Category: What you can do

Republican Governor Sununu Tells Trump: New Hampshire Welcomes More Refugees

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 3 Comments

New Hampshire becomes the sixth state (that I know of) to tell the President that his/her state is all-in for more impoverished refugees.  You can bet the Open Borders agitators are joyful about another Republican governor (see Utah) telling the Prez that the state is open for more third worlders.

Most recently I told you about Virginia jumping on the bandwagon bringing the number to five at that point:  Pennsyvania, Washington, Oregon and Utah having expressed their desires earlier.  North Dakota Gov. Burgum’s response is frankly wishy-washy leaving us uncertain about where he stands.

I’m keeping a list of the governors who want to see refugees numbers increased in their states here at RRW in the right hand sidebar.

From US News:

Sununu Consents to Refugee Resettlement Following Exec Order

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu has consented to receiving refugees at the state level, in response to an executive order from President Donald Trump that requires consultation with states and municipalities about the settlement of refugees in specific areas.

Is that an America First! sign behind Republican Governor Chris Sununu? Hmmmm!

Trump issued the order in September saying the federal government should resettle refugees only in those jurisdictions in which both the state and local governments have consented to receive refugees.

Sununu, a Republican, said Friday his administration will work closely with area agencies to ensure that those who are resettled in New Hampshire have the chance to become “hardworking members of our local communities.”

New Hampshire municipalities can now opt-in to accept refugees.

Because there are no guidelines available yet (that I know of) on how the President’s September Executive Order is supposed to work, it isn’t clear how your community will opt-in or out!

But, as you saw in my post two days ago, 88 mayors are declaring they are in!

Other than to satisfy their Leftwing constituents, these governors don’t need to be making any public declarations until some guidelines come from Washington.

So, it is up to you to let them know that this embrace of more refugees is not a political freebie for them.  There is a political cost to their declaration.

 

 

Refugee Contractors Use Trump September Executive Order to Organize Nationally

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 1 Comment

And, guess what? You, who either don’t want to see any more refugees coming to America or at least want a say in who we are accepting and whether they are placed in your town, are screwed.

Sorry to sound vulgar, but it is true, because the other side is highly organized and you have no national voice helping to guide you on what to do locally to push back.

It is make or break time! You’ve got a few more weeks to get your message to your local mayors, city councils, and governors.

And, locally is where the refugee contractors are making their big move now  (in addition to suing the President over the September EO that supposedly will give states an opportunity to opt-out of resettlement).

I’m not naming names, but for those of you hoping a national immigration control organization located in Washington, DC (or anywhere in America) will focus on the refugee issue and tell you what to do, forget it!

You are on your own.

And, notice where the debate is!  It isn’t on the issue of whether we should be bringing tens of thousands (hundreds of thousands!) of refugees to the US annually from countries that hate us; it isn’t on whether the whole program is unconstitutional and needs to be dumped and rewritten (if we even want more refugees); it is on which of your towns will be changed forever and who gets to decide that!

Trump’s EO was far from perfect, but he is concerned about the secrecy that has heretofore been the watchword of refugee resettlement decision-making in America. The contractors, which have monopolized all resettlement in the US for decades, love calling the shots from Washington and are fighting tooth and nail not to lose that power.

The nine federal contractors*** and their friends throughout the Open Borders Industry are highly organized with an extensive grassroots network, so when Trump opened the door with his September Executive Order about local and state governments having some say in the decision-making process they have turned on their networks and their people have gone to work.

Indeed, they expect Trump to be gone so they can go back to business as usual of changing America one town at a time, their Executive Order pushback has become a key element in their strategy.

I’ve always hated the expression, but since Trump handed them a lemon they are making lemonade!

Here is the first of many examples, Mary Poole the refugee advocate who opened the door to a new resettlement office in Montana says it best.

From the Missoulian:

Missoula refugee resettlement agency wades through Trump order

Missoula is one of roughly 190 communities in the U.S. that resettle refugees. Only a handful of states don’t. So far none has banned further resettlement, and letters of support are reported from city councils in the likes of Decatur, Georgia; and Alexandria, Virginia.

