To date, 843 Syrian refugees admitted to the US; 92% are Muslims

05/22/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Editor’s note: I have so much news to post, but internet connection is dropping today. If I disappear, know that I am frustrated about not getting it to you or posting your comments! Or, answering your many e-mails.
Since everyone is talking about the number of Syrians admitted to the US as refugees (see yesterday’s comments by House Homeland Security Committee chairman), I thought it was time to update the numbers.

Most of our Syrians are coming from UN camps like this one which house primarily Muslim refugees. Photo: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/30/syria-aleppo-fight-continues-live

When I search the data base for Syrians I go back to calendar year 2012 (1/1/2012) so as to include those who might have gotten here right after the recent conflict began in 2011 (thus numbers you see published may vary some depending on when the source began counting).
I reported on May 1 that we had admitted 815 Syrians (92% Muslim) from 1/1/2012 to 5/1/2015.
This time I searched up until May 20th and here are the results:
* 843 Syrian refugees have been sent to your towns and cities.
* 508 of those came since January 1, 2015
* The top ten states receiving Syrians are:

Texas (107)

California (107)

Illinois (91)

Arizona (64)

Pennsylvania (54)

Michigan (34)

North Carolina (34)

New Jersey (31)

Florida (30)

Indiana (29)

* Yesterday Rep. Michael McCaul speculated that not too many US communities would want them right now, however Texas, his home state tops the list. Here are the cities in Texas which ‘welcomed’ Syrians:

Austin (4)

Dallas (31)

Ft. Worth (38)

Houston (34)

*One might assume that we were saving the Christian Syrians, but that isn’t happening. Just as we reported earlier in the month, 92% of those we are bringing in are Muslims. Here is the breakdown:

777 of them identify as one form of Muslim or another (729 are Sunni Muslims)

42 Christians are listed and 1 Catholic, several other religions or no religion are listed (for example, there is 1 Yazidi)

That works out to 92% Muslim!
By the way, if you are saying to yourself, heck, there are more Syrians in my town than this small number, remember that there are other legal avenues for entry. Syrians already in the US were granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in 2012 by the Obama Administration and a reader recently shared with me that his US Senator says there are over 11,000 Syrians (who were already in the country when the conflict began) and are thus eligible for TPS.
By the way, it was our usual suspects, the US State Department resettlement contractors who lobbied, along with Arab groups, for the TPS designation.
Those same contractors want us to take 65,000 Syrians by the end of 2016 and the UNHCR has 11,000 picked out for us this year.

36,144 refugees admitted to US in first seven months of FY2015 (fiscal year)

05/14/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Look at this cool map I found for how many refugees were resettled in your state relative to your population: “This map by Casey Cupp is warped to show which states take on the highest number of refugees relative to their population. For example, the densely populated New Jersey takes in a far lower rate of refugees than that of the two Dakotas. What the map shows is that the distribution of refugees looks very different when considering state populations as opposed to strictly the number of people living in each state.” http://www.humanosphere.org/basics/2014/02/map-day-refugees-accepted-us-states-population-adjusted/

I was just having a look at the statistics for FY2015 maintained by the US State Department on refugee admissions (I was checking out Malta), but thought you might like to know which groups we are admitting (welcoming!) in the largest numbers.

The total number of refugees admitted so far in FY2015 (which ends on September 30th) is 36,144 from 80 countries. (Making sure we get lots and lots of diversity for your school systems to cope with!)

Here are the top ten in descending order:

Burma (9,040)

Iraq (8,229)

Somalia (4,993)

DR Congo (2,921)

Bhutan/Nepal (2,849)

Iran (1,474)

Cuba (1,093)

Ukraine (831)

Eritrea (801)

Syria (651)

Tip for using the data base: Do not use the map for “processing country” because that tells you nothing about who we actually admitted. For example, you will see that Kenya (on the processing country map) is listed as 1,537. That does not mean that we admitted 1,537 Kenyans (we don’t take Kenyans as refugees, unless they are Obama relatives). It means that 1,537 were processed in Kenya and those most likely are Somalis from the UN camps located in Kenya.

States which received over 1000 refugees in the last seven months (in descending order):

Texas (3,865)

California (2,974)

New York (2,008)

Michigan (1,696)

Arizona (1,667)

Ohio (1,591)

Washington (1,464)

Georgia (1,410)

Pennsylvania (1,384)

Illinois (1,383)

Florida (1,381)

Minnesota (1,250) 562 of those are new Somalis!

