Category: Where to find information

Refugees 101, and how about a complaint hotline

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is very cool, a sort of Refugees 101—a summary of  how the Refugee Resettlement Program is structured.   Taught by Barbara Day of the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, the seminar occurred as part of the Minnesota Refugee Health Conference, Nov. 5, 2008.  Hat tip: Mars.

I was particularly interested in the section that listed requirements that NGO contractors (the volags) must follow and especially what sorts of items the refugees are to be given upon arrival and shortly thereafter.  

Also, note that there is a requirement for the volags to coordinate with state and local governments.   Both of those areas are the subjects of complaints we hear or read about often.

It got me thinking, there should be a Hotline to PRM and to the Office of Refugee Resettlement for citizens to report abuse, fraud or other types of complaints regarding the resettlement of refugees in a community.    Hey maybe Obama’s folks, with the new emphasis on transparency, will get something like that going!

Is there a hotline already, does anyone know?

“Preferred communities” for refugee resettlement

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

People ask me all the time, how “THEY” decide which cities and towns will get refugees.  Well yesterday I got an announcement for a new round of grants (with lots more money) for the Office of Refugee Resettlements (ORR) “Preferred communities” program.   The ten top dog refugee resettlement agencies (volags) can vie for bigger bucks in the coming year if they are resettling refugees in desireable cities.

It annoys me so much whenever a news account laments that the volags get only $425 for each refugee they resettle.  I’ve been at this for going on two years and I still can’t figure out all the different funding programs available to these government contractors, and for that I apologize to readers who are also searching for answers.

Here is what ORR says of this program:

Preferred Communities are localities where refugees have excellent opportunities to achieve early employment and sustained economic independence without having to utilize public assistance. These localities also have low welfare utilization by refugees. The Preferred Communities Program also meets the needs of special populations through intensive case management.  [see below for what is a special population needing intensive management]

Now, before I list the cities don’t assume your city is off the hook if its not on the list, these are just the previous cities where the volags got extra federal funding.   Be assured the volags are plotting all the time to bring refugees to new cities and also know that some cities that are way overloaded with refugees, like Ft. Wayne, Indiana are still having refugees resettled by the hundreds.

Here are the “preferred communities” as determined by the federal government and the non-profit contractors.   Although I must say some of these cities are places we have reported are having lots of trouble finding jobs for refugees, so I don’t know how they became “preferred.”

Arizona: Phoenix and Tucson

Florida: Jacksonville and St. Augustine

California: Los Angeles and San Diego

Colorado: Denver

Georgia: Atlanta

Idaho: Boise, Treasure Valley, and Twin Falls

Illinois: Aurora, Chicago, and DuPage

Iowa: Des Moines

Kansas: Kansas City

Kentucky: Bowling Green

Maryland: Baltimore, Silver Spring, and Takoma Park

Massachusetts: West Springfield

Michigan: Dearborn and Grand Rapids

Minnesota: Minneapolis

Nebraska: Omaha

New Jersey: Camden

New Mexico: Albuquerque

New York: Albany, Buffalo, and Syracuse

North Carolina: New Bern and Raleigh

Ohio: Akron and Columbus

Pennsylvania: Erie, Lancaster, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh

South Dakota: Sioux Falls

Tennessee: Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Nashville

Texas: Abilene, Amarillo, Dallas, Ft. Worth, and Houston

Vermont: Barre and Colchester

Virginia: Richmond

Washington: Spokane

Wisconsin: Milwaukee

What is a special population:

Examples of special populations needing intensive case management may include, at a minimum, youth and young adults without parents or permanent guardians who have spent an unusually long period under refugee camp conditions; refugees experiencing social or psychological conditions including emotional trauma resulting from war; refugees who are HIV+; or other populations with physical disabilities or medical conditions identified and determined by BPRM and ORR as needing intensive case management. Culturally and linguistically appropriate linkages and coordination with other service providers is necessary to improve access to services and enhance the likelihood of their integration into new communities.

By the way, I didn’t see anywhere where the citizens of these cities had any say, or the local government for that matter.   Your state refugee offices are involved along with the feds and the PRIVATE resettlement contractors.

STATISTICS ARE COOL:    This site was down for sometime, but you can go there now (it’s a pdf file) and see stats for each state—how many refugees in recent years, how many are working and the grants the state received.  The State refugee coordinator contact information is available there too.

New Study: How immigration flows are effected by US economy

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The Migration Policy Institute has just released a report entitled: “Immigration and the Current Economic Crisis.”

Here is what ImmigrationProf blog has to say about it.  (I’m linking their news story because I wanted you to see this blog by immigration law professors anyway).