In 2016 Mary Poole successfully pushed for the opening of an International Rescue Committee subcontractor office for Missoula.

Gary Herbert, Utah’s Republican governor, wrote Trump a letter requesting he “allow us to accept more international refugees in Utah.”

Democratic governors Jay Inslee of Washington and Kate Brown of Oregon have voiced support for resettlement, and on Tuesday Republican Gov. Doug Burgum, announced North Dakota would continue to receive refugees “as long as local governments agree to it,” the Grand Forks Herald reported.

Such responses underline what Soft Landing Missoula’s Mary Poole sees as a bright side to the executive order.

“While it makes an additional hurdle and roadblock, and it’s unfortunate, I think what we’re really going to see are people going to bat for (accepting refugees) in a way we haven’t seen before,” she said. “I’m pretty excited to see that visual representation nationwide to show how important this is.”

And so they are!

Their people are pushing local governments everywhere to shove it back at Trump and put in writing that they WANT MORE REFUGEES!

Some examples that have come across my desk in recent days:

In Holland, Michigan, here.

In Lancaster, PA, here.

In Oklahoma, here. (The Oklahoma story is particularly informative.)

In Nebraska, here.

And, in Tennessee the Tennessee Office of Refugees run by Catholic Charities has sent out an e-mail with contact information for TN mayors to make it easier for their anti-Trump EO supporters to weigh in:

Contact your local elected officials to let them know their constituents support refugee resettlement.

Chattanooga City Mayor
Andy Berke
(423) 643-7800
mayor@chattanooga.gov

Hamilton County Mayor
Jim Coppinger
(423) 209-6100
Email: hamiltontn.gov/Mayor/form.aspx

Knoxville City Mayor
Madeline Rogero
(865) 215-2040
mayor@knoxvilletn.gov

Knox County Mayor
Glenn Jacobs
(865) 215-2005
Email: knoxcounty.org/email/email_new.php?email_name=county.mayor

Memphis City Mayor
Jim Strickland
(901) 636-6000
mayor@memphistn.gov

Shelby County Mayor
Lee Harris
(901) 222-2000
officeofthemayor@shelbycountytn.gov

Nashville Metro Mayor
John Cooper
(615) 862-6000

 

You can be sure that information like that is going out in your state too!

Because you aren’t going to hear it from any organization giving you marching orders….

…. my message to you is get to your local government and speak up before they do—a big challenge because they have a huge head start on you!

Contact your governor too!

Even if you think that your voices won’t be heard, tell your local and state elected officials what you think anyway, otherwise they will assume that supporting the idea of more refugees for your town or city is a political freebie for them!

Oh, and if you want to make a big splash—challenge your local elected officials in the next election.  Even if you think you can’t win the first time out, your local media will be forced to report on your platform.

A very simple message to your elected officials is this: care for refugees where they live in the world, and let’s take care of poor and vulnerable Americans here first!

 

***The nine federal contractors listed below have dozens of subcontractors working under them around the country.  So although your local resettlement agency has a name not listed here, you can be sure they work for one of the nine major contractors.

They are all very Leftwing political organizations, but the most actively anti-Trump in recent months are in red. You might argue that the Bishops are very political and they are, but I’ve noticed that they are laying low these days (there are a large number of Catholic Trump supporters) and USCRI has been unusually quiet.

 

A Reader Asks: What Should We be Doing Now? Answer: Get the President Re-elected!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 4 Comments

Please give me specifics, she asked.

I’ve been noticing an increase in the number of readers who want more information on how they can actually fight back against a tide of, for lack of a better description, progressive political activity including election victories by the Open Borders Left intent on changing America by changing the people.

First and foremost remember they have been working away at their progressive agenda for years, for decades!  Community organizing is in their DNA!

They get up every day—day in, day out—planning their transformation of America into what they think will be a socialist/communist nirvana once they get enough people on their side.

Finding those people includes importing them legally or illegally in whatever way they can.

Conversely, you have been getting up every day going to work, spending time with the kids and grand kids, doing your duties and generally enjoying life.

We have a lot of catching up to do!

