Category: Where to find information

Montana Mayor Apologizes for Signing onto Appeal for 95,000 Refugees for 2020

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 1 Comment

I guess he got an earful from Montana citizens!

You can see Mayor Kelly’s apology on Facebook, along with many comments here: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1599690420155315&id=321698611287842

In case you are wondering, Mayor Bob Kelly didn’t send a letter to the US State Department in response to the President’s reform effort that we have been writing about almost daily, but had earlier joined a list (apparently still growing) of elected officials across 46 states which were demanding that the President admit 95,000 refugees in FY2020 before he actually set the ceiling at 18,000.

[Don’t forget, Democrat candidates for President are saying they want over 100,000. Biden says 125,000 and Warren says 175,000.  Bernie is vague but does say he wants at least 50,000 climate refugees alone in his mix.]

However it seems that the list that I published here last September, which at the time had 361 officials requesting 95,000 refugees, is making the rounds and I saw it again a couple of days ago with 400 listed!

See Welcome Refugees!

 

Look around and see what jumps out at you.

There is no contact information to indicate who is behind the effort.  I presume it is the nine federal refugee contractors or its lobbying arm—the Refugee Council USA—but no where is there any information that would guide elected officials when making a decision to sign on.

Even before I saw Mayor Kelly’s mea culpa I wondered who would be so irresponsible to sign this letter without any information on who is pushing it?

As I did in September, I am publishing the whole list below as a useful guide (in case it disappears) in helping you decide who to work to remove from office!

By the way, in 2017 there was much talk about China (yes, the country of China!) opening a meatpacking plant in Montana, but I have no idea if that played at all into the mayor’s thinking when he signed onto the letter in support of more refugees (more low-skilled laborers).

Here is the headline from the Great Falls Tribune:

Mayor apologizes after signing letter to Trump in support of refugees

Great Falls Mayor Bob Kelly apologized Wednesday for a letter he signed last year asking President Donald Trump to support an increase in the number of refugees allowed to settle in the United States.

While Kelly said that he remains deeply concerned about displaced people in the world, including 25 million refugees, he apologized for using the mayor’s office to support the cause.

“I realize, however, that as mayor of our community, it may not be a concern you share,” Kelly wrote to residents in a post on his mayor’s Facebook page. “By implying your inclusion in my concern, I misrepresented you. For that, I am sorry. As mayor of our wonderful community, I try very hard to navigate only toward local issues or state issues that affect local communities. The national issues that currently divide us deserve little, if any role in our decision-making process at the local level.”

Here we are, just what I wanted to know.  The federal refugee contractors are behind the effort to ‘out’ supporters of more refugees for your towns and cities.

Soft Landing Missoula, which assists refugees in resettling in the western Montana community, asked Kelly to support the national effort.

Soft Landing is a subcontractor of the International Rescue Committee.

Located in Missoula, Soft Landing is 165 miles from Great Falls which means that they have aspirations for expansion beyond their Missoula home base.

More here.

See my rather extensive Montana archive for more on what has been happening there on the contentious issue of refugees.

Did your elected officials sign on?

Go here and see that they (whoever they are!) say they plan to continue to update the list and reissue it as one more bit of news presumably with which to bash the President in advance of the 2020 Presidential contest.

LOL! Wait a few days, refresh the list,  and see if Mayor Kelly’s name is removed.

You might want to compare lists, see the list I published in September. Is your elected official a newbie to the list?

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Montana
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Oklahoma
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Utah
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Vermont
Anne Watson, Mayor, Montpelier
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Ali Dieng, City Councilor, Burlington
Meaghan Emery, City Council Vice Chair, South Burlington
Maxine Grad, State Representative, Moretown
Jack Hanson, City Councilor, Burlington
Debbie Ingram, State Senator, Williston
Kristine Lott, Mayor, Winooski
Karen Paul, City Councilor, Burlington
Franklin Paulino, City Councilor, Burlington
Ann Pugh, State Representative, Montpelier
Helen Riehle, City Council Chair, South Burlington
Lisa Ryan, Alderwoman, Rutland
Robin Scheu, State Representative, Middlebury
Joan Shannon, City Councilor, Burlington
Michael Sirotkin, State Senator, South Burlington
Michael Yantachka, State Representative, Charlotte
Maida F. Townsend, State Representative, South Burlington
Theresa Wood, State Representative, Waterbury
Michael Yantachka, State Representative, Charlotte
David Zuckerman, Lt. Governor, Montpelier

