What is the population of Middle Eastern and North African immigrants in your state?

I was looking for something else, and I’ll post it when I find it, but the Migration Policy Institute, last fall, published this useful information on MENA immigrants in America.  Who knew that there was even a separate category for them.

Before you read on, just a reminder that the Migration Policy Institute is a pro-open-borders Leftie-funded (Soros et al) ‘think tank,’ (we wrote a lengthy post on them here in 2011), however, since the Left needs this data too (LOL! for voter outreach), I doubt they would mess with stats like these.

MPI says the top 5 states for MENAs are:  California, New York, Michigan, Texas and New Jersey.  It looks like Virginia and Florida are not far behind!

Migration Policy Institute:

Political unrest and violent conflict have displaced millions in Syria and other parts of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) since late 2010, generating significant international interest in immigrants and refugees from the region.

In the United States, the September 11, 2001 attacks and subsequent military intervention in Iraq in 2003 also drew heightened — and sometimes unwanted — attention to the highly diverse MENA immigrant populations in the country, many of whom are Muslim. Yet immigrants from the MENA region have a long history in the United States. As early as 1920, the country was home to at least 50,000 immigrants from the region, primarily from what was then Palestine and Syria, including present-day Lebanon. Their numbers have steadily grown over the past few decades, and in 2012, about 961,000 immigrants from the region resided in the United States, representing just above 2 percent of the nation’s 40.8 million immigrants.

Iraqis are the largest single-country immigrant population from this region, followed closely by Egyptians. The number of immigrants from Saudi Arabia and Yemen has also grown rapidly over the past decade.

[…..]

Compared to other immigrant groups, the foreign born from the MENA region are better educated and tend to have higher levels of English proficiency, but have comparatively lower rates of labor force participation.  [So, are they living off the US taxpayer?—ed]

There are lots of links to follow for more information, here are just two bullet points I followed.  If you have a feeling the speed of their arrival has increased, the answer is Yes!

Forty-five percent of foreign born from the MENA region in the United States arrived in 2000 or later.
In 2011, 45 percent of MENA foreign born had entered the country in 2000 or later, with 25 percent having arrived between 1990 and 1999, 15 percent between 1980 and 1989, and the remaining 16 percent prior to 1980.

MENA men and women don’t like to work!

Immigrant men and women from the MENA region were less likely to participate in the civilian labor force than were foreign-born men and women overall.
In 2011, foreign-born men ages 16 and older from the MENA region were less likely to participate in the civilian labor force (72 percent) than were all foreign-born men (78 percent). Foreign-born women from MENA countries were also less likely to participate in the labor force (42 percent) than were all immigrant women (57 percent).

Among men, Algerians (91 percent) and Sudanese (87 percent) had the highest labor force participation rates, while Iraqis (65 percent) and Saudis (23 percent) had the lowest labor force participation.

Consider that we resettled 19,491 Iraqis in the US in 2013, here, and are on target to admit a similar number this year, it sure looks like the US taxpayer is going to be supporting a large percentage of them.  And, by the way, who the heck are all those (rich?) Saudis getting into the US, and through what legal program?

We have a category here at RRW entitled, ‘where to find information’, and this post will be archived there.

NYT: “Asylum Fraud in Chinatown: Industry of Lies”

Can you believe that headline at the New York Times of all places!  Earlier this morning, we reported on the Wall Street Journal story about questionable asylum-seekers (Syrians), and now this!  Are we reaching a tipping point—when even the NEW YORK TIMES writes about asylum fraud?  Hat tip: ‘pungentpeppers.’

Just make it up!

Emphasis below is mine:

A Chinese woman walked into a law office in New York’s Chinatown and asked to see her lawyer. She had applied for asylum, claiming that she had been forced to get an abortion in China to comply with the country’s family-planning laws, and she was anxious about her coming interview with immigration officials.

She had good reason to be worried: Her claim, invented by her lawyer’s associates, was false.

But the lawyer, John Wang, told her to relax. The process, he said, was straightforward, and as long as she memorized a few details, everything would be fine. “You are making yourself nervous,” he said in Mandarin. “All you would be asked is the same few rubbish questions.”

“Just make it up,” the lawyer added.

