One of the stories on the Tennessee meetingthis week, linked this handy chart (click here) for you to see how many refugees and from what country came to your state in fiscal year 2012. The Obama Administration/feds and their contractors were shooting for 70,000 refugees last year but resettled 58,238.
Check the numbers here (Refugee Admissions Report as of Jul 31, 2013) at WRAPS (Refugee Processing Center) and note that again Obama wants 70,000 and they may come close to that for FY2013. As of July 31st they had resettled 57,030 with two months to go until the fiscal year ends on September 30th. (These numbers do not include asylees)
You should open some of the other data tables at WRAPS, they are very informative.
I often forget about it myself, but we have an entire category entitled “Where to find information” that you might find useful.
Update: You might want to see what Tennessee is doing—-a Legislative Committee wants to know what refugee resettlement costs the state taxpayer, here yesterday.
You knew this was coming! Democrat Mayor Sarno of Springfield has figured out how to be politically correct while complaining about the overload of impoverished third worlders being dropped off in his city—just join forces with the contractors and tell the taxpayers they need to pony-up more of their hard earned cash to help refugees.
When resettling the refugees’ extended family members they are required to be placed within a hundred miles of the contractor’s office, so you can see how handy Springfield is to get spillovers from other hot resettlement sites like Boston, Hartford, Providence and Albany.
Sarno says the median income of Springfielders is $32,124, but get this! If you haven’t seen the news about the CATO study everyone was looking at yesterday, then you don’t know that Massachusetts is in the top five states in the nation where it pays more to be on welfare than to work! Here is the Wall Street Journal:
Refugees and Asylees are entitled to all of this! (See our fact sheet, here, for more goodies!)
WSJ:
The state-by-state estimates are based on a hypothetical family participating in about seven of the 126 federal anti-poverty programs: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; the Women, Infants and Children program; Medicaid; Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; and receiving help on housing and utilities.
In Hawaii, that translates into a 2013 package of $49,175 — up $7,265 from an inflation-adjusted $41,910 in 1995. Rounding out the top five areas for welfare benefits, along with their 2013 amounts, were: the District of Columbia ($43,099), Massachusetts ($42,515), Connecticut ($38,761) and New Jersey ($38,728).
So how much more do Sarno and the contractors (who launder tax dollars through their supposed non-profit groups) want from you?
Here is the latest from Springfield about a meeting next Wednesday. Concerned taxpayers should show up in mass!
In a letter to refugee support agencies, Mayor Domenic J. Sarno unveiled a four-point proposal that would call for more state and federal funding to extend assistance services and improve immigrant housing and neighborhoods.
In preparation for an Aug. 28 meeting designed to discuss concerns about refugees in Springfield, Sarno sent a request to officials at the Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts, Lutheran Social Services and the Catholic Charities Agency requesting a variety of data about refugees settled in the city and the services they receive. [Let’s see if they are more forthcoming with data than their compatriots elsewhere in the US!—ed]
The meeting was scheduled after Sarno released a letter he sent to the U.S. State Department asking that requests for future resettlement of refugees in the city be denied. It was met with strong criticism from the three agencies and other social service organizations in Springfield. [Again, these agencies are invested in Springfield. They have offices and staff members and receive their taxpayer dole by being paid by the head to resettle refugees—no refugees no payola!—ed]
More money please!
Sarno called for the state and local agencies to join him in advocating for more funding for services through the state and federal government.
We will be anxiously waiting to see an explanation of how the contractors (and the US State Department) pick their resettlement targets!
He also asked for an explanation of the transitional assistance offered to families including initial and long-term cash assistance, employment services, educational support for children, medical assistance, psychological counseling and housing support.
“I would like to obtain a copy of any documents indicating and corresponding to the applicable criteria used to select what communities refugees are placed in…and whether there is some attempt to measure the impact on the host community of the significant number of refugees living at or below the poverty line,” he wrote.
Here is how they do it! They just put pins in a map, quietly resettle a bunch of refugees, and see if anyone squawks. If they can keep any complaints out of the media, then that town or city becomes “welcoming” and the spigot is opened wide! Once a “preferred” community is established (with contractor offices in town,etc.), it is very hard (virtually impossible) to dislodge them.
See all of our previous posts on Springfield by clicking here.
The International Institute of New England (also a Limon family enterprise) says they never intended to slow the flow of refugees to overloaded Manchester beyond one year. Readers new to Refugee Resettlement should know that resettlement occurs on a fiscal year basis that begins on October 1 and runs to September 30th of the following year.
