheran Social Services Michigan) keeping their government funding flowing.
By the way Samaritas is a made-up word and why they dropped “Lutheran” is a mystery. (It is like HIAS dropping the “Hebrew” from its name!)
As I said here recently, if we have a labor shortage, let’s debate that, but then shut up about this being all about saving the downtrodden of the worldand trying to silence those of us questioning the business model (cheap immigrant labor brought to the US and supported with welfare by THE TAXPAYERS!).
One of the things I’ve wondered for years is: do the refugees coming in understand that low wage, often very dirty and difficult, jobs await them?
The wailing has become deafening as the refugee flow to America has slowed in the last year.
Here is Crain’s Detroit Businesswith this headline:
Refugee clampdown hits local nonprofits
The subheadline should be: Businesses aren’t getting their steady supply of taxpayer-supported laborers!
Here is a bit of the story:
Nonprofit services to help refugees fleeing war or persecution resettle in Southeast Michigan are a shell of what they were a year ago.
Local resettlement agencies have laid off much of their staffs and closed offices, following revenue decreases tied to a federal clampdown that has significantly reduced the number of refugees coming to the U.S., especially those from Middle Eastern and African countries that have been the mainstay of local resettlement efforts in recent years. [Revenue decreases because they are paid on a per refugee head basis!—ed]
We need immigrant laborers in Michigan (to heck if we change America by changing the people)! Picture kind of reminds one of picking cotton (just saying!). Steve Tobocman, executive director of Global Detroit, a proponent of immigration as an economic development strategy. http://www.modeldmedia.com/features/tobocman060610.aspx
Crain’s goes on….
The slowdown in acceptance of refugees and increased vetting was ordered by the Trump administration over concerns about security. It has had an impact on not just nonprofits but also employers who were relying on resettled refugees as a source of labor, local nonprofits say.
Similar cuts have played out at similar agencies in other parts of the country, said Steve Tobocman, executive director of Global Detroit, a proponent of immigration as an economic development strategy.
“Ultimately, the current state of affairs impacts the services agencies can offer to integrate new refugees,” given the loss of economies of scale that come with larger resettlement numbers, Tobocman said.
[….]
To continue providing services to refugees already here, resettlement agencies are seeking alternative funding such as grants from private funders.
And some are looking to local churches and community groups for help.
It is about time, why haven’t they been doing this (above)? Why? Because taxpayer funding was readily available, so why bother trying to raise private charity—that is hard work! Crain’scontinues…. Vickie Thompson-Sandy, president of Samaritas makes over a quarter of a $million annually, according to a recent Form 990. Will she give up some of her salary to care for refugees who are down and out now?
“When we’re closing offices in Ann Arbor, where does a refugee go? They can no longer stop by our office to get basic support,” said Vickie Thompson-Sandy, president of Samaritas, a Detroit-based social services agency that counts refugee resettlement among its services.
[….]
Some local companies are feeling the squeeze in their workforces.
Local manufacturing and retail employers that relied on new refugees as employees are calling the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants Detroit on a weekly basis, said Tawfik Alazem, director of its Dearborn office. [USCRI is another of the nine federal contractors*** the US State Department hires to place refugees in your towns and cities.—ed]
Among them is Reino Linen Service, a company that launders and returns about 50 million pounds of linens to area hospitals, health clinics and doctors’ offices each year.
The company’s location in Brownstown Township, where public transportation is an issue, leads to high employee turnover, said Mary Onifer, a corporate human resources specialist for the company. [Truly a sweat shop says one commenter, here.—ed]
Reino has turned to organizations like USCRI Detroit for the past nine years to engage refugees as employees.
Once again we see federal refugee agencies are contractors (head hunters!) for businesses while they collect federal dollars for their supposed good works!
There is much more here, I’ve only snipped a tiny bit.
Don’t cry for Samaritas!
Now just to show you how Samaritas (a subcontractor of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service) is rolling in taxpayer bucks, and the head honchos are pulling down huge salaries, here are a couple of screenshots from a recent Form 990. Here is there income page—$30 million from taxpayers!
And here check out these huge salaries! Yikes! Ms. Thompson-Sandy’s salary isn’t even the largest! Doing well by doing good!
See more on Michigan by clicking here.
***The nine federal contractors you fund are here:
The number in parenthesis is the percentage of their income paid by you (the taxpayer) to place the refugees, line them up with jobs, and get them signed up for their services! From most recent accounting, here.
