Category: Who is going where

In letter to Sec. of State John Kerry, Rep. Trey Gowdy demands answers about planned Spartanburg resettlement

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update April 14th:  There is more here and here today as Gowdy causes a stir.

This press release and letter (below) were issued today by the office of South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy.   For new readers, click here, for background on the controversy. Gowdy is the Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee responsible for the Refugee Resettlement Program.  As Chairman, Gowdy needs to know that this is how the whole program operates nationally—in secrecy!

Maybe due to Gowdy’s swift and decisive action, other communities, which are being kept in the dark, will get some relief!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: April 13, 2015

Contact: Amanda Duvall amanda.duvall@mail.house.gov 202-225-6030

Gowdy Requests Information on Spartanburg Refugee Resettlement Program

Washington, DC—Congressman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) today sent a letter to the State Department, requesting information on plans for a refugee resettlement in Spartanburg.

Please see text of the letter:

The Honorable John Kerry Secretary U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street, NW Washington, DC 20520

  Dear Secretary Kerry,

Gowdy takes action!

I write regarding the potential resettlement of refugees to the Spartanburg, South Carolina, area. It has been reported by media outlets, and confirmed by staff within your Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), that a resettlement agency submitted a proposal to open an office in Spartanburg. In addition, it is my understanding that the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) approved the request to resettle a certain number of refugees in Spartanburg.

As the Member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing the Spartanburg area, I am deeply concerned about the lack of notice, information, and consultation afforded to me and my constituents about this issue. As such, please provide the information requested and answers to questions below:

1. Please provide a copy of the proposal submitted by the resettlement agency and any subsequent correspondence between your Department and the resettlement agency.

2. When was the resettlement agency’s proposal submitted? When was it approved by USRAP?

3. How were the claims made in the proposal as to Spartanburg’s readiness to resettle refugees verified for accuracy by USRAP prior to approval?

4. What, if any, steps were taken to notify and consult with local government officials (elected or otherwise) prior to the approval of the resettlement proposal? If so, who was contacted and did they approve the proposal?

5. Which officials/employees of the South Carolina State government reviewed and approved the resettlement agency’s proposal? When was such approval given? Were these officials/employees contacted by USRAP to independently ensure approval was given?

6. What types of, and how much, funding will the resettlement agency receive from the federal government? How much of that amount must be provided to the refugees and how much can be kept by the resettlement agency?

7. When are the first refugees expected to arrive in Spartanburg?

8. What federal, state, and local benefits are the refugees entitled to receive a) upon designation as a refugee and b) upon resettlement in the Spartanburg area?

9. How many refugees will be resettled in the Spartanburg area?

10. How are the refugees chosen to resettle in Spartanburg?

11. What is the country of origin of each of the refugees to be resettled in the Spartanburg area?

12. Who is responsible for ensuring housing, employment, and education services for the resettled refugees?

13. Who is responsible for ensuring resettled refugees maintain employment, as opposed to tracking employment for the first few months after being resettled?

14. How many of the refugees to be resettled in the Spartanburg area are of the age to attend K–12 schools? Of those, how many need the local government to provide interpreters or teachers who speak the native language of the refugee for the students?

15. Do any of the refugees to be resettled in the Spartanburg area have criminal convictions? If so, for what crimes has each been convicted?

16. Please explain the background check process performed on refugees scheduled to be resettled in Spartanburg.

17. Will this be the only time refugees will be resettled to the Spartanburg area pursuant to the agency’s proposal? Or can additional refugees be resettled pursuant to the proposal?

I request that any plans to resettle refugees in the Spartanburg, South Carolina, area be placed on hold until my constituents and I receive your substantive responses to the questions and information requested in this letter. Additionally, before moving forward, both the Spartanburg community and I should have time to substantively review the information and be comfortable with the information provided.

As previously stated, I am troubled by the lack of notice and coordination with my office and the Spartanburg community, particularly local officials, regarding the plans to resettle refugees in the area. In that vein, I request at least one month’s notice prior to the arrival of the first refugee in the Spartanburg area. Please contact my Chief of Staff, Cindy Crick, with such notice (864-241-0175 or cindy.crick@mail.house.gov).