That means that there will be a big push from now to the end of September to get large numbers of refugees distributed to your towns and, then starting October 1, they will be working to fulfill the President’s determination (his wishlist!) for the number to be resettled in FY 2014. (Remember when so many of you testified to the State Department back in May, that was to get your input, which will be generally ignored, to the plan for 2014.)
From the Manchester Union Leader (hat tip: Joanne):
International Institute’s Benedict-Drew: No deal for FY2014!
Another 200 refugees will be resettled in Manchester in the coming months, a number that Mayor Ted Gatsas said breaks an agreement he had reached with a refugee resettlement organization.
However, the International Institute of New England said the agreement was only for a 12-month period that lapses next month. And the projection for the coming 12 months — 200 refugees for Manchester — is the same as the current period. An additional 50 will be placed in Nashua.
Carolyn Benedict-Drew, the director of the Boston-based International Institute of New England, said the refugees entering New Hampshire starting in October will most likely be Bhutanese and Iraqis.
They are really brazen about it—-turning refugees into VOTERS and turning red states blue!
Benedict-Drew said Bhutanese started settling in Manchester in 2008, and the first wave are in the pipeline to become citizens, about 300.
“These are going to be voting members of our community who will be building the economic base in New Hampshire,” Benedict-Drew said.
Report from USCRI (Lavinia and Peter Limon) says Manchester has lots of taxpayer supported health-care goodies for refugees including mental health and HIV/AIDs treatment:
A recent report by the International Institute of New Hampshire prepared for the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants said that the state’s two largest cities have a favorable economic forecast, medical clinics and facilities to treat refugees with mental health and physical problems, including HIV/AIDs, and access to state funding for English classes.
Mayor Gatsas says he still wants a moratorium and is following what is going on in Springfield, MA.
The abstract report described Gatsas as neutral on the additional 200 refugees.
But Gatsas said that’s not the case, and he continues to favor a moratorium on refugee resettlement. He noted the Democratic mayor of Springfield, Mass., has asked for a moratorium.
Benedict-Drew: We call the shots, not the duly-elected Mayor
Benedict-Drew said the agreement only covered the current year.
“There was never an agreement for more than one year,” she said. “We honored it for one year.
So why are the contractors so unwilling to give Manchester a break.
First, they are driven by an agenda that includes diminishing the role of states (under the 10th Amendment) and bringing immigrant voters to traditionally conservative cities and states. But on a practical level, they are paid by the head to resettle refugees and the various contractors are competing against each other to get their share of the clients (aka refugees). If an agency can’t resettle a certain number of refugees, they will have to close offices and reduce staff.
Once they find a community into which they can pour the poor, they are reluctant to give it up. Additionally, they are paid by the head to bring family members to join the relatives already in the ‘seed’ community. Last year’s resettled Burmese, Somalis, etc. want to bring their extended family to join them and the contractors want to oblige them by placing them in the same town.
That’s why, if you don’t have refugees yet, but there is some word you might get some, raise questions in the local media right away. I call that the squawk factor, if the feds and the contractors get the idea that the squawking (really the questioning) is not going to stop they will move on to a more “welcoming” target city.
Erie has received 4,989 refugees since 2001, Springfield, MA ‘only’ 1,712. Why aren’t the citizens of Erie squawking?
Since we are on the subject of Bosnians (see previous post on the Des Moines sex abuse case) and since a reader (pungentpeppers) alerted us to the news last week from the “preferred” resettlement city Erie, PA, I’m posting this tragic story as a lead-in to a discussion of the Limon family business of resettling refugees in Erie. Why Erie?
Here is the sad story from last week (via the UK Daily Mail). Why is it that some of the most interesting stories don’t make much news in the US, but instead one can pick them up in the UK press? Let me be clear, this sort of thing can happen to any family, the ethnicity of the family has nothing to do with a kid gone wrong, but it does give us an opportunity to discuss Erie!
Bosnian refugee family’s SUV was driven by unlicensed 15-year-old. AP Photo
Little Emir Zilkic died in a car crash on Tuesday after his 15-year-old sister lost control of the family SUV after taking it without permission.
Eight-year-old Emir was riding with his two older siblings, the unlicensed driver and a 14-year-old girl, near their home in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday night.
The teenage driver had sneaked away with the large 4-by-4 and was taking her younger siblings and two friends to McDonald’s when the car came off the road just four blocks from the family home.
Witnesses said the vehicle was speeding when it started rolling, and then flipped through the air.
At least three of the children were thrown out of the car as it flew through the air, but two were pinned underneath as it landed, Erie County Police said
Emir Zilkic was pronounced dead at the scene just after 9.30pm. The 15-year-old driver, their 14-year-old sister and two other children, a boy aged ten and a girl, 14, were taken to hospital.