The conversation, in December 2010, was secretly recorded by federal officials conducting a wide investigation of immigration fraud in New York’s Chinese population. The inquiry has led to the prosecution of at least 30 people — lawyers (including Mr. Wang), paralegals, interpreters and even an employee of a church, who is on trial, accused of coaching asylum applicants in basic tenets of Christianity to prop up their claims of religious persecution.  [Do-gooder-itis!—ed] All were charged with helping hundreds of Chinese immigrants apply for asylum using false tales of persecution.

The transcript of the conversation in Mr. Wang’s office, which was disclosed in a recent court filing, offered a rare look at the hidden side of the Chinese asylum industry in New York.

Professor Peter Kwong: To asylum-seekers, “it’s not an issue of right or wrong. It’s an issue about whether they can get it and their means to get it.”

To asylum-seekers it’s not an issue of right or wrong:

Though the prevalence of fraud is unknown, federal officials appear to regard the applicant pool in New York with considerable suspicion. In fiscal year 2013, asylum officers around the country granted 40 percent of all Chinese asylum requests, according to government data. In New York City, asylum officers approved only 15 percent.

Peter Kwong, a professor at the City University of New York and an expert on the Chinese population in New York, said it was an open secret in the Chinese community that most asylum applications were at least partly false, from fabricated narratives of persecution to counterfeit supporting documents and invented witness testimony.

To asylum-seekers, he said, “it’s not an issue of right or wrong. It’s an issue about whether they can get it and their means to get it.”

In my post on Syrians coming across the Mexican border, I mentioned an AP story that blames the backlog of cases in the immigration courts on the government shutdown (blame the Republicans), but here the NYT report says that the sheer volume of fraudulent cases is to blame.

The volume of petitions has clogged the federal bureaucratic machinery, overwhelming asylum officers and judges. The deputy director of the New York asylum office blamed fraud, in part, for the deluge, and said she had tripled her team of asylum officers to dig out of a two-year backlog of cases.

The schemes “wreaked havoc on the asylum system as a whole,” the official, Ashley B. Caudill-Mirillo, wrote in a letter to a federal judge in November.

Asylum fraud cuts across all immigrant groups (I still can’t believe this is the NYT reporting this!).

False asylum petitions are among the most common forms of immigration fraud, in part because they are difficult to detect, experts said. Since many claims are based on events that took place amid armed conflict or political turmoil, the narratives and supporting documents can be hard for the American authorities to verify.

And while the Chinese asylum pool has drawn increasing scrutiny in recent years, asylum fraud cuts across all immigrant groups, officials say, cropping up among populations from societies in turmoil such as Guineans seeking refuge from political upheaval, Afghans fleeing war, Russians looking for sanctuary from homophobia and Mexicans running from drug violence.

There is much more, so much more that I didn’t know where to stop excerpting!  Read it all.

From a post here at RRW last month:

Chinese make up the largest percentage of asylum seekers granted permission to stay in the US

Go to Table 6, page 6 of the Department of Homeland Securities 2012 Annual Flow Report.  Here are the stats for Chinese given refugee status (after arriving in the US on their own either illegally or as visa overstays).

2010:  6,693 Chinese granted asylum (31% of the total)

2011:  8,585 (34%)

2012:  10,151 (34%)

Remember!  Once granted asylum, the asylee is then able to access all of the welfare programs open to refugees who were brought in by the US State Department.  Fact sheet here.

HHS Office of Inspector General website hosts immigrant fraudsters most-wanted list

This is cool!  Have fun perusing the Department of Health and Human Services OIG website for immigrants who ripped-off the US taxpayer and fled.  Hat tip:  Creeping Sharia.  Many of the cases involve health care fraud which is surely going to get worse under Obamacare.

Here is a portion of just one of the profiles:

In January 2012, Yousef Kurdy was indicted on charges of health care fraud, aggravated identity theft, receipt of kickbacks for patient referrals, income tax evasion, aiding and abetting, and criminal forfeiture. Investigators believe that Kurdy fraudulently billed Medicare and Medi-Cal over $150,000.

[….]

In January 2012, an arrest warrant was issued for Kurdy, who indicated that he would self-surrender, but failed to show up for his initial court appearance. Consequently, he is considered a fugitive at large. Investigators believe that he may be residing in Syria.

LOL!  Watch the crook return with a new name as a Syrian refugee!