Thank you in advance for your prompt response and attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Trey Gowdy

First Syrians arrive in North Texas

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

If you haven’t already, you will be seeing more warm and fuzzy stories like this one in your states as the Syrian refugees begin to arrive.  We have taken in 682 so far.  See my post of last Saturday and see which states they went to.

As the FBI says they cannot properly screen Syrians, the US State Department seems to be still telling the media that 10,000 will be here soon. 

The contractors want 65,000 by the end of 2016!

From WFAA (Dallas) which implies only a handful have arrived in Texas, however, Texas has received at least 86 so far and as the top resettlement state in the nation, it will receive the most Syrians.

Doing well by doing good! Heather Reynolds is CEO of Catholic Charities Ft. Worth and is one of the leaders resettling Middle Easterners to Dallas/Ft. Worth. In her mid-30’s, Ms. Reynolds pulls down a cool $199,324 in salary and related income. In a recent form 990 we learned that this Catholic Charities office took in almost $17 million in revenue and $9 million came from you through government grants. http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2013/750/808/2013-750808769-0ae83cfc-9.pdf

No surprise that the refugee industry puts its most appealing refugees (like these cute girls) out for PR campaigns.  The mainstream media eats it up!

Eight Syrian refugee families call North Texas home right now — four in Dallas and four in Fort Worth. But Basatneh [Syrian American Council] said more are on their way after the U.S. State Department agreed to accept as many as 10,000.

Watch the clip where we are told that “it is our duty” to take them in and that 1,000 will be coming to Texas within the year?  Say what!

We are told the flow will be on par with the Iraqi flow which stands at 20,000 per year right now.

And, note the lovely apartment the family has received, I bet there are some needy Americans in Dallas/Ft. Worth who would love a place like that!

So who is doing the seeding of refugees in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area?

Four of the nine major contractors have divided up what must be a large flow to Ft. Worth:

CWS (Church World Service)
TX-CWS-04: Refugee Services Of Texas, Inc.
Address:
1801 Circle Drive
Fort Worth, TX 76119
Phone:
817-413-3772

LIRS (Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service)
TX-LIRS-03: REFUGEE SERVICES OF TEXAS, INC
Address:
1801 CIRCLE DR.
FORT WORTH, TX 76119
Phone:
817-457-8110

USCCB (US Conference of Catholic Bishops)
TX-USCCB-06: Immigration & Refugee Services
Address:
249 W Thornhill Drive
Fort Worth, TX 76115
Phone:
817-289-2819

WR (World Relief)
TX-WR-01: World Relief Fort Worth
Address:
4059 Bryan Avenue
Fort Worth, TX 76110
Phone:
817-924-0748

And, here are the four biggies which have divied up Dallas:

CWS (Church World Service)
TX-CWS-02: Refugee Services Of Texas, Inc
Address:
12025 Shiloh Road, Suite 240
Dallas, TX 75228
Phone:
214-821-4883

IRC  (International Rescue Committee)
TX-IRC-01: International Rescue Committee Dallas
Address:
6500 Greenville Ave. , Suite 500
Dallas, TX 75206
Phone:
214-461-9781

LIRS  (Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service)
TX-LIRS-02: Refugee Services Of Texas, Inc
Address:
12025 Shiloh Rd, Suite 240
Dallas, TX 75228
Phone:
214-821-4883

USCCB  (US Conference of Catholic Bishops)
TX-USCCB-05: refugee And Empowerment Services
Address:
9451 Lbj Freeway, Suite 100
Dallas, TX 75243
Phone:
214-553-9909

 

See the handy US State Department list of resettlement contractors where you live!

For Texans, this is your State refugee office within the Texas government.

World Net Daily reports about Spartanburg and refugee resettlement secrecy

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Reporter Leo Hohmann, who has done great work over the last year or so exposing the refugee resettlement industry in the US has posted another good piece in the wake of my post earlier in the week about how the nine major resettlement contractors are picking the towns to colonize.

