Five Months Into Fiscal Year, 6,273 Refugees Admitted; Big Story is Number of Afghans

As you all know by now the President submitted a refugee cap of 18,000 refugees to be admitted to the US between October 1, 2019 and September 30, 2020 (FY2020).  Five months into the fiscal year, the number stands at just over 6,000 according to the Refugee Processing Center.

But, not counted in that number is a special category of nationals from Afghanistan and Iraq known as Special Immigrant Visa holders who supposedly worked with us during those two long wars.  They are admitted with their families and are treated as refugees, but rarely mentioned.

(Don’t miss Daniel Greenfield’s piece on the “interpreter scam” where he did a deep dive into the numbers of Special Immigrant Visa holders, mostly Muslims, entering the US.)

Another 6,221 Afghans and 146 Iraqis were admitted (as SIVs) in this fiscal year (so far) bringing the total of those given all the benefits of refugee resettlement to 12,640 in the last five months.

I think we should get used to referring to the refugee numbers that way—adding together the regular refugees and the SIVs.

Here (below) is a map showing where the regular refugees were resettled.

The top ten ‘welcoming’ states are Washington, California, Texas, New York, Michigan, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Minnesota, and Ohio.

 

How many Muslims?

If you are wondering how many of the 6,273 regular refugees are Muslims, the number is 1,233. There is no Muslim ban!

Top Muslim sending countries so far this year:

Afghanistan: 514

Burma: 143

Iraq: 136

Syria: 115

Somalia: 80

Special Immigrant Visas…

So as I said above, so far this fiscal year we have admitted 6,221 Afghan SIVs.

In FY19 the number was 7,703, FY18 9,651 and in Trump’s first year FY17—a whopping 16,866!

There is no breakdown of religions for SIVs, but I suspect that virtually all of the Special Immigrant Visas are Muslims. If I am right and the vast majority are Muslims then 60% of the refugees/SIVs entering the US right now are Muslim.

There is also no map for SIVs, but there is a spreadsheet at the Refugee Processing Center.

See where most of the Afghan SIVs have been placed since FY07. Out of a total admissions number of 65,916. Five states have taken on most of the financial burden of these special ‘refugees.’

California: 24,307

Texas: 9,913

Virginia: 8,849

Washington: 3,806

Maryland: 3,506

Want to dig into these numbers yourself.  See my post Knowledge is Power IV on how to use the Refugee Processing Center.

 

Note to PayPal donors!  I want to thank all of you who send me donations for my work via PayPal. I very much appreciate your thoughtfulness. However, PayPal is making changes to their terms of service and I’ve decided to opt-out beginning on March 10, 2020.

Judge Says Trump Admin Not Moving Fast Enough Bringing in Iraqi and Afghan Special Visa Holders

SIVs are nationals of Iraq and Afghanistan who supposedly helped us during our long involvement in the Middle East.  They are most often referred to as “interpreters” but they could have done any menial job connected to our military or connected to non-profit groups operating in those countries and be eligible to come here and be given the same benefits as refugees—which means of course virtually all social services.

And, you are expected to believe that all SIVs we admit are just the salt of the earth like “Steve-O” here who was convicted of a brutal rape in CO in 2014. Real name is Jasim Ramadon and he was even a guest on the Oprah Winfrey show!  That is, before the rape that sent him to prison. https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2014/01/24/iraqi-refugee-rapist-found-guilty-in-colorado-diana-west-reports-the-story-nationally/

So the US goes to war in some hellhole country and then, admitting we didn’t leave them a better government and a safer country, Americans are expected to reach out and welcome tens of thousands of their people to the US so that the next time we go to war, the military can offer a ticket to America in exchange for our largely unwilling presence in their hellhole country.

Sorry, I do respect our military, but this is going too far.

Since October of 2006, and as of a week ago, we have admitted 64,501 Afghan SIVs and another 18,677 Iraqi SIVs and so we are being told that over 83,000 is NOT ENOUGH!

Want to see the numbers for yourself go to the Refugee Processing Center:

Cumulative Arrivals by State for Refugees and SIV Reception and Placement (R&P) Recipients – Afghan

Cumulative Arrivals by State for Refugees and SIV Reception and Placement (R&P) Recipients – Iraqi

 

83,000 is NOT enough says the International Refugee Assistance Project the same ‘non-profit’ law firm that has fought the Trump Administration in court on every immigration/refugee reform issue the administration has undertaken.

