International Institute of Connecticut had problems back in 2006

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

 Update later today:  I just learned that there is an entire series of articles on the Burmese Karen refugees in Waterbury, CT at the Republican American here.

We have been following the case of the International Institute of Connecticut for a few weeks.  Most recently the volag was temporarily suspended from resettling new refugees stemming from complaints that Burmese Karen refugees had not been properly cared for.

Now it has come to our attention that this same subcontractor of the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) had received a warning in March 2006 from the Office of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) of the US State Department.

In a summary of findings government investigators reported:

“……monitors expressed serious concerns regarding substandard housing and poor documentation of R & P (Reception and Placement Program) service delivery.  One housing complex frequently used by IIC (International Institute of Connecticut) to place refugees was in such poor condition that monitors strongly suggested the affiliate phase out the use of these buildings for refugee accomodation.”

The report goes on to document how large families, one a Meshketian Turk family of six and another Somali family of eight were living in two bedroom apartments.   And, although the families had been in the US for over 5 months at the time of the monitoring visit, neither had a family member employed.    A description of the living conditions of these families and a couple of others visited were shocking.  I want to remind readers that we have heard of this practice of placing refugees in substandard housing from other areas of the country as well.

The issue of lack of proper furniture is inexcusable because as we all know, furnishings are readily available through various charities and if the IIC just put out word they needed this or that, citizens would have happily donated the excess we all seem to have in our homes.

In its Response to PRM, IIC director Myra Oliver says the large families chose to continue to live in crowded conditions because they did not want to pay, or could not afford, higher rents.  That may well be so, but I suspect Connecticut has zoning laws that require a certain number of bedrooms for given family sizes as we have here in Maryland.  So, the refugees can’t choose to break laws, it’s up to the resettlement agency to figure out this problem.

In addition to zoning laws, the State Department sets certain guidelines for such things as appropriate apartment size as a condition for the non-profit group to receive federal funding.

In defense of IIC, it appears they attempted to find employment for able-bodied family members and a single Somali man, but the refugees themselves either refused the work or quit.    The Meshketian Turk refugees had been employed with the help of IIC at landscaping work, McDonalds, and a Holiday Inn.  They all quit their jobs.

The Somali family has employed members now after some initial fits and starts at various jobs.    The single Somali man, highlighted in the PRM report, had refused a job in a supermarket according to IIC’s response document which states:

“The PRM report inaccurately states that this client was offered two jobs as a butcher.  The client was actually offered two jobs at supermarkets–one was to clean the floors and the other to retrieve shopping carts. The client refused both jobs because there was pork present in the supermarket.”    [RRW: Muslim prohibition on eating pork, guess they can’t be within miles of it!]

What struck me as most interesting when reading through the complaint and the IIC’s response is that one got the definite impression (or at least I did) that the employees of the IIC were very annoyed to have been monitored, but more significantly I got the feeling that they didn’t really like the people they were responsible for resettling.  

I wondered if it’s possible that there is a disconnect of sorts.  People choose to go into this line of work—helping to resettle the Third World to America with this notion of how wonderful it will feel to see families with children working their way up the ladder of success in the United States.  You know–the image of the hardworking immigrant who betters himself and his family in the land of opportunity.  Then to be slapped constantly with the reality of  representatives of many cultures that do not, and never will have, the work and life ethic of Americans because they have come from a culture radically differant from ours.   It must be difficult because then resettlement work is just a job, just a federally funded pay check. 

Cultural Orientation needs to be more extensive

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

If you have wondered how much orientation to western living refugees receive before leaving camps in Asia or Africa, here is an article from a UN agency about Burmese Karen people preparing for their new lives by receiving instruction in everyday living in America. This article points out that these programs need to be more extensive and in the native language of the refugees.

Feedback on the cultural orientation sessions has generally been positive although one IOM instructor told IRIN: “I feel the programme and training is good but time is a constraint and perhaps it should be longer.”

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Some of the refugees, while appreciating the programme, felt the period for studying English was insufficient and some complained that the DVDs were not in the Karen language.

But, in light of the on-going controversy in Waterbury, CT, I’m thinking those Karen people resettled there may have already learned some western ways and have spoken up.  Go back and read about them here (esp. see Ya Za and his tape recorder) and then you will laugh at this quote.

“We find the Burmese refugees don’t want to make waves … it’s part of their culture to keep their problems within the family,” Salinkowski told IRIN. “So sometimes when a problem arises, they don’t tell the resettlement agencies about it and they go for months without dealing with the problem.”

State Department shuts down Connecticut volag

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update May 10, 2008:  The State Department has yanked their contract, see the latest news here.

We told you a few weeks ago that the International Institute of Connecticut had come under fire from Burmese Karen refugees and their church advocates for not taking care of the refugees they had been contracted to resettle.   Now comes news that the State Department has shut them down, at least for now. 

WATERBURY — The U.S. State Department has temporarily halted the International Institute of Connecticut from processing any more refugees because of failures in the way Burmese refugees were resettled here.

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Admitting the institute was “deficient” in its handling of refugees, the president of the national organization that contracts with the State Department said until the institute changes the way it helps refugees, it will not be allowed to resettle any incoming refugees who are not related to those already here.

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“Mistakes were made and you ended up with some folks that did not get the best the resettlement community has to offer,” said Lavinia Limón, President of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, parent organization of the International Institute of Connecticut. “No one person was assigned for families. That’s difficult for people who are so lost like these people… The refugees didn’t really know who was responsible for them.”