I’m off to Washington this morning and have no time to say more now, so please check it out yourselves!  He cites Spartanburg, SC and St. Cloud, MN.

Read it here:

   U.S. cities ‘secretly selected’ for importing Muslims

See more of Hohmann’s reporting here.

Buffalo refugee overload: Is the need for “culturally-engaged health care” coming to a town near you?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

It is, if you allow your town or city to become the next ‘welcoming’ community for thousands of third world refugees in desperate need of healthcare.

Buffalo, NY (Erie County) is one of the federal government’s “preferred communities” for refugee resettlement and is, according to this meeting announcement, the largest resettlement site in New York State.  NY is among the top five resettlement states in the US.

Go here for our extensive archive on problems with refugees in Buffalo.  See especially this 2012 post where we learned that the Christian and Jewish population is declining and the Muslim population increasing in and around Buffalo (thanks to Christian and Jewish resettlement contractors listed below!).

When they say “culturally-engaged” healthcare, do they mean that refugees have health issues that are related to the cultural practices they bring to America, like ‘female genital mutilation?’ I see NY is one of the top states for at risk girls! https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2015/03/16/concerned-about-female-genital-mutilation-in-the-american-refugee-population/

Think long and hard about whether your town or city wants to take on the massive (and expensive!) physical and mental health care of thousands of refugees!

From the University of Buffalo News (hat tip: Joanne):

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The University at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions (SPHHP) will hold the second annual Western New York Refugee Health Summit on Thursday, April 9 …

[….]

Called “Community conversations to build pathways toward culturally engaged health care in Buffalo,” the health summit is being held as part of the SPHHP’s celebration of National Public Health Week.

[….]

Erie County resettles the highest number of refugees in New York State; approximately one third of the state’s 3,700 refugees resettled in Buffalo in 2013. Many arrive in the U.S. driven from their home countries by social and political upheaval, war, and economic or agricultural distress. Even with committed organizations assisting refugees, many barriers exist to obtaining culturally-engaged health care.

The summit will provide a forum where health care providers and refugees can meet and discuss ways to overcome the five main barriers to care that refugees face: coordinating stakeholders, mentoring of providers, mobilizing community leaders, dealing with language barriers and addressing gaps in providing care.  [By the way, “stakeholders” does not apply to you, the taxpayers footing the bill for all of this healthcare and most likely this summit too!—ed]

Participants also will review an online platform that is being developed to better share and coordinate Western New York health resources for refugees.

[….]

Participating community agency partners include the Burmese Community Support Center, Community Health Center of Buffalo, Neighborhood Health Center, H.E.A.L. International, Jericho Road Community Health Center, International Institute of Buffalo, Journey’s End Refugee Services, Inc., Catholic Charities of Buffalo, Jewish Family Services of Buffalo and Erie County, and the UB Schools of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Nursing, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Public Health and Health Professions, and Social Work.

Wow!  Check it out!  No wonder Buffalo is so overloaded with needy refugees, five of the nine major contractors have offices there!

BTW, when I first posted this handy list of resettlement subcontractors in December, the State Department said they had 180 cities, but I saw yesterday that they are saying 190 cities (so they gained ten more in the last few months!).

CWS  (Church World Service)
NY-CWS-07: Journey’s End Refugee Services, Inc
Address:
Tri-Main Center, 2495 Main Street
Buffalo, NY 14214-2152
Phone:
716-882-4963

DFMS (Episcopal Migration Ministries)
NY-DFMS-07: Journey’s End Refugee Services, Inc
Address:
2459 Main Street, Suite 317
Buffalo, NY 14214
Phone:
716-882-4963

HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society)
NY-HIAS-06: Jewish Family Service Of Buffalo And Erie County
Address:
70 Barker Street
Buffalo, NY 14209
Phone:
716-883-1914

USCCB (US Conference of Catholic Bishops)
NY-USCCB-02: Refugee Assistance Program Catholic Charities
Address:
20 Herkimer Street
Buffalo, NY 14213
Phone:
716-842-0270

USCRI  (US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants)
NY-USCRI-02: International Institute Of Buffalo, Inc.
Address:
864 Delaware Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14209
Phone:
716-883-190

LOL!  I bet they are all competing with each other to bring in the paying refugee ‘clients.’