In some ways I almost don’t want to report on the latest from LeoHohmann.com because I don’t want more Americans who stand up for America and Western Civilization to live in fear of our own government, but you need to be forewarned! Hohmann’s chilling piece is about our friend Brenda Arthur in Charleston, WV entitled:
Deep state attacks: Gov’t ‘Fusion Centers’ spying on patriots concerned about Islam
Brenda Arthur testifies on refugee resettlement Feb. 22, 2017, before the West Virginia House of Delegates Homeland Security Committee in Charleston. West Virginia.
Below is some of the story, but please read the whole thing. I’m just setting the stage with the following snips:
Brenda Arthur received an unexpected visit on March 8 that, one week later, leaves her feeling more than a little uneasy.
At her door that day was an officer with the West Virginia State Police. He wanted to know about her involvement in a Freedom of Information request regarding a local mosque.
Arthur, who will turn 67 this summer, serves as leader of the West Virginia chapter of ACT For America, whose mission is to educate Americans about the advancement of Islamic principles in Western societies.
Islamic Association of WV was expanding presumably to accommodate Syrian refugees the local ‘Interfaith’ community was pushing to resettle prior to the election of Donald Trump.
As a Jewish American, she was concerned about a major expansion of the Islamic Association of West Virginia in her hometown of South Charleston. This mosque has hosted an openly anti-Semitic preacher in the past, and so she went to city hall in late January to have a look at its construction permits and site plans, something that is within the right of every American citizen under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act and state open-records laws.
She had no idea that this perfectly legal activity, performed every day by citizen watchdogs across the U.S., would prompt a visit from the state police.
[….]
Workman’s [the officer who came to Arthur’s door] unit is part of the West Virginia Intelligence Exchange, a secretive outfit that works closely with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s “intelligence fusion center” in West Virginia.
All 50 states have at least one DHS fusion center, and the story of Brenda Arthur lends credence to the views of civil libertarians that these centers, whatever their stated purpose, have been weaponized against law-abiding American citizens.
Do not talk to them!
Whitehead [John, founder of the Charlottesville, Va.-based Rutherford Institute] has strict advice for any law-abiding citizen who is approached by law enforcement asking questions about their personal activities.
“If they come to your door, do not talk to them. If they call you on the phone, do not talk to them.”
Whitehead said the intimidation tactics used by fusion centers are similar to the East German Stasi and other secret-police agencies.
“They’re copying the tactics of former totalitarian regimes and the slightest mistake can get you in trouble,” he said.
Hohmann continues, please read it allso you know how to handle the situation should it happen to you. It is going to get harder before it gets better, so please hang in there all of you!
You might not have Brenda’s bravery (or that of Johnson in my previous post), but there are so many things you can do to save America and save Western Civilization—find your niche and work at it every day!
Read more about Arthur by clicking on my Charleston, WV archive here.
Don Barnett lays it out (what Donald Trump could do virtually overnight) in theWashington Timeson Tuesday.
First some of the background:
When the Obama administration raised the refugee admission quota for fiscal 2017 to 110,000, New Jersey, Maine, Kansas and Texas formally withdrew from the resettlement program.
Actually, this is a program states can never leave. A Clinton-era regulation prevents states from meaningfully withdrawing from the federal refugee resettlement program. If history is any guide, those states that left the program are getting more refugees now than they would have had they stayed in the program.
Yucking it up! Ted and Bill—two of the main reasons you have refugees secretly placed in your states against the will of most of the voting public.
The only reason it is not evident is because the national quota for 2018 was lowered by the Trump administration to 45,000; the fiscal year will likely end with a number even smaller than that.
Reform the law while President Trump is in power, or else!
By law the president can zero out the quota altogether and a new president could increase it to 200,000 or higher. Before that happens, it may be wise to look at reforming the program.
First step!
At least one reform would fit in with the president’s goal of putting the federal government back into its proper constitutional role vis a vis the states.
The Refugee Act intended to insulate states from program costs. The bill’s Senate sponsor, Edward Kennedy, noted the program would “assure full and adequate federal support for refugee resettlement programs by authorizing permanent funding for state, local and volunteer agency projects.”
Unlike other legal immigrants, refugees are eligible for all federal welfare programs on the same basis as citizens upon arrival. (This is a lifetime entitlement for refugees who become citizens.)
