Neil Munro writing atBreitbartyesterday confirms what we know, the refugee industry does not want local citizens to have a say when their towns and cities are chosen by federal resettlement contractors and approved by the US State Department as new homes for impoverished third worlders.
Remember that when Obama left office in 2016 his State Department and the resettlement contractors (Volags) were busy identifying nearly 50 new sites in which to expand their efforts to change America by changing the people.
In fact they had produced a guide that could be used by local open borders activists (without public input) to identify and put in place the necessary amenities that could then be submitted in an application to the State Department for approval of the town or city.
If Biden/Harris are installed in the White House look for them to be dusting off a plan to secretively identify new sites.
Below is a bit of what Munro said yesterday, but please read the whole thing.
FromBreitbart (thanks to several readers who sent it my way):
Foreign Refugee Managers: Keep Americans in the Dark
Nearly all managers in taxpayer-funded, refugee-delivery organizations say the public should have no say about the delivery of unskilled refugees into Americans’ neighborhoods, job markets, and schools, says a survey by refugee groups.
The 61-page surveywas released December 8 by the Refugee Council USA [That is the lobbying arm for the refugee industry in Washington, DC–ed] and the Center for Migration Studies, as the refugee groups cheered Joe Biden for his campaign-trail promise to dramatically expand the flow of low-wage refugees into Americans’ workplaces.
The number Biden is promising is 125,000 in the first year. See my post yesterday.
Just 15 percent of managers in refugee agencies, and just 14 percent of refugee officials in state governments, said that “neighborhood associations” should be “given a voice in the Refugee Resettlement process,” according to a chart on page 27 of the survey.
Once warned, many neighborhood groups protest against the delivery of refugees by the groups, which are dubbed VOLAGs because the official government term is a “Voluntary Agency.”
Most VOLAG respondents also argued that the federal government should not give a voice to Americans’ local governments:
Fifty-eight percent of survey respondents believe that the federal government should consult with state and local officials about resettlement but should not be required to obtain their consent before refugees are resettled. Smaller percentages believed that state and local officials should neither be consulted nor required to consent (19 percent).
Bartlett is standing in front of a map of refugee resettlement sites across the country. It is a map you cannot find anymore. Likewise as we reported recently it is no longer possible to get real time refugee arrival numbers or to learn where they were dropped off upon arrival.
Former Director of refugee admissions at the State Department, Lawrence Bartlett, the author of the introductory letter (below) to the New Site Development Guide had been pushed aside in the early Trump years, but by 2018 he was backat Population, Refugees and Migration.
I assume he is still there, but even if he isn’t, you can be sure that his deep state pals are all in place and ready to push forward if Biden succeeds in stealing the Presidency.
So we soon could be back to where we were in 2016 BT (Before Trump), having to fight in our own communities through grassroots skirmishes against Washington and its fake non-profit resettlement contractors.
And don’t expect help from Congress where the Republican chickens who rule the roost are provided their chicken scratch by massive global corporations always on the hunt for cheap migrant labor.
Don’t think for a minute that you, citizens and taxpayers, are “stakeholders!” You do not have a say!
For new readers these are the nine fake non-profits that will be making the primary decisions about how your town or city will be changed. From page 6 of the New Site Guide:
“The United States’ posture toward immigrants, asylees, and refugees during the Trump administration has damaged our nation’s security. Much of this damage is from xenophobic rhetoric….”
“Restoring and strengthening the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) is critical for our national security.”
“Congress is going to have to work quickly to provide the budget and necessary funds to process 125,000 people.”
(Elizabeth Neumann speaking about herreportRobust Refugee Programs Aid National Security)
From the time he came down the escalator, I have been a Trump supporter and continue to this day, but from the beginning of his term in the White House I thought one of his great failings was to not fully understand how staff appointments are everything in Washington.
When I saw some great people who were completely loyal to Trump never even getting an interview in those early days because he had clearly turned over the staffing job to a bunch of Washington, DC Republican insiders, I figured he was in trouble.