So here we sit in November 2019 and your most important goal, above all other goals, is to keep Donald J. Trump in the White House for four more years.  

I know, I know, he is an imperfect man, but he is all we have and you have only eleven months remaining to stop America’s slide into socialism!

Why do you think the impeachment hearings are on in the House of Representatives—the Leftists know that the only thing standing between them and their ultimate goal of a socialist country is a President Trump!

Therefore, if you have formed, or are planning to form a local citizens group, or re-energizing a local Tea Party group, anything and everything you can do to support the President is your top priority now.

If he wins in 2020, we get four more years of peace and prosperity, not to mention four more years to put some of our reforms in place (like dumping or reforming the US Refugee Admissions Program!).

If he loses, we are finished and I mean that!

Re-elect Trump!

I’m no expert, but here are some of the things I think you need to be doing in addition to re-electing the President:

Your next priority is to defeat the progressives who are running your local governments.

I know that is a tall order, but I’m telling you, mayors, city councils, state legislators, those are the offices the socialist Democrats are working to control.

You need to find good people to run against them.

Even if you can’t win yet, people who think like you must run in order to get your message out. Your local Leftwing media will be forced to report your ideas if candidates are presenting them.

And, if yours is a contested Congressional District, get involved and work to defeat the Democrat. You can see the damage being done to the country under the leadership of Nancy Pelosi.

Knowledge is power!  So you must have your facts!

***Update*** See my new category ‘Knowledge is Power’ by clicking here.

Of course you need to know about myriad issues, but it is my view that the most important issue of all time is immigration because once they change the people, there is no going back.

If I were running a local citizens group I would have a couple of people assigned to learning about all of the programs that admit immigrants and refugees to America—the refugee program that I write about all the time, Temporary Protected Status, DACA, the insane Diversity Visa Lottery.

Those experts can then share with your group what they learn which includes investigating those programs in your own state.  Find out who the players are on the Left and in your state government and when the time is right expose them.

As part of investigating, especially as it relates to the refugee program, you must find and infiltrate your local interfaith groups.  They are the primary promoters of the refugee program.

A reader told me that Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service’s new CEO was speaking next month to a local Interfaith group and what that says to me is that they are getting ready for a new push into new communities as they anticipate a post-Trump White House.

Frankly, you are going to have to designate someone (with acting skills!) to infiltrate their groups.

All of your research is important to educate your fellow citizens, but will be especially useful in the four more years you will be buying by getting Donald Trump back in the White House.

Bring in speakers!

(LOL! I am not talking about me, I’m not good at it!)

Bite the bullet and find the funds to bring in people knowledgeable about immigration issues, about socialism/communism, about Islamic fundamentalism, and about how to community organize!

Unfortunately the Left is rolling in money and they use it to spread their propaganda. It annoys me that conservatives are often so cheap and don’t spring for national level speakers to educate and energize local grassroots groups.

Send me an e-mail and I will name some national level educators for your group, but be prepared to pay them for their time and for the knowledge they have worked hard to acquire!

But, don’t let this happen:  A knowledgeable speaker comes in, attendees shake their heads about what they are learning, saying to themselves—‘it is awful’—and go away and do nothing!  Provide specific goals for the audience to follow before they leave the room!

There is nothing worse than for a handful of group organizers to hold meetings, do all the work, and everyone else walks away after the meeting and says ‘see you next month.’  (Tick-tock and then there is one less month until the 2020 elections!)

Give out assignments! And, you must meet more than once a month!

Network, network, network!

It is not enough to be simply a news junky who spends your day reading the news on the net (tweeting!) and feeling superior because you know more than your friends.

You absolutely must network with other like-minded groups and individuals in your state even if you have to hold your nose because you don’t like so-and-so who is involved with that group.  Get over it!  The stakes are too high for you to let petty differences hinder your work—the work to get Trump reelected in less than 12 months.

But, that said, I am not a fan of creating one large group.  It is too easy to take down. Create and encourage many small groups. It will confuse the opposition!  By the way, it is one of their tactics.  They don’t have that many activists, they just make it look like they do by spawning ever-more groups.

If you are sitting alone at your computer screen and reading this, find two more people and form a group, give it a name and get to work!

