In order to bludgeon the President, here comes another misinformed diatribe using theRepublican governors who consented to receiving more impoverished people for their states’ taxpayers to care for.
The writer (Steven Roberts) is a longtime Democrat who has lived in the Washington, DC/New York City elitist bubble as the husband of journalist Cokie Roberts. But, because he has lived in his bubble he hasn’t a clue about the refugee admissions program (Washington, DC gets only a handful), how it works, how it impacts communities, how it is paid for, and how it has admitted some evil, yes evil, creatures.
But, that hasn’t stopped him from running his mouth about something he knows so little about!
Roberts uses, as the star of his opinion piece, Gary Herbert, the governor of Utah who prattled on about a “beautiful cycle of charity” when he told the State Department to send Utah more refugees.
More like Esar Met?
Did the governor not know about the horrible murder committed by Burmese refugee Esar Met—the trial was front page news in Utah in 2014—when he penned his “beautiful cycle of charity” letter?
Or, is the governor hoping you all have forgotten about it? (If you don’t remember, it didn’t happen, right!)
I suppose we should forgive Roberts because the national media NEVER reported the story and frankly this is the primary reason I continue to report about the other side of the “beautiful cycle of charity.”
My mission is to balance the news! (and to remember!).
Steven V. Roberts: These Republican governors welcome refugees
Donald Trump didn’t reckon with Gary Herbert.
Since the day the president took office, he has conducted a morally abhorrent and economically absurd campaign against refugees, slashing the annual quota admitted to America from 110,00 during Barack Obama’s last year in office to 18,000 currently. [Like so many lazy lefties, he fails to mention that Obama never had numbers close to 110,000 in his previous 7 years in office.—ed]
Last fall, Trump doubled down on his appeal to the country’s worst nativist instincts, issuing an executive order that allows individual states and localities to bar all new refugees from resettling within their borders. Clearly, he thought most Republicans would join his cynical crusade.
Utah Governor Herbert, one of many Republican governors to turn on Trump!
Enter Herbert, the governor of Utah since 2009. Not only did he reject Trump’s offer, he wrote a letter to the president welcoming refugees to Utah and asking the administration to send more of them, not fewer.
“Those refugees who resettle in Utah become integrated and accepted into our communities,” wrote the governor. “They become productive employees and responsible citizens. They become contributors to our schools, churches and other civic institutions, even helping serve more recent refugees and thus generating a beautiful cycle of charity.This marvelous compassion is simply embedded into our state’s culture.”
It turns out that “marvelous compassion” is still embedded in our national culture, not just Utah’s, despite the president’s efforts to deny and destroy our heritage. Political leaders across the country, including many Republicans, have soundly rebuked the president because they know Herbert is right: Refugees are an enormous benefit to any community.
Church World Service’s CEO the Reverend McCullough is far left. That is Nihad Awad, CAIR’s head honcho in the middle. They were arrested on the steps of the Capitol this fall protesting the President. McCullough pulls down a handsome salary and benefits package for doing “moral” ‘religious charity’ work.
[….]
Some of the revulsion to Trump’s anti-refugee rampage is simply moral. The Rev. John L. McCullough, president of the Church World Service, an agency that helps resettle refugees, told the New York Times, “With one final blow, the Trump administration has snuffed out Lady Liberty’s torch and ended our nation’s legacy of compassion and welcome.”
[….]
The whole country will suffer from Trump’s poisonous policies. Gary Herbert’s “beautiful cycle of charity” is also a beautiful cycle of growth and prosperity.
You can read it all here . Roberts throws in a bit about how businesses need the cheap labor refugees provide in the “beautiful cycle of charity.”
Roberts fails to mention that for its “moral” charitable work Church World Service is paid millions annually by US taxpayers (62.3 % of CWS’s income is from federal grants according to a recent report at Charity Navigator).
Therefore it has a financial interest in opposing the President and lobbying for ever greater numbers of impoverished Africans, Asians and Middle Easterners to be dropped off in your towns and cities (but not in Washington, DC!) for local and state taxpayers to support.