We have an extensive ‘health issues’ category you might like to visit, here.

Nine major federal resettlement contractors are choosing which towns get refugees; citizens kept in the dark

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

People ask me all the time, who is targeting our towns? 

Frankly, it is the nine major federal contractors (not accountable to the US taxpayer!)*** contracted by the US State Department as you can see from this page at the US State Department website. (Emphasis is mine)

Have a look at Key Indicators for Resettlement “Stakeholders.” This one has FY2014 on the cover but they say it is for FY2015 (I haven’t seen the newest one yet). When the federal govt. and its contractors began to run into ‘pockets of resistance’ they instituted this planning process to try to figure out which states had the best goodies for refugees, so you might find it useful. For example if your state expanded Medicaid under Obamacare, you are a more likely target than a state that didn’t! http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/news/key-indicators-for-refugee-placement-fy2015-report-released

US State Department:

Planning for Refugees’ Arrival in the United States

The Department of State works with nine domestic resettlement agencies that have proven knowledge and resources to resettle refugees. Every week, representatives of each of these nine agencies meet to review the biographic information and other case records sent by the overseas Resettlement Support Centers (RSC) to determine where a refugee will be resettled in the United States. During this meeting, the resettlement agencies match the particular needs of each incoming refugee with the specific resources available in a local community. If a refugee has relatives in the United States, he or she is likely to be resettled near or with them. Otherwise, the resettlement agency that agrees to sponsor the case decides on the best match between a community’s resources and the refugee’s needs.

Information about the sponsoring agency is communicated back to the originating RSC, which then works with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to transport the refugee to his or her new home. The cost of refugee transportation is provided as a loan, which refugees are required to begin repaying after they are established in the United States.

Once in the United States

The Department of State has cooperative agreements with nine domestic resettlement agencies to resettle refugees. While some of the agencies have religious affiliations, they are not allowed to proselytize. The standard cooperative agreement between the Department of State and each of the domestic resettlement agencies specifies the services that the agency must provide to each refugee. All together, the nine domestic resettlement agencies place refugees in about 190 communities throughout the United States. Each agency headquarters maintains contact with its local affiliated agencies to monitor the resources (e.g., interpreters who speak various languages, the size and special features of available housing, the availability of schools with special services, medical care, English classes, employment services, etc.) that each affiliate’s community can offer.

Key points of this brief description:

1) The NON-Governmental resettlement contractors meet every week to talk about who is going where in the US depending on what resources your town has to offer.

2) Refugees must repay travel loans, however what they don’t tell you is that the contractor gives refugees dunning notices and then gets to keep 25% of the money (your tax dollars) they collect.  So we often see as much as $2-3 million additional income the contractor pockets from collecting these loans.

3) The sub-contractors (aka affiliates) in 190 towns and cities are monitoring the resources your town has and filtering that information back to the nine major contractors.  So why can’t they share that information with you—the citizens of the town?   Wouldn’t you like to know the availability of places in the school system for children who don’t speak English, availability of housing, what health care opportunities exist in YOUR town? Etc.  How about an impact statement prepared by the contractor and feds and available for public review in your town?

About the Key Indicators:  The feds and the contractors hold quarterly “placement consultation meetings.”  I have written and asked to be informed of the location of upcoming ones, but have never had my request answered.   Also, check the section on “secondary migration” which is when refugees settled in one state pick up and move to another, mostly to be with their own kind of people.  Top state for secondary migration is Minnesota.

This post is filed in our category ‘where to find information,’ here.

***Nine major federal contractors which like to call themselves VOLAGs (Voluntary agencies) which is such a joke considering how much federal money they receive: