Maine governor working to stem the flow of welfare to migrants/asylum seekers

11/24/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We have written about this Maine problem with the flood of migrants into the state—some are resettled refugees, but others are asylum seekers who have flocked there to enjoy the generosity of Maine’s social service programs while waiting out the legal asylum process. (See my discussion of asylum in an earlier post this morning.)
Here is the latest news, from LifeZette (subheading: Immigrants immediately eligible for welfare, displacing seniors and the needy):

Maine’s Somali community is adding more diversity to the state — and huge new costs, according to a top state official.

Maine’s huge number of refugees and asylum-seekers are heavy welfare users and are putting significant economic strain on the state, Health and Human Services Commissioner Mary Mayhew.

Speaking on “The Laura Ingraham Show,” Mayhew rejected an argument by a local media outlet that the state’s Somali community could be Maine’s savior.

“Overall, we have seen an increased burden to the infrastructure and the welfare programs in the face of other significant competing priorities for this state, especially related to our rapidly aging population, our elderly,” she said.

Maine has been a popular destination for refugees in recent years, mostly from Somalia and other African countries. Lewiston and Portland have taken the most, with Lewiston’s mayor recently speaking out about the fiscal impact on his city.

[….]

Maine Gov. Paul LePage has led a drive to reform social welfare programs for refugees and citizens alike. Since taking office, food stamp use is down by 58,000 people. Fewer people are on Medicaid, as well, Mayhew said.

Here is a great idea for your state!

Mayhew noted that a new work requirement for food stamps for able-bodied people between the ages of 18 and 49 with no children — which included an option of volunteering just one hour a day — knocked many off the program for failure to comply.

[….]

Mayhew said LePage has fought against granting welfare benefits to illegal immigrants who have applied for asylum.

More here.
Is your state giving welfare benefits to asylum seekers? At the federal level that is prohibited.
We have a huge archive on Maine, click here to learn more. See especially a 2009 post we wrote about how Somalis initially found Maine’s generous welfare system and headed in droves to Lewiston.

Arabs in Dearborn support governor's decision to curtail Syrian refugee resettlement

11/22/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday we reported that many Christian Syrian immigrants in Allentown, PA oppose resettlement of the mostly Sunni Muslim Syrians in the pipeline to America, and now look at this! The mostly Shiite Muslims in the Dearborn area don’t want the Sunni Syrians there either!

Muslims against ISIS — Dearborn Muslims protest ISIS in 2014. ISIS is Sunni, many Dearborn Muslims are Shiite. Obama doesn’t seem to care that we are admitting to the US both sides of the centuries’ old conflict in the refugee stream. Photo: http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2014/09/muslims-in-dearborn-michigan-and-britain-condemn-isis-illinois-muslims-silent.html

Before you read this latest news, be sure to check our recent post—98% of Syrians admitted so far are Sunni Muslims (ISIS is Sunni as is al-Qaeda).
From NBC News (what is happening to the MSM, are they starting to get-it?):

They’re not rolling out the welcome wagon for the Syrian refugees in the Arab immigrant enclave of Dearborn, Michigan.

And some longtime residents told NBC News they even agree with Gov. Rick Snyder’s decision to suspend efforts to bring the long-suffering Syrians to his state after last week’s deadly terrorist attacks in Paris.

“We don’t need no more troubles, you know?” said Hicham Dawil, who immigrated to the U.S. three decades ago. “I feel bad for the people. On the other hand, look what’s happening in France. This is crazy, you know. It’s just evil.”

Dawil, a father of five college-aged kids all born here who runs his own heating and cooling business, said the ISIS attacks turned his stomach and the fallout affects him as an Arab immigrant.

“We just cannot afford being looked at like, ‘Oh, well, you are one of them,'” he said. “Let’s say I walk into a lounge … I can see people look at me.”

So Dawil supports Snyder’s move “100 percent.”

There is much more here.

Canadian Libs to announce Tuesday how they will bring in 25,000 Syrians in next 6 weeks

11/22/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

trudeau-canada_wide-537b092690880d4a534d56423ae76084c9cd1852-s900-c85 — The boy wonder, Justin Trudeau, promised 25,000 Syrian refugees would be admitted by year-end. If they take the ones picked by the UNHCR they will be virtually all Sunni Muslim. Photo: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/10/20/450188659/trudeau-upsets-harper-as-liberal-wave-takes-canada-s-prime-minister-post

Sigh…. Really feeling sorry for Canada.
From The Spectator:

OTTAWA — How the Liberal government intends to bring thousands of Syrian refugees to Canada by year’s end will become clear Tuesday with the rollout of the plan for the largest rapid resettlement program in the country’s history.

Federal ministers would not divulge any elements of the proposal Friday or comment on a document obtained by The Canadian Press that suggests the cost of the program could hit $1.2 billion, far more than the $250 million the Liberals budgeted in their platform to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees.

Continue reading here. Our Canada category is here (162 previous posts).

Almost 15,000 Burmese Muslims brought to US in last ten years

11/22/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday, Obama was in Malaysia promising that our doors were open to Burmese Muslims known as the Rohingya.
Here are some numbers for you. I went back ten fiscal years. The vast majority of the refugees we take from Burma (aka Myanmar) are Christians. See data base here (you will have to choose your parameters). I ran data for FY2006 to FY2015.

In 2013 Buddhist monks protested efforts by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to get a foothold in Burma. “No Sharia Law” said monks not at all concerned with political correctness. Photo: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/11/15/myanmar-releasespoliticalprisonersasforeigndelegationsvisit.html

We took 149,020 total ‘refugees’ from Burma, presumably because they were being persecuted by the majority Buddhist nation. The largest number we’ve taken in are Christians of various sorts, but we did take over 22,000 Buddhists (I thought the Buddhist nation was throwing out their minorities so this doesn’t make sense to me).
What I really wanted to know was how many Burmese Muslims/Rohingya we have been admitting.
By the way, when Trump and other candidates mention their worries about Syrian Muslims they need to be educated on the FACT that hundreds of thousands of other Muslims are being admitted as refugees—such as the Somalis and the Iraqis (now both over 100,000 each).
In the last ten fiscal years we have admitted 14,695 Burmese Muslims to the US.
Here is the year-by-year breakdown:

FY ’06: 33

FY ’07: 2,034

FY’08: 2,816

FY’09: 1,273

FY’10: 910

FY’11: 771

FY’12: 759

FY’13: 1,064

FY’14: 1,209

FY’15: 3,809 (looks like they have kicked into high gear)

And so far in FY’16 we have admitted 17

For everything you want to know about Rohingya, click here for archive with 183 previous posts on this Muslim ethnic group. See especially here in 2013 when we reported that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops was lobbying the US State Dept. to admit more Rohingya.

Malaysia: Obama (today) meets with Rohingya (Burmese) Muslims on way to US

11/21/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This story is a Drudge headline this morning: Obama defiant: vows more refugees.
***Update*** November 22: Almost 15,000 Burmese Muslim came in as refugees in last ten years, here.
He is in Malaysia, a safe Muslim country which is sending Rohingya Muslims (who arrive there illegally) to America! So while we have anxiety about Syrian Muslims coming to the US, remember the US resettlement program has been bringing in Muslims from Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Burma (and other countries) for years.

Esar Met evil face — Meet Esar Met a Burmese Muslim sentenced to life in prison in Utah in 2014 when he was found guilty of brutally raping and murdering a little Christian Burmese girl in his Salt Lake City apartment complex. The medical examiner testified that she died in excruciating pain. Shame on the mainstream media for never reporting on this case outside of Utah. https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2014/05/15/utah-burmese-muslim-refugee-sentenced-in-brutal-rapemurder-of-little-girl/

The Rohingya are especially fundamentalist Muslims we have been following for 8 years. We have an extensive archive (Rohingya Reports) with 182 previous posts just on the situation in Burma and surrounding countries with the Rohingya. (Want to write a book on Rohingya? Your research is right here on these pages!)
In 2013 we reported that Anastasia Brown, on behalf to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, lobbied the US State Department to allow Rohingya Muslims to enter the US with a P-2 Designation meaning that they need not prove individually that they are persecuted, but that they would be admitted to the US as a class.
In other words, all they need do is say: I am Rohingya and they are eligible for resettlement in your towns and cities.
Thousands are already here. In our earliest years of reporting on Rohingya, the US State Department was not admitting them for fear that terrorists were among them. All that has changed.
See the AP story at Myway:

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Pushing back against efforts to bar Syrian refugees from resettling in the U.S., President Barack Obama vowed Saturday that his country will be a welcoming place for millions fleeing violence around the world “as long as I’m president.”

Obama commented Saturday at a learning center in the Malaysian capital that serves the poor, including some refugees. He met with boys and girls wearing crisp white and black uniforms and neckties as they sat at tables and worked on painting and puzzle projects.

[….]

Most of the children the president met with are Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic group. Tens of thousands of Rohingya have fled Myanmar to escape persecution by the country’s Buddhist majority, with many ending up in Malaysia, where Obama was attending a regional economic summit.

[….]

The refugees Obama met with have all been cleared to come to the U.S. and have been assigned to specific cities, the White House said.

Earlier this year we reported that 12,615 Burmese Muslims had been admitted to the US in the last ten year. I’ll have to do an update of those numbers when I get a minute (Ha!). BTW, the majority population of Burma (aka Myanmar) is Buddhist and they want the country to remain majority Buddhist. Even the famed human rights activist from Burma has angered the humanitarian industrial complex by not speaking out on behalf of rights for Rohingya.
See why Obama is angry (in my opinion). His job was to get them in here as part of the UN agenda, and he has hit a roadblock!—YOU!
Addendum: How could I forget. Hillary has been touting her ‘success’ in Burma while Secretary of State. Then why are we taking thousands of Burmese Muslims to the US if she has done such a good job? You must see this post! Podesta Group sent to Burma to shore up her image!