The girl behind the wheel suffered a back injury and her sister a broken arm and internal bleeding, their mother Alma Zilkic told GoErie.
‘They say she was speeding, like 80 miles per hour, and lost control. And (Emir’s) gone,’ she told the paper.
The family, who hail from Bosnia, has lived in Erie for 14 years and Mrs Zilkic said the accident has hit them hard.
She added that she does not blame her daughter for the accident, as the Erie police continue the investigation of the scene of the crash.
So, why was Erie targeted as a preferred community for Refugee Resettlement?
Readers may recall Erie made the pages of RRW just ten days ago when neighbors cleaned up the yard of a Somali refugee woman who apparently has no husband (or no husband willing to do yard work), here.
All in the family!
We mentioned in that recent post that a few years back, the International Institute of Erie had some funny money problemsand the resettlement agency director was unceremoniously led from the office by Peter Limon (apparently Lavinia’s brother!). An audit at the time indicated the organization was in deep financial do-do and unlikely to survive. But, they have survived and are pouring the refugees into Erie to this day.
Go to the staff page, here, and scroll down from Lavinia to Peter. If you are just arriving here at RRW for the first time, Lavinia is President of the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), one of the nine major federal contractors. The Erie office is a subcontractor. Lavinia has actively used the revolving door as she moved from contractor to ORR Director for Clinton (handing out your money) and then back to contractor (receiving your money). USCRI receives 94% of its funding from you, the taxpayer. You pay her over $200,000 annual salary and benefits too!
According to a comment at Friends of Refugees,here, a former employee of USCRI said they had a saying:
Peter Limon is Lavinia Limon’s brother. It’s a family operation all right. I’m a former employee. As we used to say, “When life gives you Limones, …keep your head down and don’t ask questions…or else…”
By even large city standards, Erie is being swamped with refugees from approximately 33 countries (see below), and what I want to know is where the heck do they work, or do they work at all in a mid-sized US city with no major meat packing company (that I know of!)? In fiscal year 2013 (to the end of July), Erie had received 471 refugees, in 2012 it was 773, 2011 (783) and in 2010 it was 654.
Now, I’ve brought you all this way to tell you I have no answers. I don’t know why Erie was targeted for resettlement (still is) and I don’t know why complaints haven’t reached our desk. Maybe a reader can give us the answers, until then we must assume that everything is copacetic in “welcoming” Erie! Or, no one is brave enough to speak up!
For some comparison the top five resettlement cities (since 2001) for Pennsylvania are:
Philadelphia: 6,782
Pittsburgh: 3,283
Erie: 4,989
Lancaster: 2,495
Harrisburg: 1,310
Here is the diversity USCRI has brought to Erie over the years. Refugees from the following countries:
Afghanistan
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Bhutan
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Burma
Burundi
Central African Republic
Croatia
Cuba
Dem. Rep. Congo
Egypt
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Iran
Iraq
Kyrgyzstan
Lebanon
Liberia
Moldova
Nepal
Russia
Rwanda
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Somalia
Sudan
Syria
Togo
Uganda
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Vietnam
We have heard all of this before, but it’s important to continue to build our archive of problems from coast to coast because after a short time some of these local stories disappear and we don’t want that to happen.
Here is one good thingthat all readers should keep in mind about this story—getting publicity outside of the blogospere is an important goal. Normally the mainstream media treats the whole refugee issue with kid-gloves, and silly stories about refugees seeing their first snow abound! So, please help keep this controversy going! For example, if your local paper publishes a story about refugees in your town, send in a comment with a link to the Springfield story. It will help give backbone to your politicians.
The bad thingabout this Springfield case is that the media (with the volags input of course) is directing this story to a conclusion that the contractors need more taxpayer cash, when instead the conclusion should be—if we can’t afford the refugees, stop bringing them!
From The Republican which begins in the time-worn way of showing us a struggling refugee (who loves America anyway). Do reporters learn that in J-school (in Shaping the News 101)?
So, where is hubby? There has to be a man in her life! Or, is she completely dependent on you for her financial well-being? Photo by Stephanie Barry
So where is her husband??? (Two little ones and it sure looks like she is pregnant, although she does say she is eating well.) And why are we taking Muslim refugees from Muslim Turkey??? If she got to Turkey she was safe!***
(What the heck! Go here and see that we have brought over 3,000 “refugees” from a modern ‘European’ country—Turkey—this year alone! )
The latest from Springfield:
SPRINGFIELD — From a refugee camp in a war-torn area of Africa, to a stopover in Turkey to an apartment building near downtown Springfield, 21-year-old Hiboxasan Iyai found the challenges of her birthright were not yet over.