Communicate

You’ve done all that, you’ve gathered your facts, you have people planning to run for local offices, how do you get your message out?

That is a problem as the Left now controls most local newspapers (they have been working at that for more than a decade while you led your life).  If you plan events, demonstrations, conferences, they might publish your news.

And, occasionally they publish letters-to-the-editor, but don’t rely on your local paper to carry your message.

Find social media experts in your group and use any and all forms you can find.

I’m a big fan of setting up a blog or website to spread the message to your members and to gain new members in your community.  However, after my experience of RRW being silenced for a few months, I know it isn’t as easy any longer to set up blogs.

The advantage of a website or blog is that you can archive everything your team of investigators is learning.

I know you might be saying, but then the other side will know about us.  Yes, they will, but the downside of not publicizing your work is that you won’t find more people to join you!

If you are interested, send me an e-mail and I’ll send you the name of a professional who can help you get a site up.  But, again be prepared to spend a little money!

And, even if they might not publish your letters-to-the-editor, assign some people in your group to write them anyway.  If you are responding to the news or another opinion piece they have already published, you might get your letter in print.

This is getting too long, sorry!

Just remember!

Even as we gripe that the President isn’t doing this, or that, or LOL! saying things you wish he wouldn’t, he is all that is standing between us and a new America, filled with new Americans marching down the path toward a socialist/communist future for our once great country—a future that might only be 11 months away!

Trump’s Executive Order on Refugee Resettlement Won’t Stop Refugee Arrivals to Your State or Community

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 5 Comments

Editor’s note:  Concerned about growing assumptions that the recent Trump Executive Order will solve the problem of no local or state say about refugee admissions, a long-time observer of the program with legal expertise, David James, has explained for us that the EO does not do what it purports to do. 

Although grateful that the President has signaled his concern for a major flaw in the program, we must set the record straight.

For new readers, VOLAGs (short for Voluntary Agencies), is the refugee industry title by which the federal refugee contractors refer to themselves.

(Emphasis below is mine)

Decisions made by federal agencies and the VOLAGs (voluntary agencies) they pay, about where to place arriving refugees, along with secondary migration, have created Minneapolis’ “Little Mogadishu”, Nashville’s “Little Kurdistan” and Ft. Wayne’s “Little Burma” to name just a few of the refugee ethnocentric enclaves.

No executive order, including the President’s recent Executive Order on Enhancing State and Local Involvement in Refugee Resettlement (EO) can stop refugee migration, either initial or secondary, from changing the demographics of your town and/or state.

While the EO suggests that the federal government will not resettle refugees in communities unless both the state and local governments consent, that may not be what happens at the end of the day.

Putting secondary migration aside, Section 2(b) of the EO specifically preserves the authority of the three agencies which administer the refugee resettlement program (State, HHS and DHS), to override any non-consent to refugee placement by either the state and/or local government.

With the exception of the lowered cap of 18,000, the EO is more a restatement of consultation requirements with state and local governments which are already in statute and regulation. Not only is the concept of “consultation” nowhere defined, but the outcomes of any consultation are not binding on federal agency decisions on refugee placement. And the EO doesn’t make any non-consent binding either.

The U.S. Code sections referenced in the EO mean that non-consent for resettlement won’t stop family reunification or the participation by the VOLAG federal contractors in deciding where refugees are placed.

VOLAGs whose operations are almost wholly dependent on the flow of federal dollars, are paid for each refugee they resettle. As noted in a 2012 GAO report, local VOLAG “affiliate funding is based on the number of refugees they serve, so affiliates have an incentive to maintain or increase the number of refugees they resettle each year rather than allowing the number to decrease.”

Last fiscal year when the refugee admission cap was lowered to 30,000, the State Department managed to fund all nine national resettlement contractors. Admittedly, the lowered ceiling of 18,000 for FY20 may prove challenging for some in the resettlement contractor industry to remain viable.

However, as Ann Corcoran reminds us, the refugee cap has not included other categories of entrants such as the Special Immigrant Visa holders from Iraq and Afghanistan who receive the same access to public benefits, such as state Medicaid programs, as refugees. The same goes for any successful asylum petition.