It is maddening!  Read the whole article!   We keep hearing this story from all over the country.  We experienced it ourselves when we saw the volag here in Hagerstown, MD place refugees in the worst, most crime-ridden section of the city.  Is it just sheer incompetence, simply a case as Ms. Limon told the reporter, of things falling through the cracks.

The Burmese Karen Christians have lived in camps for years.  I don’t understand how they could possibly be independent and out to work in America within weeks or even months.   They need to learn English, they need to learn our bureaucratic mazes, and for goodness sakes they need to learn the simplest things that we take for granted.  And, I believe, the care and attention they receive from the church members will ultimately help them become a part of our culture.

On the one hand Ms. Limon says volunteers are important and on the other suggests that the refugees are being coddled by the churches.  This last comment from Ms. Limon is especially annoying.

“What I have heard is that the churches have put themselves in the position of advocacy vis-à-vis the refugees. The institute feels these refugees are its responsibility and that they’ve maybe fallen down on the job and having these third parties come in as if they are the guardians of everything that is good and right in the world has engendered some defensiveness.”

Why on earth would someone want to discourage volunteer involvement? We need less refugees and we need better care for the ones we do take, and that care involves helping them become assimilated to America.  Hurrah for the church people of Waterbury!

By the way, Lavinia Limon and the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants has other problem subcontractors as well.  Check out the International Institute of Erie here.

See our interview with Chris Coen, Friends of Refugees, for more on how refugees have been left in the lurch by government funded volags.

The E-2 Treaty Investor, what’s this all about?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I’m getting off track, this is not about refugees, but as far as I know no one is looking into the other immigration programs that bring numbers of future citizens from perhaps less than desireable places to America.    Always on Watch sent me this link the other day and I wondered if it tied in with what I’ve written about our Hagerstown convenience store food stamp scam and others we have written about here.

I was shocked at the list of countries that can send people to invest in America.  What if they are coming in with a bankroll from say Pakistan and opening up convenience stores and gas stations that accept food stamps? 

Let’s start by reviewing the rules for getting E-2 Treaty Investor status. That status gives nationals of certain countries the right to live in the U.S. while directing and developing a commercial enterprise. E-2 status is also available to essential employees of the investor.

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The investment cannot be passive (for example, bank accounts, undeveloped land). Further, an investment that only supports the investor and his or her family is a problem. The government likes to see at least one employee.

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To qualify for E-2 status, you must be a national of Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, China (Taiwon), Chile, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Grenada, Honduras, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Krygzystan, Liberia, Luxemourg, Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, the Phillipines, Poland, Romania, Senegal, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey or the United Kingdom.

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As for the investor green card program, many people with substantial financial resources find easier ways to get permanent residence. That’s because the program is very restrictive. Still, for those with the money to invest and no other way to get immigrant status, it can be a path to permanent residence.

Just something to think about.

And, since we don’t have much humor at RRW, here is something a friend sent me last night.  It’s one of those things circulating around the internet with no author.  You gotta laugh!

SERIOUS NEWS

Warning From Pakistan This morning, from a cave somewhere in Pakistan, Taliban Minister of Migration, Mohammed Omar, warned the United States and Canada that if military action against Iraq continues, Taliban authorities will cut off America ‘s and Canada ‘s supply of convenience store managers. And, if this action does not yield sufficient results, cab drivers will be next, followed by Dell and Sprint customer service reps. _____It’s getting ugly!

 

Salt Lake City, UT refugee overload?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Here is an article that appeared all over the place in the last couple of days featuring a wonderful woman who is helping refugees in Salt Lake City.   She had a troubled past, addicted to drugs and living on the street, and has now found comfort in helping refugees, mostly Africans, to learn to live in America.  Nice story, but to me the story had more to it.

First, the city is lucky to have Veronica Moses because it sounds like the Resettlement agencies are overloaded and refugees are not getting the support they need.   This is happening everywhere it seems and Moses gets it.

Moses has been sober for five years now, but she spent several years hooked on cocaine and heroin and living with other wayward young people on the streets of Salt Lake City. She stayed in Pioneer Park and seedy motels. She lived for drugs and couldn’t quit. One day, when police pulled her from a trash bin downtown, she finally did.

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“I am looking at this population, and I know what can happen,” Moses says. “If they don’t have mentors, if they aren’t taught how to be independent, if they aren’t loved ….”

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“In five years, we will see the crime population, the drug population, drug selling. It’s all going to rise,” she says.

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A series of events last spring and summer threatened to allow scores of young refugees to fall through the cracks

The “event” involves the sale of an apartment complex where many of the Africans, mostly Somali Bantu, had been placed by the volag resettlement agency.  The Somalis were evicted. The apartment owner becomes the bad guy.

The new owner had increased monthly rents and quit accepting Section 8 housing vouchers, which helped to subsidize rents. In addition, about 40 percent of residents were supported by a federal rental assistance program that ended last summer.

We’ve heard this story before in Shelbyville, TN and Manchester, NH.   The quality of an apartment building declines dramatically when it is largely occupied by refugees who have not been properly instructed in how to assimilate to American culture.  

What I took away from this article in the Deseret Morning News was that refugees are lucky to have Veronica Moses but that there are too many refugees going to Salt Lake City and not enough people to help them assimilate, so there will be more apartment owners unwilling to rent to refugees here and elsewhere.  I blame the volags for this.