Virginia
Justin Wilson, Mayor, Alexandria
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Mark Levine, State Delegate, Alexandria
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Dave Marsden, State Senator, Burke
Scott Surovell, State Senator, Mt. Vernon

Washington
Jay Inslee, Governor, Olympia
April Barker, City Council Member, Bellingham
Breean Beggs, City Councilmember, Spokane
Reuven Carlyle, State Senator, Seattle
Jeannie Darneille, State Senator, Tacoma
Mona Das, State Senator, Auburn
Todd Donovan, County Councilmember, Bellingham
Jake Fey, State Representative, Tacoma
Joe Fitzgibbon, State Representative, West Seattle
David Frockt, State Senator, Seattle
M. Lorena González, City Councilmember, Seattle
Mia Gregerson, State Representative, SeaTac
Bob Hasegawa, State Senator, Seattle
Sam Hunt, State Senator, Olympia
Monica Jurado Stonier, State Representative, Vancouver
Karen Keiser, State Senator, Des Moines
Jeanne Kohl-Welles, King County Councilmember, Seattle
Patty Kuderer, State Senator, Olympia
Mary Leavitt, State Representative, University Place
Debra Lekanoff, State Representative, Bellingham
Michael Lilliquist, City Council Member, Bellingham
Kelli Linville, Mayor, Bellingham
Liz Lovelett, State Senator, Anacortes
John McCoy, State Senator, Tulalip
Gerry Pollet, State Representative, Seattle
Chris Roberts, City Councilmember, Shoreline
Christine Rolfes, State Senator, Bainbridge Island
Cindy Ryu, State Representative, Seattle
Rebecca Saldana, State Senator, Seattle
Sharon Tomiko Santos, State Representative, Seattle
Lillian Ortiz-Self, State Representative, Mukilteo
Tana Senn, State Representative, Mercer Island
Derek Stanford, State Senator, Bothell
Hannah Stone, City Council Member/At-Large Representative, Bellingham
Gael Tarleton, State Representative, Seattle
Javier Valdez, State Representative, Seattle
Pinky Vargas, City Council Member, Bellingham
Amy Walen, State Representative, Kirkland

Wisconsin
Carousel Andrea Bayrd, County Commissioner, Dane County

Wyoming
Charles Pelkey, State Representative, Laramie

 

 

Some Counties Still Debating Refugee Consent even as Court has Blocked Trump Reform

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Every morning I scan dozens of refugee stories and am seeing that some counties are still debating and voting to support refugee placement in their counties even as the US State Department says it has stopped seeking consent due to the success of Church World Service, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society in finding a friendly court to enjoin the President’s reform initiative.

(In Minnesota the contractors sent out letters to counties to say they could stop debating the issue, and I assume that is going on elsewhere as well.)

Florida Governor DeSantis was one of a handful of Republican governors who did not say whether he was for or against more refugees for 2020 before the refugee contractors succeeded in halting the President’s reform plan.

Any governors who had not yet said yea or nay are keeping their powder dry—especially the Republican governors of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

I was surprised to see how few counties and states got their letters into the State Department prior to the Maryland court enjoining the whole process on January 15th.

Presumably the administration is working on a legal response, but in the meantime the US Refugee Admissions Program will continue to run as it has been for decades with the nine contractors*** pretty much calling the shots with the help of deep staters in the US State Department and the Office of Refugee Resettlement (in HHS).

Of course at least for now the number of refugees coming in has been greatly reduced (will have numbers on Saturday).  And, whatever happens going forward the exercise was useful for flushing out governors and city and county elected officials who are eager to admit more impoverished people to America for you to take care of with your tax dollars.

Below is what the DOS is telling visitors to their website on the Executive Order:

Remember the consent period as described in the ‘funding guidance’ would only have been in effect from June through September so that timetable must surely be seriously impaired now.

Executive Order 13888 on Enhancing State and Local Involvement in Refugee Resettlement provides that refugees may be resettled only in U.S. jurisdictions where both the state and local governments have provided their consent. Close cooperation with state and local governments ensures that refugees are resettled in communities that are eager and equipped to support their successful integration into American society.

The requirements of Executive Order 13888 are incorporated into the annual notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for resettlement agencies that wish to participate in the initial resettlement of refugees in the United States. The NOFO directs resettlement agencies to seek written consents for that fiscal year from the state governor’s office and the chief executive officer of the local government (county or county equivalent) for each state and locality where the resettlement agencies propose to resettle refugees. Currently, this NOFO is closed due to a January 15, 2020 preliminary injunction issued by the U.S. District Court in HIAS v. Trump, PJM 19-3346.