And once on the ground, refugees can and do go anywhere they want, nullifying any state and local non-consent per the EO.

Seeing one more opportunity (the announcement of the EO) to take a whack at the President, PA Gov. Tom Wolf (D) says Pennsylvania welcomes refugees. Was there any consultation?  Did concerned citizens of PA get to weigh-in before the Governor shot off a letter? NO!  PA borders West Virginia (a state that gets few refugees). Anything to stop refugees from arriving in PA and immediately moving to WV? NO! https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/466091-pennsylvania-governor-tells-trump-his-state-will-keep-welcoming-refugees

Governors in Oregon and Pennsylvania have already issued consent to receive refugees and New Jersey’s governor has announced the state’s intention to get back into the resettlement program.

While some refugee arrivals may stay put at their initial resettlement site, for others, consenting states will be nothing more than ports of entry for movement to non-consenting states and local communities.

The EO does not directly address the status of states which previously withdrew from the  resettlement program for purposes of non-consent. It’s possible that this question will be answered by the “process” to be developed by the State Department and HHS as required by the EO.

States like Tennessee which withdrew from the refugee program over 10 years ago, have since had their state refugee program administered by an ORR (U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement) selected NGO which just happens to have its own federally contracted refugee resettlement program.

When the Refugee Act was passed in 1980, Congress authorized reimbursing states 100% for three full years of the state cost of providing Medicaid for each refugee brought to a state by a federal contractor. Sen. Ted Kennedy, the chief sponsor of the Refugee Act was pushing for four years of refugee support as opposed to the House proposed two years of support:

“[i]n my judgment, it is essential that we continue to receive the full support of State governments for our refugee programs; I believe that we would jeopardize that support and cooperation if we were to transfer the resettlement burden to the States after the refugees have been in this country for only 2 short years.”

The House and Senate subsequently agreed to three years of reimbursement to states.

Feds shift cost to the states

Five years into the program, due to cuts in federal spending for refugee assistance, ORR began to reduce the three years of authorized reimbursement to states and by 1991, eliminated it altogether. Three years later in 1994, the federal regulation permitting a state to withdraw from the program and be replaced by an ORR state replacement designee, was added.

Beginning in 1990, various federal reports have admitted to shifting costs associated with the refugee program to state and local governments. State governments continue to incur these costs, even after withdrawing from the federal refugee program because federal contractors are enabled by ORR to continue initial resettlement in these states.

It remains to be seen whether these ORR designated state replacements which operate independently of the state government, will also have authority to consent for the state per the consent process required by the EO.

Tennessee has sued the federal government because of its Constitutionally impermissible taking of state funds for the federal refugee program by virtue of the cost shifting. The admissions to shifting federal program costs to states stand in stark contrast to the claims of the federally funded and financially dependent contractors that the program is “100% paid for by the federal government.”

President Trump’s EO fails to address the multiple layers of dysfunction in the resettlement program and Constitutionally suspect policies. Nor is there any reason to think that Congress will find its way to straightening out the mess they helped to create and continue to foster.

 

Endnote: It is vitally important that you send this detailed analysis to everyone you know.  We can support this President while at the same time pointing out where he might be going wrong on an issue that many of us believe is paramount to putting America First!

Mark Krikorian at the Center for Immigration Studies addressed many of our concerns about the EO in his piece at National Review yesterday, see it here.

Sixteen Republican Representatives Tell President they Want More than 18,000 Refugees

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 10 Comments

The letter to the President was spearheaded by Michigan Rep. Bill Huizenga and was clearly written with the aid of refugee industry lobbyists*** because it contains the language I see everywhere coming out of places like the Refugee Council USA and the federal resettlement contractors who depend on federal dollars for their supposed charitable work.

Republican Rep Bill Huizenga’s letter is boilerplate refugee industry lingo!

Claiming they fear we aren’t protecting enough people experiencing religious persecution they list wholly Muslim countries like Somalia and Afghanistan whose nationals they say we must admit.

But, there is not one word about persecuted Christians, which might have made their appeal to the President understandable at least.