From the Military Times (a report that leaves readers believing that only a trickle have come in so far):

Former interpreters laud court ruling to accelerate special visa decisions

For thousands of Afghan and Iraqi nationals who served as interpreters with the U.S. military, visa applications to gain permanent legal residence in the United States have languished in legal limbo for years. Now there may be help on the way, in the form of a court ruling.

[….]

This week, however, a judge granted “class certification” to Afghan and Iraqi nationals suing the federal government for overdue visa decisions, allowing thousands of outstanding cases to be included in a class-action lawsuit.

[….]

US District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan,

Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, district judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, ruled in favor of the five anonymous Afghan and Iraqi nationals, “who, despite significant personal risk, aided the United States in its time of need and now look to the United States for refuge for themselves and their immediate family members.”

The federal government now has 30 days to submit a plan to adjudicate long-delayed visa applications that have been pending for more than nine months.

“We are thrilled that the judge is holding the government accountable to its obligations to the thousands of men and women who have sacrificed so much in serving the U.S. missions abroad,” said Deepa Alagesan, a supervising attorney at the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), in a press release.

[….]

Currently, a total of 22,500 visas could be issued to former Afghan interpreters through the Special Immigrant Visa program — up from the 18,500 limit — after a provision was included in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.

There is much more here.

Never forget! The SIV programs for Iraq and Afghanistan were created as riders to must-pass Defense authorization and appropriation bills and thus never went through the committee process to be stand-alone bills sent to the President for his signature.  Snuck on when hardly anyone was looking!

And, if you are wondering about vetting for the SIVs, here is another bunch (besides the CO rapist gang) who clearly slipped through and were busted for running an international fencing ring in California late last year.  There are probably plenty more like that they just haven’t come to my attention yet!

Mark my words, the SIV program is a ticking time bomb!

California: Three Afghans who Supposedly Helped our Military Busted as Ringleaders of Major Theft Ring

The story is posted over at ‘Frauds and Crooks.’

As many are, it was a tough call—is it a refugee story or a crime story?  Well, it is both.  So check it out at ‘Frauds and Crooks’ this morning.

Three of these men were flown to America and set up with a new life on your dime.  I think it’s time we cut off the flow of Afghan and Iraqi so-called Special Immigrant Visas.

And, btw, will the feds try to figure out who in the military vouched for three of these creeps?

NBC: Pentagon vs. Stephen Miller on Refugee Admissions for FY2020

I’ve already reported that our US military wants to give tickets to America to more Iraqi and Afghan ‘refugees’ as rewards for helping us in those long wars—one more reason not to go to war in Islamic terrorist-producing countries.

And, I would like to know for how many years after we’ve ended a war are we responsible for moving their nationals to our towns and cities?

See the staggering numbers of Special Immigrant Visa holders we have admitted from Afghanistan and Iraq already!  Over 56,000 from Afghanistan and over 18,000 from Iraq!

Why doesn’t NBC report that information?

Here NBC characterizes this year’s battle over the annual presidential determination as one of Stephen Miller vs. America’s mighty military!

Pentagon is last holdout as Stephen Miller tries to slash number of refugees allowed in U.S.

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is fighting against proposals by White House officials to drastically cut the number of refugees allowed into the U.S., and has called for reserving visas for Iraqis who risked their lives working for U.S. troops, according to five people familiar with the plan.

Miller vs. the military

In internal discussions, the Defense Department has expressed opposition to any further reductions to the current annual ceiling of 30,000 for refugee admissions, which already is at a historic low for the 40-year-old U.S. refugee program, the sources told NBC News.

Defense officials also proposed setting aside about 6,000 slots specifically for Iraqi applicants who worked for U.S. troops as interpreters or in other jobs, according to one current U.S. official, one former U.S. official and three refugee advocates briefed on the deliberations.

The Pentagon has emerged as the lone voice in internal debates defending the traditional role of a refugee program overseen by the State Department, an unusual twist that reflects the administration’s aggressive stance on immigration and refugees.

The Pentagon’s stance is at odds with White House senior adviser Stephen Miller — the architect of the president’s sweeping crackdown on immigration — and his allies at the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, who are all proposing deep cuts or even a halt to refugee admissions for the next fiscal year starting in October.

It is not likely to be zero as the White House floated here in July sending the refugee industrial complex into panic.

The White House, however, is weighing one option that would reduce overall refugee admissions — possibly lowering the cap to 15,000 or lower — while setting aside a certain number of openings for Iraqi applicants, similar to what the Pentagon has proposed, the sources said. [Someone must be blabbing to the media!—ed]

Keep reading and then see this:

Evangelical activist Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council and a strong supporter of President Trump, said earlier this month he was “alarmed” that the administration was considering more dramatic reductions in refugee admissions.