North Caroina (1,211)

For future reference, this post is archived in our ‘where to find information’ category and in our ‘refugee statistics’ category.

For wannabe researchers, this data base (where I got the above numbers) is only for the present fiscal year. To go to a more extensive data base going back to 2002, go here.

1.6 million green cards issued to immigrants from Muslim countries; refugees in the mix

05/12/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is a gem. Thanks to Conservative Review and investigator/writer Daniel Horowitz for pulling these numbers together in an easy to see graphic form. See the whole story here. Horowitz mentions refugees as part of the flow. (hat tip: Dick):

https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2015/05/1m-immigrants-from-muslim-countries

There is one caveat we need to mention and that is that not all of those entering the US from countries such as Iraq or Iran are Muslims, but we do get at least a ball park number from this data. Also, we do not take refugees from all of those countries listed above which reminds us that there are other LEGAL immigration programs admitting Muslim immigrants into the US. The next step is to identify all of those methods of entry.

Archived in our ‘where to find information’ category.

Did you know that disabled and senior refugees get SSI? Fort Wayne, IN Somali case is illustrative

05/12/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

And, some receive it virtually upon arrival in the US.

Update May 13th: Here is Part II of Said’s saga: SSA wants some of the money back, here. When you read this see if you ask yourself the same question I do—do any of the do-gooders think any of this through before pushing more and more destitute refugees into our social ‘safety’ net?

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a federal program that provides cash to low-income people who are either aged (65 or older), blind, or disabled.

This story is from the Fort Wayne New-Sentinel.

A few years ago we wrote extensively on Ft. Wayne and its huge Burmese refugee population. In fact it is the first place we learned that refugees are admitted to the US with TB. The Ft. Wayne (Allen County) health department was struggling with a large number of cases in 2007 (and may still be).

So, now comes a story about a Somali who hasn’t been able to work and has been receiving kidney dialysis. But, he is up against the little-known ‘seven year rule’ which says an immigrant must become a citizen within 7 years of arrival in order to continue to receive taxpayer-funded services like SSI.

The focus of the story is Sugow Said who was resettled in Ft. Wayne in 2004 and is illustrative of the consequences and cost of resettling refugees who will make no contribution to America.

After arriving in Fort Wayne, Said first worked at a cemetery, then later for an office cleaning company.

Said’s life now revolves around dialysis treatments. He has end-stage renal disease, likely due to living for years with untreated high blood pressure before coming to the United States. Since starting dialysis in 2010, he has been physically unable to work at the cleaning job or another one that accommodates his stringent three-days-a-week dialysis schedule and his limited labor and very limited English language skills.

We are told that Nyein Chan, refugee resettlement coordinator for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, helps run the only resettlement program in Ft. Wayne at the moment.

Because of his disability, in early 2011, Said applied for Supplemental Security Income (SSI). In an April 11, 2011, letter, Social Security informed Said: “We have carefully reviewed the facts of your case and have approved the claim for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits that you filed on Jan. 18, 2011.”

SSI initially provided a lifeline of $535 a months for the family, which includes the Saids’ three youngest children, all now teenagers. By 2014, annual adjustments by the Social Security Administration (SSA) had increased Said’s SSI monthly check to $721.

[….]

The SSA operations manual states qualified aliens with disabilities are told when first receiving SSI about the seven-year time limit in which they must gain U.S. citizenship or lose their SSI. An annual reminder about the seven-year rule is also to be mailed to each recipient.

Only in Said’s initial 15-page approval letter, which he was never able to read on his own, was the rule mentioned and explained.

[….]

Health department clinics see a growing number of older refugees with physical and mental disabilities, McMahan [Allen County Commissioner of Health Dr. Deborah McMahan] said.

“I recently had an 80-year-old who was seeing and hearing things,” she noted. “How am I going to teach him English?”

Congress in the past has addressed the seven-year rule, with National Senior Citizens Law Center, now called Justice in Aging, helping lead those efforts for nearly two decades, said Gerald McIntyre(cq), directing attorney for the agency whose mission is to fight senior poverty through law.

[….]

“No one is spending time on this now,” he said. “It is really hopeless. There is such hostility,” he said, even for humanitarian immigrants.

No kidding! Too many refugees with too many needs will eventually sour initially welcoming and generous Americans on the whole scheme. Concerned citizens and taxpayer are asking—-what about our own poor and disabled people?

There is much more, read it all here.

