Tag: Afghan refugees

No Afghan Community in Wyoming, so Let’s Build One! says Episcopal Pastor

~ Ann Corcoran

Thanks to a reader for alerting me to more news about churches in Wyoming hankering for their very own Afghans (I won’t call them refugees as they are not!) even as the governor has so far said Wyoming won’t be part of Biden’s airlift.

From the Daily Wyoming Cowboy:

Wyoming Churches Take In Afghan Refugees After The State Governor Refuses

CHURCHES in Wyoming hope to support Afghan refugees to live among them. The churches step in because their state is the only one in the United States that does not have a refugee resettlement program.

Wyoming Episcopal Bishop Rt Revd Paul-Gordon Chandler said he was greatly encouraged by the churches’ desire to “welcome the stranger.”

In a letter to the congregations last week, he said: “Some of the churches in our diocese are currently examining the possibility of accepting an Afghan refugee family or, in one way or another, supporting the resettlement of Afghan refugees in our country. For example, the sacristy of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Casper last month voted unanimously to begin investigating the process of sponsoring an Afghan family.

“Since Wyoming does not have a government-funded refugee resettlement program, it requires some creative thinking and close collaboration with the episcopal migration ministries whose mission is this sacred work.”

He said that while the office was not “lobbying” the governor’s office on the matter, it was having “encouraging talks”.  [I sure hope those of you concerned about changing Wyoming are having “talks” with the governor too!—ed]

[….]

The Rector of St. Mark’s in Casper, Wyoming, Revd Dr. Jim Shumard told ENS: “Most Afghan families want to go where there is an Afghan community. There is no community here. We pray that other local churches will support other families so that we can build a fellowship together. “

There is more.  Wyoming is just too white!

He is right, most refugees will simply up and move to be with their own kind of people.

Local church volunteers will burn out trying to supply all the needs of the newcomers who won’t have jobs for a long time, who won’t be able to drive themselves to anything, and who will expect certain culturally appropriate foods and so forth.  Eventually the ‘new Americans’ up and move to ethnic enclaves of their own kind with nary a farewell glance. I have seen it many times!

However, what their presence will bring is a resettlement contractor office such as the one mentioned in this article—Episcopal Migration Ministries—one of nine federal contractors (below for new readers)!

It bugs the heck out of them that Wyoming has resisted their “sacred work” for over 4 decades.

 

The Middle East Moves to Michigan

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

First it was Iraqis and soon it will be Afghans who call Michigan home…

Michigan Live has done a very good job of analyzing refugee data and pointing out that Michigan is in the top five most ‘welcoming’ states in America when it comes to refugees, especially Muslims from the Middle East!

Michigan among top 5 states for most refugees in the last decade

Michigan received the fourth-most refugees of any state in the last decade.

Michigan admitted 30,467 refugees from 52 countries since 2010, according to the U.S. Department of State, and more than half immigrated from Iraq. Michigan was a top destination for refugees during a spike caused by the Iraq War, and the state is expected to be a key player in the effort to resettle refugees seeking a new start after the Afghanistan War ended last month.

Texas, California and New York were the only states to bring in more refugees since 2010. Texas nearly doubled Michigan’s total with 59,878 refugees.

Michigan ranked 11th in the country for refugees per 100,000 residents. Plains states — North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Idaho — led the nation in refugees per capita.

Five states during the last decade — Texas, California, New York, Michigan, and Arizona — received one-third of all refugees resettled nationwide.

There is much more about other states too.  This is a screenshot of an interactive map Michigan Live published. Go check it out.

One important point the Michigan story highlights is that refugees do move from where they were originally placed by a resettlement contractor.

They move to live with their own cultural groups, in other words, they move to be with their own kind of people.  It is funny that no one calls them racist for that!

So once an enclave has begun to build, it will grow.   Somalis to Minnesota is a case in point.

See my many posts on Michigan by clicking here.  (And please use my search window as a starting point for your research.)

If you missed it, see a succinct summary of how Biden’s first wave of Afghan  evacuees (they are not legitimate refugees) are being categorized and where they will be placed (Nayla Rush at the Center for Immigration Studies).

 

Editor:  Apologies from me for not being able to keep up with everyone’s requests for information.  I am overloaded on all fronts as I try to maintain some balance in my life.  Some of you have noticed that I have deactivated my Facebook page—yes, I have.

My e-mail boxes are full and overflowing! The very best way to reach me is to send a comment to this post if there is something you want me to see.  I do review and moderate comments every day or so, and if you have sent me  some information that is off topic, I won’t post it, but will see it.

South Dakota one of Four States that won’t get Afghan Evacuees (yet!)

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

“We had really significant concerns about our ability to provide the level of support to help make that integration successful.”

(Rebecca Kiesow-Knudsen of Lutheran Social Services South Dakota)

 

Wow! I can’t believe a refugee contractor is actually telling the truth!  No, they don’t have the resources and neither does South Dakota or America for that matter!

I was amazed to see that the AP reporter actually remembered that Noem was one of the virtue-signaling Republican governors who told Donald Trump no thanks in 2019 when he tried to give the governors veto power to stop refugee resettlement in their state.

 

Republican Governor Kristi Noem will get the credit, or the blame, for blocking the Afghans depending on which side of the great divide one resides.

I had a couple of other things I had planned to write about today until I saw this AP story.

Both other possibilities are stories written by John Binder at Breitbart who is really on top of the news about the flood of ‘new American workers and voters’ Biden is pulling in from around the world.

Heck, they won’t have to cheat in elections once they change the electorate!

