Sex-abuse charges against immigrant in MD dropped

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Your tax dollars:  

A Maryland judge recently dismissed a rape case against an asylee* from Liberia due to lack of a translator. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/21/AR2007072100660.html      

The immigrant from Liberia was charged with sexual abuse of a 7 year old girl but the case languished when an interpreter supposedly could not be found who spoke Vai, a tribal language of West Africa.   The Post reported that its reporters quickly found several local translators of the language. 

I’m mentioning this not because of the horrible crime committed and that no justice will be sought, but to highlight a growing problem for local communities.   Federal law requires that translators be provided by local jurisdictions for all sorts of needs of asylees and refugees.   Translators of obscure languages can cost $200 an hour and up.

Knight [court clerk] said the county spent nearly $1 million on interpreters last year, 10 times the amount it spent in 2000.  “It’s a constant struggle and it is extremely expensive,” she said.

At a recent meeting of agencies involved in refugee resettlement in Hagerstown, MD a $1500 Health Dept. bill was mentioned for translating Tuberculosis documents in anticipation of the arrival of Burmese (Karen) refugees.  Drug resistant TB is an increasing problem in the US as immigrant numbers rise.   The Virginia Council of Churches office in Hagerstown reports that they are working with seven differant languages at this time.

* For the definitions of refugee and aslyee go here:

  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/geninfo/index.htm

Iraqi Refugee drumbeat in WaPo today

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The Washington Post has a lengthy piece this morning on the Iraqi Refugee issue:

Envoy urges visas for Iraqis aiding US

The American ambassador in Baghdad, Ryan C. Crocker, has asked the Bush administration to take the unusual step of granting immigrant visas to all Iraqis employed by the U.S. government in Iraq because of growing concern that they will quit and flee the country if they cannot be assured eventual safe passage to the United States.

Just when you thought maybe Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff didn’t get it, note what he says in the interview with the Post.

Years ago, Chertoff added, Europe had more relaxed asylum standards, and it “wound up admitting a bunch of people who are now the radical extremists who are fomenting homegrown terrorism.”

See the whole article here: 

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/21/AR2007072101359.html

ORR — a helping hand to legals and illegals

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

 Your tax dollars:

ORR, short for Office of Refugee Resettlement, is located in the federal Health and Human Services Department and is the primary agency that hands out money for refugees through contracts and grants to the 10  major volags (voluntary non-governmental agencies) that run the resettlement programs for legal immigrants in your cities and town. 

Apparently ORR is also contracting to non-profit groups to run special schools for the children of illegal immigrants, as reported in this AP story yesterday:

Immigration reform advocates say foster programs encourage fraud

http://www.kltv.com/global/story.asp?s=6818186

They [children in Brownsville Texas] are enrolled at International Educational Services — which is 1 of more than 30 nonprofit agencies under contract with the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement.

This ORR program is described here:   

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/programs/uac.htm

It would be helpful to get a list of the 30 non-profit agencies running this federal program.