Catholic Resettlement Programs throughout the US—resettling refugees and ‘Unaccompanied alien children.’

I just discovered this handy list at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops website of all their resettlement offices in the US!

Maybe the Bishops could pony-up the money needed by Mr. Said?

See our Ft. Wayne archive, here. This post is filed in our ‘where to find information’ category and in our ‘health issues’ file. New readers might want to check those out.

Resettlement contractors hold “consultations” in your town, “stakeholders” invited, but not you, the taxpayer!

05/08/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Editor: It is very exciting that our learning curve is growing exponentially now that so many of you are digging into documents and asking questions where you live. Here is one more piece of information activists have found in St. Cloud, MN.

The other day I reported that the US State Department told Rep. Trey Gowdy that the resettlement subcontractors “hold community consultations” to gather information to prepare plans for your town.

But, guess what! You, the concerned citizen and taxpayer are not permitted to attend!

Lutheran Social Service of MN, director of Refugee Services Kim Dettmer (far right) in a panel discussion held by the Bremer Bank Foundation. Follow the money! Everyone must begin investigating the role these large rich foundations are having as they work to change your communities. Photo is from a 2012 meeting in St. Cloud: http://nonprofitresource.blogspot.com/2012/06/building-healthy-communities-through.html

This is the text of an e-mail a concerned citizen activist received from a spokeswoman, Kim Dettmer, for Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota:

Greetings;

I have received your email regarding your interest in refugee resettlement consultations. I will attempt, here, to clarify the purpose of these meetings .

The U.S. State Department requires all resettlement organizations, such as Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, to comply with federal program regulations that call for quarterly meetings among the key stakeholders directly involved in coordinating or providing services to refugees as part of the resettlement process.

The regulation reads:

” The Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) issued guidance in their Program Announcement # 14, dated September 26, 2013 (Appendix 1), to all Reception and Placement Agencies and State Refugee Coordinators concerning the need for greater Reception and Placement (R&P) local consultations concerning the placement of refugees. PRM requires all local R&P affiliates to convene quarterly consultations with stakeholders involved in the resettlement process.

Furthermore, per the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), requires states to convene meetings, no less than on a quarterly basis, where representatives of local resettlement agencies, local community service agencies, and other agencies that serve refugees meet with representatives of state and local governments to plan and coordinate the appropriate placement of refugees in advance of the refugees’ arrival.”

The regulations go on to state:

“The consultations may take place in-person, via teleconference, videoconference, or a combination of these. Resettlement agencies should ensure that the representatives from the following sectors are invited to the consultations.

· State refugee coordinator
· State refugee health coordinator
· Local governance (city and/or county, as applicable)
· Local and/or county public health (local health partners)
· Welfare and social services
· Public education

Local resettlement organizations should ensure discussion includes:

· Year-to-date arrivals and projections through the end of the current federal fiscal year compared to approved placement numbers
· Characteristics of arriving refugee populations, including nationality, ethnicity, average family size and composition, language and education background, and medical conditions
· Participant stakeholders’ abilities to adequately serve the actual and projected caseload
· Best practices
· Issues that prevent adequate resettlement or result in changes in placement plans”

To summarize, the purpose of these quarterly meetings is to convene those individuals and organizations directly engaged in delivering services to refugees during the resettlement process, and provides us with a crucial forum through which to coordinate those services.

Each participant is responsible for bringing to those conversations any concerns expressed by the broader public; however, these consultations are not intended to include the general public. [Note that the regulations must not say the public is to be excluded, or she would have quoted that. They are simply writing their own law here!—ed]

I hope this clarifies the purpose of these required meetings, and I welcome any feedback or input you might have that I could share with the quarterly consultation group.

Kim M. Dettmer, M.A.
Director of Refugee Services
Lutheran Social Service of MN
2400 Park Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55404
612-879-5258

Please call Rep Trey Gowdy, tell him this lack of transparency (this secrecy!) is wrong! Hold oversight hearings and get this whole law reformed or repeal it!

Call 202-225-6030

Gowdy is chairman of the Subcommittee responsible for the Refugee Admissions Program.

Readers, this post and others like it is archived in our ‘where to find information’ category.

I can’t emphasize enough that you, in your city or state, must begin to write a website, a blog or a facebook page to catalog everything you learn. Please exercise your free speech (people like Pamela Geller are putting their lives on the line for your right! ). Do your investigations and make sure you spread what you learn to others! Avoid the lazy, often hostile, mainstream media!