From AP (where they have gotten something right in their headline—these are mostly not refugees!):

South Dakota is 1 of 4 states not resettling Afghan evacuees

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota is one of four states, along with the District of Columbia, that won’t be resettling any of the nearly 37,000 Afghan evacuees who made it to the U.S. during the final days of its chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan last month.

Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota, which is the state’s refugee resettlement agency, decided not to accept any Afghans after weighing local conditions and its ability to resettle them.

Rebecca Kiesow-Knudsen, the group’s chief operating officer, said Thursday that those arriving from Afghanistan without special immigrant visas are currently not eligible to work or receive federal aid to help them resettle.

“We had really significant concerns about our ability to provide the level of support to help make that integration successful,” she said.

Kiesow-Knudsen said the agency was facing a “rapidly evolving situation” that could change depending on whether Congress decides to provide funding and work eligibility for evacuees who have not been granted refugee status.

How financially burdened will your state be?

The Biden administration this week began telling governors and state refugee coordinators how many Afghan evacuees they would receive.

The numbers ranged from more than 5,200 people who are headed to California to as few as 10 being resettled in Alabama and 10 in Mississippi.

South Dakota, along with Hawaii, West Virginia, Wyoming and the District of Columbia, are not expected to resettle anyone from the first group.  [Really those Libs in DC and in Hawaii should be rewarded with refugees and they almost never get any!—ed]

Republican Gov. Kristi Noem last month expressed reservations about accepting evacuees from Afghanistan. She told KSFY-TV, “We do not want them coming here unless we know they are an ally and a friend, and that they don’t want to destroy this country.”

Noem in 2019 decided to continue allowing refugees to be resettled in the state after former President Donald Trump attempted to allow states to opt out of the program.

Remember this.  In American anyone can move and that includes migrants of all stripes.  Afghans may be placed in most states but they won’t end up there. As tribal people, as soon as they can they will be heading to enclaves where other Afghans have settled because they will want to be with their own kind of people.

LOL! We should take bets on how quickly the Afghans get out of places like Vermont (brrr!) and even places like Minnesota where the territorial Africans (who don’t see the ‘joys of diversity’) will be making it hard on the Afghans.

Check out my archive on South Dakota, another state I visited on my 2016 road trip!

Top Ten States that have Rolled Out the Red Carpet for Afghan Refugees

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

US News has done a handy analysis you can read yourself.

Nearly 100,000 Afghans have been resettled in the US in two decades.

Here is a screenshot of the summary of where most of them went:

Interesting to see that Governors Kristi Noem (SD) and Mark Gordon (WY) have said no thanks.  However, they may soon learn they have no say in the matter.

Know that Wyoming is the only state in the nation that has never set up a refugee program.  

Go here to see the states where governors have remained silent on accepting Afghans.

It is really a moot point however, since it has been established that states cannot say no.  Trump attempted to give them that power, but almost all Republican governors rejected his plan.

Massachusetts Jewish ‘Refugee’ Contractor: We can’t do all this work without money!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Of course I have been making the point for 14 years—these so-called religious charities that resettle refugees in the US (the Afghans are not legitimate refugees!) would quickly go belly-up if they had to find private money for their religious charitable work.

They can’t raise enough money to place thousands of refugees without the federal dole, so what does that tell you?  It tells me that there isn’t popular support from average Americans for what they are doing!

I’m not picking on Massachusetts or this Jewish resettlement agency, it just happens that this story, of MANY stories that are coming to my attention, came to me as I sat down to write a post for today.

This complaint is everywhere—-too many evacuees, little payment for services for the contractors, no affordable housing and these Afghans, most of them, won’t be eligible for welfare including food stamps unless Congress changes the law.

Somehow the chosen towns and its citizens are going to have to cough up the financial support.

And, you can be sure they won’t be put up in Hyannis! 

That would only be fair since it was ol’ Teddy himself who created the refugee admissions program and the Special Immigrant Visa program for Iraqis and Afghans.

You can be sure that no Afghans will be housed at Massachusetts’s Hyannis Harbor Hotel!

 

Before I give you the story, know that the contractors*** are knocking on doors that were previously slammed in their faces—like this one in Rutland, Vermont.

From Masslive:

Nearly 1,000 Afghan refugees are set to arrive in Massachusetts – are we ready?

Roughly 1,000 Afghan evacuees are going to be rehoused in Massachusetts communities, Maxine Stein, president and CEO of the Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts (JFSWM), told MassLive on Thursday, although the specific date is yet to be confirmed.

The problem for non-profits like JFSWM is funding and permanent housing.

[….]

Republican Governor Baker: Welcome Afghans whoever you are!

Gov. Charlie Baker issued a public statement on Aug. 17, at the height of the crisis in Afghanistan that Massachusetts is ready to assist Afghan refugees seeking safety and peace in America, but little has been revealed on the state’s plan for the intake.

 

Where is the MONEY?

So far no money has been promised to aid the work the charities are doing to rehouse the refugees and Baker’s office has not laid out any guarantee of support.

“I think we’re getting to a point now where we’re being asked to do all of this work, and that’s wonderful, but we are given no resources to do it,” said Stein. “The state of Massachusetts is welcoming Afghan refugees, but we need to see some financial support.”

JFSWM is looking at three communities to house the 150 Afghan evacuees they can help: Framingham, Pittsfield and Springfield.

If you live in one of those Massachusetts towns and you aren’t happy with what you are hearing, you better speak up now or forever hold your peace!

Check out my archives to see that Springfield, Mass, a working class town, has been a real pocket of resistance over the years.  Nevertheless, the State Department continued to shove refugees down the mayor’s throat.

***The primary contractors have around 100 subcontractors working for them….

The Springfield Jewish agency is a subcontractor of HIAS.