Idaho legislator calls for more transparency by resettlement agency in Twin Falls

08/12/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I have to laugh! The headline in the newspaper (MagicValley.com), that has so far not wanted to present all the facts about the UN/US State Department Refugee Resettlement plan for Twin Falls, titles the op-ed from Rep. Stephen Hartgen (R-Twin Falls) ‘Hartgen: Defunding Refugee Program Isn’t the Answer.‘

It could more accurately have been entitled: ‘Hartgen: concerned for security with refugee program, demands transparency of resettlement contractor.’
Hartgen is on the right track! Continue to demand transparency! In my experience the federal government and its contractors do not want you to know all the facts!

If Rep. Hartgen wants transparency, begin by asking for the FY 2016 Abstract!

At this very moment CSI Refugee Center is finishing up (or has finished) its R & P Abstract for FY2016. It is a document that should be made available to you, to everyone in Twin Falls, BEFORE it goes to Washington as part of the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants’ (USCRI’s) federal funding wish list.
The Abstract will tell you how many refugees and from which parts of the world USCRI/CSI is looking to get them from in FY’16 which begins October 1, 2015, and it will tell what amenities the community in Twin Falls is offering the refugees (you might be surprised by what goodies you are providing refugees).
USCRI is the parent organization of the CSI Refugee Center. It is USCRI that sits down with the US State Department and decides which refugees are sent to Twin Falls. Jannus Inc. is included in the discussion.
Idaho is a Wilson-Fish state and as such the decisions that are made exclude Idaho elected officials such as Rep. Hartgen from the decision-making process. Jannus, Inc., another non-profit group, acts for the state of Idaho.
And, one more thing. Rep. Hartgen needs to acquire the CSI Refugee Center’s federal tax form—Form 990—which they must be hiding somewhere!

Here is a small snip of what Rep. Hartgen said (I dare not post more or the editor will sic its lawyers on me, as they did here):

Rather, I believe the CSI Board, which consists of locally-elected officials, and the college administration should go further in explaining to the community the center’s operation and in releasing documents on its various aspects and financial affairs. This would go a long way to alleviate concerns about the center and the plan to bring refugees from the Middle East to settle in southern Idaho.

[….]

….The proposed introduction of refugees from Syria has raised many concerns, and not only from Mr. Martin and his group. For one, the world today seems to be a more volatile place of war, insurrections, ideological movements and violence. The Middle East seethes with such incidents and it is not unreasonable for Americans to be concerned for our own country’s security.

Second, many people feel the U.S. government does not seem particularly competent in many tasks involving homeland security. The vetting of refugees does not seem to many to be thorough enough, and the government’s response seems to be little more than “we’re doing the best we can.” Public statements from extremist Islamic group like ISIS about how they intend to use settlement programs to infiltrate America only heighten such concerns. Attacks on American soil lead to further wariness.

Thirdly, a general suspicion of the current Obama administration’s competence and motives is now pervasive among millions of Americans, who simply no longer believe the administration has America’s best interests at heart.

Continue reading here. (MagicValley.com wants you to see its ads).
Again, Rep. Hartgen is on the right track and should be encouraged! In fact, he should be encouraged to introduce legislation to get rid of the Wilson-Fish program for Idaho that leaves state elected officials out of the decision-making process.
Incidentally, I don’t know of another resettlement agency that is intimately entwined with a college as this one is, do any of you know of another one? What is in it for the college? Are they making money off of the refugee program?
This latest round of controversy in Twin Falls began here (back in April) when CSI got all excited by the prospect of Syrian (mostly Muslim) refugees coming to town.
We have written many posts on Idaho, go here for more.
Twin Falls has developed as a ‘Pocket of Resistance’ and concerned citizens there have begun going door to door to educate their fellow citizens about the CSI Refugee Center. They (Committee to End the CSI Refugee Center) also have a very new website!

Somali 'refugees' want Swedish citizenship so as to travel back and forth to Somalia!

08/11/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Invasion of Europe news….

This story from Sweden highlights a question we have too?