Any day now the President will decide if the number for FY2020 will be 18,000, see here.

Below is Huizenga’s press release and the letter in its entirety.

Is your Republican member of Congress pressing the President for MORE third worlders for your Congressional District?

Huizenga: The Trump Administration Should Reconsider its Position on Refugee Resettlement

On Friday, Congressman Bill Huizenga (MI-02) sent a letter, with 16 of his Republican colleagues, to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo regarding the need for the United States to continue to open its doors to refugees displaced by conflict and facing religious persecution. The letter is in response to the Trump Administration recently announcing its plan to reduce the number of refugees admitted to the United States to a record-low level of 18,000 people.

“America cannot lead from behind on the issue of religious persecution and refugee resettlement,” said Congressman Bill Huizenga. “West Michigan has a long standing tradition of opening its doors to those facing persecution as well as welcoming individuals who have been displaced because of armed conflict. Whether it is our faith-based institutions, non-profit organizations, or individuals within the community, West Michigan continues to set an example Washington could learn from. The Trump Administration should reconsider its position.”

The letter is available below.

Dear Secretary Pompeo:

Since our nation’s founding, the United States has served as a beacon of hope to those suffering from oppression and conflict across the globe. The Statute of Liberty perfectly encapsulates our outstretched hand, accepting the world’s huddled masses who yearn to be free. As the world continues to face an overwhelming refugee crisis, we respectfully urge you to uphold our nation’s commitment to assist individuals who have been displaced by violence and strife.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there are approximately 20 million refugees worldwide with more than 50 percent being children. Among those, roughly eight million refugees are from Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Additionally, another 37,000 people are forced to flee their homes every day due to conflict and persecution in their home countries.

Continued U.S. leadership is critical in addressing ongoing humanitarian crises caused by civil war and persecution and in assisting displaced persons. One area where America can lead is by creating and protecting de-escalation zones near war-torn countries and providing humanitarian assistance to people in need. We must also continue to accept and care for refugees here in America.

In our communities throughout the country, there is a long history of opening doors to assist refugees. Local leaders, faith groups, and businesses have come together to create an environment where refugees are welcomed and receive the services necessary to learn English, find employment, and become part of the fabric of their new communities.

As such, we urge you to maintain the United States’ longstanding commitment to assist refugees with a special focus on assisting individuals hailing from nations facing the worst conditions possible. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Representatives who signed the letter led by Ken Buck (CO) include: Fred Upton (MI), Susan W. Brooks (IN), John Curtis (UT), Scott Tipton (CO), Doug Lamborn (CO), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), Steve Stivers (OH), Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA), John Katko (NY), Dan Newhouse (WA), Rob Woodall (GA), Chris Stewart (UT), and Mario Diaz-Balart (FL).

In July, Congressman Huizenga spoke out against eliminating the refugee resettlement program when reports circulated that the Trump Administration was considering such a proposal.

If you live in the district of one of those members and disagree with their pressuring the President, you need to let your representative know.

When they sign letters like this they assume it is a freebie for them.  They will get brownie points from Open Borders Inc. and suffer no down side.

It is your job to be sure they know there is a downside.  You could write a letter to your local paper critical of their stance on refugees.  Be sure to attend town halls when they are home campaigning so you can ask them in public to defend their position on refugees.

Maybe ask them why you, the taxpayers, are paying for it all but have no say in where they will be placed, and most importantly ask why we aren’t taking care of our own vulnerable Americans first!

*** A final comment on the subject of lobbyists.  The refugee industry has lobbyists galore.  Not just the Refugee Council USA but every one of the nine contractors has either formal lobbyists (Catholic Bishops and Lutherans for example) and informal lobbyists who help identify soft touches on the refugee program.

Some one, or several, draft a letter like this, and it is the lobbyist working with their principle author, in this case Huzienga staffers, who run around Capitol Hill with the draft letter to get co-signers.  It might require reaching back to the district to get some influential church group, interfaith group, Chamber of Commerce types who then also call the member to encourage their support for the letter.

Those of us who want to see the US Refugee Admissions program slowed, reformed or dumped outright have no lobbyist on the Hill!