Immigrant-perpetrated fraud is a side interest here at RRW and with the help of a reader from Kentucky, you can now help spread the news about scams and frauds run by those we “welcomed” to America at a new facebook page:  Diversity’s Dark Side. ‘Like’ it here!

Are Afghan immigrants bringing their treatment of women to America?

‘Modesto man accused of holding wife captive appears in court’ is the title of news yesterday from the Modesto Bee, thanks again to reader ‘pungentpeppers’ for spotting it.

Hillary helping women in Afghanistan, how about the ones in America!

 A man accused of holding his wife captive for five months inside a Modesto home appeared in court Tuesday afternoon for the first time since his arrest Sunday.

Fnu [first name unknown–ed] Masehullah, 26, has been charged with false imprisonment and attempting to prevent a victim or witness from reporting a crime, both felonies, along with a misdemeanor count of battery on his spouse.

Authorities believe Mohammad Idrees, Masehullah’s brother, assisted in holding the woman captive, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday. Idrees is charged with felony false imprisonment and misdemeanor battery on his brother’s wife.

The couple is the product of an arranged marriage, authorities say, and the two appear to be from Afghanistan.

The complaint indicates the woman was held captive from Sept. 1 through Sunday, when Modesto police found her in north Modesto. Officers responded after a report of a fight between two people at the Marshalls store shopping center at McHenry and Standiford avenues.

The dispute was apparently between Masehullah’s wife and his brother. Authorities said the woman was found wearing a robe and a traditional Middle Eastern head covering.

There is more, including this line:

The judge also arranged to have a court-appointed Farsi interpreter appear with Masehullah in court next week to ensure he understands his rights and the judicial process.

It is just what we mentioned yesterday—local jurisdictions must pay for interpreters!

Are these creeps refugees?

Until we learn otherwise, let’s assume these Afghans got into the US as refugees or as asylum seekers.  Here are some numbers to consider.  I didn’t look for any of the Special Immigrant Visa numbers—-those are the refugees we let in who supposedly helped the US military in Afghanistan.

It is hard to find numbers in one place when the Office of Refugee Resettlement is 3 years behind the times in publishing its legally required Annual Report to Congress so these numbers are from several sources.  As of January 31st, the ORR owes Congress reports for fiscal years 2011, 2012, and 2013!

From 2001-2010 we admitted 10,459 Afghan refugees.   2010 Annual Report

2011:  428

2012: 449  (California got 105 of them that year)

2013:  661

We will keep an eye on the story and, as we learn more, we will let you know how these Muslim “brothers” happened to be adding to the ethnic diversity of America.

Filipinos lobby hard for ‘temporary’ refugee status

Meeting in NYC to plan strategy to lobby US State Department. DENNIS CLEMENTE/INQUIRER.net US Bureau

It just takes one big storm, like Typhoon Haiyan, to get the engines going in the open borders lobby to seek Temporary Protected Status for anyone from that country who happened to have a foot in the US door already—a legal or an illegal foot.

The problem with TPS is that the “temporary” refugees never go home!  How do you think we happen to have a couple hundred thousand Salvadorans here!   And, they are all waiting for Comprehensive Immigration Reform to become law!

After a two hour panel session on the topic in NYC, the ‘advocates’ for TPS designation for Filipinos set their sites on a letter writing campaign to Secretary of State John Kerry and Asst. Sec. of State for Population, Refugees and Migration Anne Richard.  They don’t seem to know that it is the Dept. of Homeland Security that makes the final call.

From Global Nation Inquirer:

NEW YORK—Getting Temporary Protected Status (TPS) granted for the Philippines now depends on a letter-writing campaign addressed to the US Secretary of State John Kerry or his assistant, Anne Richard, supporters concluded during a two-hour long panel discussion on Jan. 28 at the Philippine Consulate.

The Filipino American Legal Defense & Education Fund, Inc. (Faldef) is encouraging people to ask as many prominent individuals and organizations to sign letters that will be sent to the Secretary of State’s office.

Consul General Mariano de Leon and City Council member Dr. Eugene Matthieu called on Filipinos to work together and spread the word through Filipino-friendly messages about the need for TPS.

There is more, read it all!

Why does the Philippine government care so much?  Because they will reap the windfall as Filipinos working legally in America will send “home” millions in remittances.  

For more information, our archive on TPS is here.  And, check out the TPS website for the countries that have TPS now:  El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Syria.