With the United States in an economic crisis that may already be the worst since the Great Depression, a report (Download lmi_recessionjan091.pdf ) issued today by the Migration Policy Institute finds that the recession may produce differing results for legal and illegal immigration flows. The report, Immigrants and the Current Economic Crisis, cites a growing body of evidence suggesting there has been a measurable slowdown in the historic growth of immigration in the United States, largely because there has been no significant growth in the unauthorized immigrant population since 2006.

“Legal and illegal immigration flows respond differently in an economic crisis,” said Migration Policy Institute President Demetrios Papademetriou, an author of the report. “Legal permanent immigration flows are the least responsive to economic pressures, while illegal immigration flows are the most responsive.” “Still, substantial return migration of unauthorized immigrants is unlikely unless there’s a protracted and severe worsening of the U.S. economy,” Papademetriou added. The report examines the effects of the economic crisis and factors such as immigration enforcement on the immigrant population already in the United States; predicts how future immigration flows may be affected; discusses how immigrants fare in the U.S. labor market during recessions; and offers possible policy prescriptions.

For us, the gist of what is being said here is that refugees and other legal immigrants will keep coming even when there are no jobs.   Guess that just means that Americans who are working will be paying for the legal refugees to live on welfare.

The illegal flow may slow or even reverse.

Having fun at USASpending.gov

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I know I mentioned this wonderful government resource some time back, but I don’t think it was completely finished at the time (I’m not sure its completely finished yet).  In any case there is lots more information available now and I can barely drag myself away from it—-it is so much fun!

I started by looking up some of the Top Ten Volags ( non-profit federal refugee resettlement contractors) to see what they got from the taxpayers in 2008.   I went to this page “assistance” (that means grants rather than contracts) and just filled in the name of the organization.  You will see you have all sorts of differant ways to look up how much money the federal government is giving away.

I found out that in 2008 the following members of the Top Ten got some Big Bucks:

Ethiopian Community Development Council   $5,531,290

Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society  $16,648,877

World Relief (Evangelical organization)  $18,745,431

Church World Service  $19,234,460

International Rescue Committee  $64,830,191

And the champion is!   Not able to find US Conference of Catholic Bishops I searched for Catholic Charities.

Catholic Charities  $85,402,886  

Call in the ACLU!

Then check out this page for how much the State Department sent last year to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees—almost a half a BILLION dollars.   Also, see that we supplied the special refugee agency that is funding generations of refugees in Gaza, UNRWA, $188,012,600 for 2008 alone!

And remember that Somali Center of Nashville that got in legal trouble awhile back over misappropriated federal grant monies, well they got another $150,000 in 2008.

A report on Iraq’s Internally Displaced people worth checking out

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) released a report this month on the situation in Iraq regarding its internally displaced people.  ‘Refugees’ are returning to their homes but often face problems when they do so.

IRAQ – Growing Numbers of Displaced Returning Home Continue to Face Basic Needs – Although there are growing numbers of internally displaced people (IDPs) returning to their homes within Iraq, many are coming back home to be faced again with basic needs including shelter, health care or water and sanitation.

In the latest IOM needs assessment of Iraq’s internally displaced people, the report highlights Baghdad as the main destination for returnees but that often people are going back to find their homes destroyed and key infrastructure in disrepair. Many homes need to be rebuilt and buildings, water pipes, electrical networks and basic public services such as health centres are cited as in need of repair and rehabilitation to meet the needs of returning IDPs or refugees.

Note that fears of sectarian violence, not US military action, is primarily responsible for the shifting population.  290,000 have returned home so far.

There are an estimated number 2.8 million IDPs in Iraq, of which 1.6 million have been displaced since February 2006 when the bombing of the Al-Askari mosque in Samarra triggered a new upsurge in violence. A further 2.4 million Iraqis are refugees, living predominantly in Iraq’s neighbouring countries. Since 2006, IOM has identified more than 290,000 people who were internally displaced or who left Iraq as refugees as having returned to their homes.

When you look at the IOM report note that the largest majority were displaced from Baghdad (63.9%).  Then these numbers I found surprising.  A smaller percentage of the population, the Sunnis, controlled Iraq under Saddam.  So, I was under the impression from news reports that the Shia majority was now getting even and causing Sunni displacement, but these numbers show the opposite story.   Displacement breaks down as follows:

Arab Shia Muslim 57.7 %

Arab Sunni Muslim 30.7%

Kurd Sunni Muslim 3.7%

Assyrian Christian 2.8%

Chaldean Christian 1.7%

As Judy reported on many occasions, the Iraqi government must get on the ball and make the transition home as easy as possible.  It will be a key to Iraq’s future.  Right now US NGO’s are happy to drain Iraq of its best and brightest by airlifting them to the US to compete with increasingly out of work US workers!