A few tough knowledgeable conservatives in the various key agencies could have gone to work sniffing out those Republicanpretenders who would go on for years undermining his Presidency.
One of those is Elizabeth Neumann at the Department of Homeland Security who claims she supported Trump at the outset in 2016, but eventually went on to join the political rats—Republicans who promoted the demented Joe Biden, who Neumann now believes will keep America safer by admitting hundreds of thousands of refugees over the next four years (if he makes it to the White House).
See her pre-election anti-Trump ad claiming that Trump is a racist and encourages white nationalism:
NEW AD: Elizabeth Neumann – the former Assistant Secretary for Threat Prevention in Trump's DHS – says that the U.S. is "less safe today" because of Trump's actions.
In 2016 she supported Trump but based on what she saw inside his administration, she's voting for Joe Biden. pic.twitter.com/ZjoDpVJBCR
— Republican Voters Against Trumpism (@RVAT2020) August 26, 2020
The former DHS muckety-muck’s pedigree is hereat wikipedia:
Restoring US refugee program will require substantial funds, commitment from Biden
This is what they do! They write glossy ‘robust’ reports and hold press events around them in order for the lapdog media to disseminate their propaganda.
Neumann and her ilk, without proof, claim that by admitting large numbers of refugees to the US we are somehow strengthened as a country and that the rest of the world is looking up to us and that somehow we get brownie points for being such nice people.
Yeh, maybe the nice people in the world think we are nice, but a large chunk of the world thinks we are chumps for being so foolish as to invite poverty, disease and potential terrorists to spread out among the population of middle America.
Ever notice that China NEVER invites refugees to dilute their Chinese culture and society.
And, in all the years I have been following the issue of refugee resettlement I have never seen a concerted campaign (any campaign!) by the UN and its ‘humanitarian’ gangsters to go after China for not inviting the world to live there.
Is China weaker because they are unwelcoming?
Here is Newmann spouting pablum:
“Restoring and strengthening the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) is critical for our national security. The United States has a storied history as a global leader and beacon of hope in providing refuge to individuals fleeing persecution. Our moral and humanitarian leadership in welcoming refugees sets an example and encourages other countries to do so as well. It is time to reaffirm the long-standing principle that admitting refugees to the United States is in our national interest. Admitting refugees has not only a foreign policy benefit but an economic one*** as well. Together these benefits strengthen our national security,” the report says.
***Economic benefits accrue to globalist corporations who want to hire cheap labor and who probably paid for this report to be written.
Here is a story I haven’t had time to mention, but see that internally the Open Borders pushers, including Ali Noorani (National Immigration Forum), are squabbling already.
I’ve written two posts in recent days that could just as easily have been posted here at Refugee Resettlement Watch. I don’t know how much overlap there is between readers here and my other blog Frauds, Crooks and Criminals, so I thought I should link them here as well.
Some reader comments of late have led me to believe that I might have readers who don’t know that I write at two blogs throughout the week.
If you don’t follow ‘Frauds and Crooks’ here are a few recent posts you might want to see:
And an updated (with the help of readers) post that should be of interest to anyone about news aggregator sites now that the Drudge Reporthas switched sides.
At the end of that post I said this about sending comments to either RRW or Frauds & Crooks.
On Comments!
I do see all of your comments since I have to approve them. They are not automatically posted because you wouldn’t believe the crap that would get through if I didn’t review them. Sometimes I don’t get to them for a day or so, so don’t be discouraged if you haven’t seen yours posted immediately.
For new readers, I am a blogger, not a group. I have no staff, I regularly write two blogs, RRW and Frauds, Crooks and Criminals, and I have a life!
It is impossible for me to get to all of your e-mails, so if you really want to send me something that you want to make sure I see, send it as a comment to a post. You can preface the comment with “NOT FOR PUBLICATION.” I will see the message within a day that way and it won’t be posted.
“Tragically, in the last four years, we have seen this program become politically divisive and a lightning rod for no good reason, except for scoring political points.”
(Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of LIRS)
And, one of their planned new (?) tactics is to tell more refugee stories for media consumption! Hire more communications personnel! Tell more stories!
When I began writing this blog in 2007, that was one of the things that fired me up!
Every time you turned around there were emotional tear-jerking stories in local and national media about how a struggling refugee came to be in America and how great life was now that he/she lived in some American multi-culti slum!
I called the stories, ‘refugees see first snow’ stories when what I wanted was real reporting on the pros and cons of placing refugees in unsuspecting communities.
My refugee alerts these days are filled with articles like this one from Sojourners(a ‘religious’ Left publication):
UNDER A NEW ADMINISTRATION, CAN REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT BE DE-POLITICIZED?
On Nov. 12, at a virtual event celebrating the 40th anniversary of Jesuit Refugee Service, President-elect Joe Biden doubled down on his promise to increase presidential determination for annual refugee admissions to 125,000. That pledge marks a big increase from the record low of 15,000 refugee admissions President Donald Trump had set for the 2021 fiscal year.
[….]
Forty years later [Refugee Act signed into law in 1980 by Jimmy Carter.—ed], the all-time low numbers of refugees resettled in the United States is concerning. But, according to refugee resettlement experts, that number is a symptom of a larger, more alarming problem: Refugee resettlement has become a partisan issue.
You know why it has only in recent years become a hot potato issue? For 30 of the last 40 years no one had any understanding of what the hell these contractors had been doing. I like to think I helped educate the public about the refugee industry!
“Tragically, in the last four years, we have seen this program become politically divisive and a lightning rod for no good reason, except for scoring political points,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS). “… My hope is that we can have a serious discussion that could help insulate the program from the political whims of a future executive branch that would once again seek to use refugees as a political cudgel.”
Watch for it! This is what they want—a refugee floor—so that no future President could dramatically reduce the number of refugees because those refugees represent the contractors’ income. Fewer refugees means less money for their coffers.
“Part of the discussion we need to have in the coming months and years ahead is how do we create a more predictable and bipartisan system that potentially sets a refugee floor, in addition to allowing the president to establish a ceiling,” said Vignarajah, who came to the U.S. with her family as a refugee in the late ’70s.
[….]
LIRS CEO Krish O’Mara Vignarajah previously worked for Michelle Obama, so can we really expect “depolitizing” of the refugee issue?
Along with the eight other organizations that contract with the State Department to resettle refugees in communities across the country, LIRS is taking steps to make bipartisan support of refugee resettlement a reality, in part, by doubling its communications staff in an effort to dispel myths around resettlement.
Think about this! Your tax dollars pay for big salaries so they can tell their “stories” to the media!
“We’re in the business of storytelling so people understand who a refugee is, and why they pick up with the limited belongings they have and come halfway across the world,” Vignarajah said. “In this kind of environment, we need to do a better job of communicating who we are and what we do and who refugees are.”
According to Naomi Steinberg, vice president of policy and advocacy at Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), the conversation around refugee resettlement has become “toxified” over the past four years.
[….]
Among their requests of the incoming Biden administration:
Inform Congress of their intent to welcome 125,000 refugees and deliver a report to Congress that makes a case for increased appropriations for refugee resettlement.
Set the presidential determination with slots allocated according to regional needs, which allows the resettlement effort greater flexibility in meeting refugees’ needs.
Invite experts at the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security into the larger discussion on refugees.
Appoint a senior-level White House coordinator for refugee resettlement.
Immediately signal to the United Nations the intent to resume United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees referrals domestically and internationally so that they can devise a process quickly and efficiently.
It’s been awhile since I checked the income and salaries of the story tellers at LIRS.
Here is a page from the most recent Form 990 I could find (2018). Under Trump they are 87% federally funded (down about $10 million in federal grants since a top Obama year).
To listen to them whine you would think Trump made them find PRIVATE charitable money.