In a letter in July, nine evangelical leaders appealed to the administration to back up its frequent public statements on religious freedom and helping persecuted Christians abroad by raising the cap on refugee admissions.

Of course, Perkins wants more Christians, but those the military wants are mostly Muslims!

Then here, without mentioning that World Relief is one of nine federally-funded (and UN approved) refugee contractors that can’t survive without a steady flow of your tax dollars to their coffers, NBC quotes them as a representative of concerned evangelicals in America.

“The drastic decline in the number of refugees we are resettling in the U.S. is really troubling and it goes against everything that we believe about what our faith teaches us,” said Jenny Yang, vice president for advocacy and policy at World Relief, an evangelical organization that helps resettle refugees in the United States.

“It’s extremely concerning that the administration is not heeding the views of a lot of evangelicals.”

More here.

Just a reminder, FY2020 begins in ten days, on October first.

New Hampshire: Another refugee woman running for political office with compelling personal story

You are likely very well aware of the Somali former refugee running for Congress to replace Rep. Keith Ellison (the first Muslim man in Congress).  Ilhan Omar has a compelling story of sorts as allegations continue to surface that Omar married her brother in some complicated immigration fraud scheme.

Well the first refugee woman ever to run for the State legislature in New Hampshire used her compelling story (the Left loves compelling stories and the media laps them up!) to defeat a longtime Democrat in the primary.

By the way, Omar also unseated an incumbent Democrat in her primary in Minnesota.

But, I am posting the story of Afghan (via Uzbekistan) refugee, Safiya Wazir, because a bit of her story is instructive about the funny business in the US Refugee Admissions Program.

Here is the news from PRI (Hat tip: Joanne). It is a long story so I am skipping to the sections I found most informative.

This former refugee could win a seat in one of the whitest statehouses in America

Afghan-refugee-Safiya-Wazir-wins-NH (1)
For the Left, Wazir’s win is more about sticking it to Trump then Wazir herself.  She received 329 votes to Patten’s 143.  So 329 people have catapulted her to international stardom.   https://irontrianglepress.com/2018/09/14/a-refugee-wins-in-trumps-america/

She was 6 when violence divided her home, Afghanistan. Wazir remembers bombings and shooting when the Taliban arrived. Her dad was able to get the family out of the country.

[….]

“I remember my dad being in a black car sitting in front and I was sitting in the back with my mom, putting my head down on her lap, that far I remember,” Wazir says. “And then after that, I have no idea.”

They went to Uzbekistan. It was 1997. Wazir learned Russian.

So they had been safely settled (for ten years!) in Uzbekistan, a Muslim country adjoining their home country. Why were they even a candidate for resettlement to America?

Wazir remembers being in a meeting with a refugee resettlement agency, where her dad asked to be sent somewhere peaceful. They landed in Concord in 2007. [She would be a George W. Bush refugee.  Bush’s State Department was doing some questionable activity in Uzbekistan at the time.—ed]

[….]

After graduation, when Wazir was in community college, one subject kept coming up at home. It was time for her to get married.

“I would be like, ‘Mom, it’s too early. Just forget it,’” she says.

But Wazir’s mother won that debate.

So Wazir went to Afghanistan, married the man her parents chose for her and came back.

She went back to the country she escaped from?

The country where her family said they would be persecuted and thus feared to return, which is the whole basis for a refugee status determination in the first place!

It the President wants to reform the US Refugee Admissions Program, one easy fix is to disallow any returns, ever, for any reason, to the country a refugee said was unsafe for them.

We hear it all the time, Somalis go back to Somalia to visit the family (or whatever!), some (Bosnians) return to their countries of supposed persecution to sell property, and we even learned that Syrians traveled back for religious holidays.  Frankly, it is outrageous!

The PRI story continues with many paragraphs about unwelcoming New Hampshire.

Wazir’s friend, an African refugee thought of running for office, but he thought it would be hopeless in white New Hampshire.  Here is what he said about Wazir.

D’Almeida had thought about running for office himself — maybe city council — but he dismissed the idea as impossible. And in the end, that’s why he thinks Wazir is running for office: to prove a refugee can.

More here. 

There are a lot of lessons in this story.

But, bottomline is that if you are a minority, especially a refugee, a female refugee, with a warm and fuzzy personal story then the sky is the limit for your political aspirations.