Executive Order 13888 provides that the Secretary of State shall publicly release any written consent of states and localities to the resettlement of refugees. The following is a list of such written consents that the Department of State had received and processed as of January 13, 2020. Currently, the Department of State is not processing or publishing such consents due to a January 15, 2020 preliminary injunction issued by the U.S. District Court in HIAS v. Trump, PJM 19-3346.

Now go here and see the consent letters that had been processed before January 15.

 

*** 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.

Church World Service one of the ‘religious charities’ responsible for changing America by changing the people with a ‘Christian message.’

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 try to post this information once a day, or at least every few days!)

 

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.

 

Impeachment Leader Rep Zoe Lofgren Longtime Proponent of More Refugees for America

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
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.

From the Leahy/Lofgren November press statement:

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 endorsed by a wide range of refugee, asylum, immigration, and faith-based organizations. A short outline of the bill can be found here, 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.

Don’t miss the endorsement list for the Leahy/Lofgren bill. See that Church World Service (above) is on it, as is CAIR. https://www.leahy.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Organizations%20Endorsing%20the%20Refugee%20Protection%20Act%20Of%202019.pdf

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.

 

Texas Catholic Bishops Blast Governor; Once Again NO Mention that Bishops are Paid to do their Christian Charity

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

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 Bishops are 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.

From Radio NB:

‘Discouraging And Disheartening’: All Texas Catholic Bishops Denounce Governor’s Decision To Reject New Refugees

https://txcatholic.org/bishops/

(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.

More here.

This is why they are so upset!  From USA Spending posted 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 Muslims blasted 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.

 

 

 

Delaware Must Do its Fair Share! Send Refugees to Joe Biden’s Neighborhood!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

As I have reported often over the years, then Senator Joe Biden was one of the chief sponsors*** of Senator Ted Kennedy’s Refugee Act of 1980 that among other things created a tax-payer funded gravy train for federal refugee contractors masquerading as charities.

Hypocrisy alert!

Delaware Governor John Carney (left) with good ol’ Joe Biden and Senator Chris Coons—hypocrites all!

However, old Uncle Joe has never put his money where his mouth is and Delaware has received only a tiny fraction of the impoverished refugees in need of support from local taxpayers over the last nearly 4 decades.

All that could change now as Delaware governor John Carney is begging the feds for (more!) refugees and the states largest and most populous county, New Castle County, said YES weeks before the governor did.

Here is what Carney told the US State Department in a letter dated December 10, 2019:

Our country has historically been a refuge of safe harbor for those fleeing war~torn countries, violence, and political persecution. We should continue to stand as a beacon of hope and freedom for people around the world. In that spirit, as Delawareans, we are proud to do our part, and continue to accept the resettlement of refugees.

They have no shame!  Do their part?

Heck, they can have Texas share this year!

According to the US State Department data base at the Refugee Processing Center, Delaware has only ‘welcomed’ 171 refugees since the beginning of fiscal year 2003. (Data before 2003 is not easy to access.)

Well it is a small state you say!

It is twice the size of Rhode Island which took in 3,122 poor third worlders in the same time period.

Now it’s time for Delaware to put up or shut up!

Presidential candidate Joe Biden says he will up the number of refugees to be admitted to the US to 125,000 in his first year in office—that is a number way above anything the Obama Administration admitted.  He announced his immigration goals here in December:

Biden wants to stop the Trump administration’s separation of migrant children from parents, end extended detention and reverse restrictions on travel from several predominantly Muslim countries, according to his campaign. At the same time, Biden wants to create a pathway to citizenship for about 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., expand access to work visas in areas of economic need and boost the annual U.S. refugee admissions cap to 125,000 from the current 18,000, among other provisions in the plan.

It should be clear to all America Firsters that Trump must get four more years.

 

*** These were the Senate co-sponsors in 1979 that deserve the blame for creating this dysfunctional UN-driven refugee program.

Sen. Javits, Jacob K. [R-NY]
Sen. McGovern, George [D-SD]
Sen. Randolph, Jennings [D-WV]
Sen. Pell, Claiborne [D-RI]
Sen. Ribicoff, Abraham A. [D-CT]
Sen. Moynihan, Daniel Patrick [D-NY]
Sen. Williams, Harrison A., Jr. [D-NJ]
Sen. Riegle, Donald W., Jr. [D-MI]
Sen. Sarbanes, Paul S. [D-MD]
Sen. Hatfield, Mark O. [R-OR]
Sen. Tsongas, Paul E. [D-MA]
Sen. Biden, Joseph R., Jr. [D-DE]