Among hundreds of Somali Bantu refugees resettled here since 2003, Iyai – a mother of a 3- and 1-year-old, has been struggling to feed and clothe her children since she arrived two months ago – she said during an interview hobbled by communication barriers.
With her limited English, Iyai attempted to sum up her plight through what amounted to an elaborate game of charades and about a dozen words of English. [Of course this means she isn’t going to be working for a living anytime soon!—-ed]
She has only been here two months, the building had code violations previously, so why did the Lutherans put her here?
America good,” she said with a broad smile, standing in the hallway of her apartment at 400 Franklin St, a triple-decker home that houses three families of Somali refugees run by a landlord based out of Meriden, Conn.
The property was one of several cited by the city for deplorable, “uninhabitable” living conditions earlier this year – primarily because mice and rats had infested the building so pervasively they were nibbling on a disabled child’s feeding tube on the third floor, according to city records linked to the house.
However, the owner, a member of MEG Realty LLC out of Connecticut (who would only give his first name, Eric) said he bought the vacant apartment building two years ago, gutted it, and rebuilt it with new windows, doors and appliances.
“It’s not my fault. It’s the tenants’ fault,” he said during a telephone interview on Thursday. “If they don’t keep the place clean and leave food out, it’s going to bring mice and rats.
Cash support for 90 days which gives them time to get signed up for a whole array of social services. Remember Senator Rand Paul got sneered at when he said they ‘bring ’em in and sign ’em up’ for welfare.
According to the state Office of Refugees and Immigrants, refugees receive cash assistance, “basic needs support reception” and placement services, funded through the U.S. State Department. For the first 30 days after arrival, host agencies provide assistance with housing, furnishings, food, clothing and transportation to job interviews. During the first 90 days, host agencies also provide help with applying for Social Security cards, registering children for school and tutelage on using public transportation and other public services. They also receive temporary medical coverage.
Sarno and Cotter suggested certain refugees, including many Somalis, appear to need far more support than the resettlement agencies provide and for far longer than 90 days.[That is where the Lutherans should bring in their private Christian charity, right!—ed]
Lutherans: We want them to be free! That’s why we bring them to America (give me a break!).
Jozefina Lantz, director for services for New Americans for Lutheran Social Services, said the local agencies prepare “very responsibly” in resettling refugees and providing support services.
There is a federal timeline for providing support, “but that is too short and we certainly serve refugees past that timeline.”
“If the refugee family runs into issues [a] year down the road they certainly know where to come and we will always help and always have,” Lantz said. “But let’s say three years down the road — that is not something we would follow.
Refugees are resettled to be free. To move freely to live freely. They are not our charge per se. We don’t do that level of control and monitoring.”
Food is good, Lutheran Social Services “not good.”
Iyai seemed to suggest that she was happy in her apartment, but struggled to show a reporter her budgeting challenges. She pulled a slips of paper from her wallet showing a $630 monthly cash allowance against a $540 rent payment and a $150 utility bill.
“Food, good,” she said, referring to her monthly food allowance.
She added that she had been resettled by Lutheran Social Services.
“Not good,” she said, unable to provide more detail in English.
Now the poor Somali girl is in trouble!
***This Turkey reference may be the most interesting thing in the whole story. For 6 years—from sea to shining sea—we have heard all of the sorry facts reported here (Springfield is just one more in a long list of problem cities).
But, I want to know what is this about bringing thousands of “refugees” from, or through, Turkey? If they have reached Turkey they should be safe, at least the Muslims like Iyai should be!
Turkey had resumed regular flights in and out of Mogadishu sometime in the last year, I remember reading that. They aren’t flying in there and picking up refugees to send to the US are they? 3,000 plus Somalis? Or, are they sending their Kurds to us in such large numbers? We know it isn’t the Syrians passing through Turkey (yet!).
Whatever the answer is, it looks like the US State Department is once again doing favors for other countries (we know Obama loves Erdogan). Are the refugees ‘chips’ to be used in a larger political game?
The economic and social price is paid by Springfield (and all the other preferred resettlement cities) which get to pay for the care of the refugees probably for decades. The Obama Administration (Bush too) gets brownie points with the humanitarian crowd. And, the Lutherans get job security, a warm fuzzy feeling, and move on to the next batch of paying clients.
One of the stories on the Tennessee meeting this week, linked this handy chart (click here) for you to see how many refugees and from what country came to your state in fiscal year 2012. The Obama Administration/feds and their contractors were shooting for 70,000 refugees last year but resettled 58,238.
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