Swedish Somalis — Demonstrating what a sham the refugee program is throughout the world! Somalis want to travel back and forth between Sweden and Somalia. So how persecuted were they in the first place?

If Somalis are so fearful of persecution in Somalia that they expect refugee status in first world countries, why are they traveling back there (to their supposedly dangerous homeland) for business and pleasure?
Heck, Somalis in America are doing it too! We have a Somali woman in Minnesota running for the presidency of Somalia, and we have the UN sending Somalis out of UN camps and back home to Somalia, so why should any western country need to take in one more Somali to partake of welfare generosity in places like Sweden and the US?
Here is the news from Speisa.com where we learn that Sweden has at least 50,000 Somalis living in the country (hat tip: Joanne):

Mohamed Husein came to Sweden from Somalia in 2009, along with his wife who claimed she was attacked by terrorists in their homeland.

Mohamed is now unhappy that he can not fill in an application for Swedish citizenship yet. He is eager to able to travel back to the country he claims to have fled, where his life supposedly is in danger – to visit his mother and establish business contacts.

– I can not travel outside the EU and I can not visit my mother in Somalia, says Mohamed.

He explains that with a Swedish citizenship, he would be able to develop an export and import company.

[….]

To most readers the obvious obvious question should be – why should Mohamed be given Swedish citizenship in two years if he believes that he can travel back to Somalia now?

And Mohamed is not unique. Approximately 9 out of 10 who are granted asylum in Sweden do not meet the conventional criteria to be classified as refugees.

Many regularly travel back to the country they claim to have fled.

Last year about 1000 Somalis were stranded in Mogadishu, after their tour operator, Fly Olympic, suddenly went bankrupt when they were on holiday in Somalia, from Sweden.

See our ‘Invasion of Europe’ archive here. And, if you want to learn more about how Sweden (the welfare state) is killing itself, go here for our extensive archive on Sweden.

Related! Just in, Swedish asylum seekers from Eritrea arrested in fatal (apparently random) stabbing of mother and son in store.

Pope calls rejection of migrants "an act of war"

08/11/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Invasion of Europe news….

Pope Francis has been chastising Europe for years now for not welcoming the hordes of migrants arriving on European shores and across its eastern borders. There is nothing new here. Apparently he must have gone to Lampedusa again.
I wonder how many migrants have been ‘welcomed’ to live at Vatican City? Does anyone know? Has anyone asked?

Philip-Hammond_3024915b — Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond is quoted as saying: “marauding” migrants threatened the British “standard of living,” which brought howls of criticism from members of the ‘human rights industrial complex.’

From the UK Independent:

Speaking to a youth group, he said the situation where desperate migrants were bounced from country to country seeking shelter was “an unresolved conflict… and this is war, this is violence, it’s called murder”.

In his speech on the island of Lampedusa in southern Italy the Pope called on European powers to do more to help the migrants that have been arriving on the island, according to the Gazzetta del Sud.Pope Francis has called the rejection of migrants fleeing violence “an act of war”.

In his speech on the island of Lampedusa in southern Italy the Pope called on European powers to do more to help the migrants that have been arriving on the island, according to the Gazzetta del Sud.

No surprise, the Independent goes on to criticize David Cameron quoting the Mayor of Calais calling Cameron a racist and then says this (below). Frankly, at the moment the UK is holding firm and trying to save itself from the invasion that is washing across southern Europe and into Germany and most of the rest of Europe.

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond caused further controversy on Sunday when he told the BBC he believed “marauding” migrants threatened the British “standard of living”. Amnesty International condemned the remarks saying they were “mean spirited” and “shameful”.

For more in the ‘Invasion of Europe’ at RRW, go here.

Des Moines, Iowa: State scrambling to figure out how to pay for refugee influx as fed money dries up!

08/10/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Mark Grey, a Univ. of No. Iowa professor: Wahhhh! we need more (of your) money for the refugees! Photo: http://iowawatch.org/2013/05/23/support-for-immigrants-citizenship-exists-but-how-deep-is-that-support/

This is more evidence that the federal government, which in the early years of setting up the Refugee Resettlement Program helped states cope, is no longer doing so.

The cost of resettling thousands of refugees into your state is falling almost exclusively on state and local taxpayers as the UN and US State Department send them out to ‘everytown’ America!

By the way, when I first started writing RRW there were 10 federal contractors and one of the ten was the State of Iowa. I’m not sure how that happened, maybe in response to Bill Clinton sending all those Bosnian Muslims there for meatpacking labor during his term in office. But, in any case the state is no longer a contractor.
Today there are the nine we always refer to who pretend to be private non-profit (charitable! hah!)groups, but are heavily funded with your tax dollars.
Here is the story from the Des Moines Register. I only have time to snip a few interesting bits. Please read the whole article because it is very informative for anyone contemplating creating a ‘Pocket of Resistance’ in the state. Or, maybe there already is one that we don’t yet know about?

Federal grants that once supported assistance programs no longer exist. Refugees speaking different dialects even in the same languages are adding pressure to state agencies whose workers are trying to help the refugees. And Iowans helping refugees from other countries say the state, and its governor, are not doing enough.

[….]

“There is always room to improve,” said Amy Doyle, a lawyer who works with a refugee resettlement agency in Des Moines. “It’s really a matter of providing state funding for the organizations (that assist refugees).”

Gov. Terry Branstad said more funding is needed, but from the federal government.

Here it is! WE need $$$ for hospitals and school!

Social service providers and other experts on immigration issues in Iowa said the state must do more. Mark Grey, a University of Northern Iowa professor of anthropology and director of the Iowa Center for Immigrant Leadership and Integration, said that includes providing more resources for hospitals, school districts and English as a Second Language education.

After 90 days the refugees are your (local!) responsibility!

Refugees settled directly in Iowa when they arrive in the United States typically receive 90 days of core services from federal resettlement agencies, which provide assistance settling into housing, obtaining a Social Security card, and signing up for state aid.

Please urge your Members of Congress to co-sponsor the Babin bill NOW! His bill seeks to get a handle on the exponentially growing cost of the program. Where is Rep. Steve King?
For all of our previous coverage of Iowa, click here. I see that a few years ago I did write about how the US State Department gave the State of Iowa the boot, here. I urge anyone forming a ‘Pocket of Resistance’ to read through all of this so you have an understanding of who the players are.

Czech border town furious over planned placement of refugees at its German border

08/10/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Invasion of Europe news…..

There is so much invasion news from Europe I hardly know what to post. Today I’ve chosen this story about protests in a small Czech Republic town as the German government is placing 80 refugees in an old customs building just inside the German border.

Photo is from a rally in June in the city of Brno. The Czechs do not want Middle Eastern and African refugees resettled there. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/06/26/hundreds-rally-against-refugees-in-czech-city-others-gather-to-support/

From Prague Post:

Dubi, North Bohemia, Aug 8 (ČTK) — Several hundred people from the Czech Republic and Germany protested against the arrival of refugees at the former customs building on the Czech-German border crossing Cinovec-Zinnwald today, Mayor Petr Pipal has told journalists.

The refugees are to be provided accommodation there at the end of September and beginning of October, Pipal said.

Pipal said as this was a decision of German authorities he could not influence it in any way.

“We do not have any influence on this,” Pipal said.

The Saxon town of Altenberg wants to accommodate the refugees in the former customs building. The capacity of the facility will be 110 places, while some 80 refugees from Syria, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan are to be placed there.

“These will be the people who have come through detention centers, passed medical check-ups and have the relevant documents,” Pipal said.

Pipal said he would like to ease the tension, planning a meeting with the police and residents of Cinovec.

The locals are afraid of the arrival of the refugees, resenting the fact that they cannot influence it.

We are told the refugees will be allowed to leave the center for “walks” during the day, but will not supposedly be allowed to cross the border into the Czech Republic.
See all of our ‘Invasion of Europe’ news archived here. Since American mainstream media is not saying much about the migration crisis in Europe, it is our job to keep you informed.