And here is the same page for 2015 (under Obama they were 95% federally funded):
Now have a look at the salaries.
But, first here is a headline of apost I wrote in February 2018. There has never been any adequate explanation for Hartke’s sudden departure.
Lutherans announce departure of CEO Hartke amid claims of financial irregularities, poor management
Former CEO Hartke
You will see here (below) when comparing the salaries reported to the IRS for 2015 and then 2018, that Hartke did exceptionally well in her last year at LIRS.
We do not yet have any record of the salary the new CEO—Krish O’Mara Vignarajah—is getting, but must assume it is in the same pay range as the salary of Ms. Hartke.
Here are the salaries for top execs at LIRS in 2015:
Here are the salaries for those who survived the inner turmoil that shook LIRS in 2017/2018. See that Hartke’s salary jumped about $100,000 in just three years as she walked out the door!
And, on your taxpayer dime!!!
Doing well by doing good! Tell your kids to grow up to be charitable execs at ‘religious’ non-profits funded by the US taxpayer!
In a piece designed for emotional impact The Associated Press reported this week that President Donald Trump has eviscerated the four-decades-old US Refugee Admissions Program.
Cry me a river: the US is no longer the world leader in admitting questionable refugees for American taxpayers to care for!
From AP:
Under Trump, US no longer leads world on refugee protections
For decades, America led the world in humanitarian policies by creating a sanctuary for the oppressed, admitting more refugees annually than all other countries combined.
That reputation eroded during Donald Trump’s presidency as he cut the number of refugees allowed in by more than 80%, and Canada replaced the U.S. as No. 1 for resettling people fleeing war and persecution.
Trump has arguably changed the immigration system more than any U.S. president, thrilling supporters with an “America first” message and infuriating critics who call his signature domestic issue insular, xenophobic and even racist.
Before November’s election, The Associated Press is examining some of Trump’s biggest immigration policy changes, from halting asylum to stepping back from America’s humanitarian role.
The pain from a dismantling of the 40-year-old refugee program reverberates worldwide, coming as a record 80 million people have been displaced by war and famine.
[….]
Stephen Miller, left, with then Senator Jeff Sessions. Miller got his big break when he went to work for the Senate’s leading advocate for immigration restriction, Sessions.
Trump has lowered the cap for refugee admissions each year of his presidency, dropping them to a record low of 15,000 for 2021.
The State Department defended the cuts as protecting American jobs during the coronavirus pandemic. Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to Trump, said the administration has sought to have refugees settle closer to their home countries and work on solving the crises that caused them to flee.
When Trump is reelected one of his top priorities must be to cement this concept of keeping refugees close to their homes until whatever conflict or environmental crisis has occurred is rectified.
You are going to hear more and more about “climate refugees.” Remember they are not by definition refugees under existing international treaties.
The AP continues….
As many as 1,000 refugees who were ready to travel now may not be eligible because they don’t fit into one of the categories, said Mark Hetfield, president of HIAS, a refugee resettlement group. For example, many Syrians may no longer qualify because no category is for those fleeing war, he said.
[….]
Democrat Joe Biden promises to raise the annual refugee cap to 125,000 if he wins Nov. 3.
If you are wondering what Hetfield is referring to (in red type above), see this year’s report to Congress that accompanies the Presidential Determination. It reiterates the definition of a refugee in the opening paragraphs.
A refugee by definition is someone personally escaping persecution.
Moving around the globe because of a war (or weather) is not, and has never been, a part of that legal definition. Over time, the Open Borders pushers have simply expanded the definition to suit their agenda with the help of their complicit media.
WHO IS A REFUGEE?
Under Section 101(a)(42) of the INA, a refugee is an alien who, generally, has experienced past persecution or has a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Individuals who meet the statutory definition may be considered for either refugee status under Section 207 of the INA if they are outside the United States, or asylum status under Section 208 of the INA, if they are already in the United States or present themselves at a U.S. port of entry. Both refugee and asylum status are forms of humanitarian protection offered by the United States.