[….]
Substantial costs have been purposely shifted to state taxpayers over the years.
[….]
Likely in response to rumblings from state governments about exiting the program, the Clinton administration promulgated regulation 45 CFR 400.301 in 1994 allowing resettlement contractors to continue operations in a state regardless of state objections. This arrangement allowed private contractors to operate independently with no input from state government. Regulatory fiat guaranteed that a state could never get out of the program or escape its fiscal impact on state revenues.
Prior to 45 CFR 400.301 the states were participating in and paying for a voluntary program from which they had every right to withdraw at any time with the expectation that no refugees would be resettled in the state.
Repeal it Donald! Repeal it!
Repeal of 45 CFR 400.301 would have the immediate effect of allowing states to withdraw from the U.S. refugee resettlement program.
It is the Tenth Amendment stupid! (Off topic, but don’t you think it’s riot that the state of California is pushing back against the US Justice Department on immigration using the States’ Rights provision of the Constitution!)
Barnett wraps up…..
Regulations can be repealed and they can be reissued. A judicial decision on the Tennessee lawsuit’s principle question on just how far the federal government can impose on a state’s control over its own resources is still needed and extends beyond the refugee resettlement program.
More here.
Come on DOJ, get moving on the Tennessee lawsuit, surely AG Sessions knows how significant this case is!
And, then as I intone on a regular basis—Where is Congress? The original Refugee Act of 1980 must be dumped and rewritten (if the voters want a rewrite). And, the window is open now while Trump is in office!
Forget the ‘humanitarian’ mumbo-jumbo…. I suspect it is the Republican leadership driven by the Chamber of Commerce and giant corporations that keep the law from ever being seriously reviewed by Congress. Looking for something to do? Contact the White House and tell the President that federal regulation 45 CFR 400.301 violates the Tenth Amendment and you want him to dump it. Tell him also to get moving with long term reform to the Refugee Act of 1980 that set up the present system of paying (on a per head basis) NGO contractors to place refugees in your towns without notice or discussion.
Saying they deserve a place in a “civilized” country, Home Affairs Secretary, Peter Dutton, said the Australian government is looking for ways using humanitarian/refugee avenues to move some of the hardworking South African whites out of the increasingly violent racist ‘Rainbow’ Nation—South Africa.
If you are new to the story, see my previous post hereabout a petition(19,000 have signed so far) to bring some to the United States.
From The Guardian:
Australia considers fast-track visas for white South African farmers
White South African farmers “deserve special attention” from Australia due to the “horrific circumstances” of land seizures and violence, Peter Dutton has said.
The home affairs minister told the Daily Telegraph on Wednesday his department was examining a range of methods to fast-track their path to Australia on humanitarian or other visa programs.
South Africa’s new president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is pursuing a policy of appropriating farm lands without compensation for redistribution to black South Africans.
Free speech! South African style….
The policy has led to reports, including in the Australian media, that white farmers are being murdered at a rate of more than one per week.
“If you look at the footage and read the stories, you hear the accounts, it’s a horrific circumstance they face,” Dutton said.
The home affairs minister noted Australia has refugee, humanitarian and other visa programs which have the “potential to help some of these people”. He said he had asked his department to look at the options “because from what I have seen they do need help from a civilised country like ours”.
“The people we’re talking about want to work hard, they want to contribute to a country like Australia,” Dutton said.
“We want people who want to come here, abide by our laws, integrate into our society, work hard, not lead a life on welfare. And I think these people deserve special attention and we’re certainly applying that special attention now.” [They definitely do not want those Muslim illegal aliens that the Trump Administration is taking off Australia’s hands, however.—-ed]
More here.
I have many posts on South Africa over the years about how the Marxist country has become increasingly xenophobic and racist with South African blacks working toward a nation for only their own people. Click here for my South Africa archive.
It is astounding to me that we take hundreds of black Africans—mostly Somalis—as refugees from South Africa, but not the whites.
That may change as a movement is growing to pressure the Trump Administration to include white South Africans in the 19,000 refugees we are expected to take from the continent this fiscal year. Did you know that refugee contractor Church World Service is working with the UN and the US State Department in Johannesburg to move Africans of all stripes that South Africa doesn’t want (so far not the white ones!) to Your Town, USA? I wonder if whites are showing up there to apply for refugee status?