One of CWS’s “moral” agitators!
This is now my third visit to USA Spendingin the last week.
Roberts’ column is syndicated so if you see it show up in your city, write a letter to the editor, use his column to get the paper to publish your views on the UN-driven Refugee Admissions Program.
Three down and six more visits ahead at USASpending.gov!
Florida has for decades been one of the top ten resettlement states in the nation, and so, just like Texas, has done more than its fair share of admitting impoverished third worlders and seeing to their (expensive) needs.
Now that Texas Governor Greg Abbott (read that story and send thanks to the governor) says he wants to take a breather from primary resettlement, albeit for only a few months this year (from June to September), the nine federal refugee contractors*** have turned their guns on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Will Florida Governor support the President’s efforts to rein-in the UN-driven Refugee Resettlement Program or cave like the other pandering (to the Left) Republican governors?
The contractors already have notches in their belts for 19 Republican governorswho foolishly jumped, long before they needed to, and begged the US State Department for more refugees from Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
When I sawthis article from Miami New Times, I laughed out loud!
Look who is trying to put the screws to the governor—none other than the “ministry” as the New Times calls them—Church World Service.
It is a long story for another day, but RRW exists because of Church World Service’s “ministry.”
(emphasis below is mine)
Florida Among Small Minority of States That Haven’t Agreed to Accept Refugees
The future of refugee resettlement in Florida hangs by a thread as Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis remains silent days before a crucial January 21 funding deadline.
Under an executive order signed in September by President Donald Trump, states and localities may choose whether to receive refugees in 2020. DeSantis is one of a shrinking number of holdouts: Only seven other states, six of them led by Republican governors, have yet to offer to accept more refugees, according to the resettlement agency Church World Service. Only one state, Texas, has declined to admit new refugees.
“Florida has historically been one of the most important states when it comes to refugee resettlement,” says Jen Smyers, policy and advocacy director for Church World Service’s immigration and refugee program. “It would be tragic for Florida to stop resettlement and would have serious implications for refugees already in the state.”
It isn’t tragic for Florida! It is tragic for Church World Service because they stand to lose millions of dollars!
I must say we are now, after more than a decade of watching, seeing media reports about how this whole business of refugee resettlement revolves around these nine federal profiteers getting their (our!) MONEY!
A decision by DeSantis to cut off refugee resettlement would also effectively preclude Florida resettlement agencies from qualifying for large amounts of federal funding. According to Smyers, agencies such as Church World Service depend on grants tied to resettlement work to keep the lights on and to fund many key services for refugees already in the state, including cash and medical assistance, English-language classes, and job training. If those federal dollars dry up, Smyers says, Church World Service could be forced to shutter its offices in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties.
To “keep the lights on” and pay the Reverend’s annual salary of over $300,000 (twice what the governor of Florida earns), so he can be arrested from time to time? See details of CWS income and McCullough’s compensation here.
Pay attention to this next paragraph. The lobbying pressure from the contractors is about their ability to get their MONEY in a timely manner!
The Reverend McCullough was arrested in 2014 protesting OBAMA’s deportation policies. The good Reverend earned over $1 million in salary and benefits in the last 4 years—good work if you can get it!
Technically speaking, DeSantis could make a decision anytime before new federal contracts go into effect June 1.
However, agencies such as Church World Service have until only January 21 to submit their funding proposals to the U.S. Department of State along with any letters of consent. In that sense, no decision from DeSantis could choosing to block resettlement.
[….]
Trump’s executive order also offered localities the opportunity to provide or decline consent to continued resettlement. However, the governor’s decision would likely take precedence.
If the governor says yes, individual counties are also required to say yes to the US State Department if they want refugees. See the Funding Guidance(the rules for the Executive Order).
*** For new readers these (below) are the nine federally-funded refugee contractors that operate as a huge conveyor belt monopolizing all refugee placement in America.
A ‘religious’ message from CWS’s “ministry!” CWS is one of three federally funded contractors suing to stop the President’s effort to reform the UN-driven Refugee Admissions Program.
And, they do not limit their advocacy toward only legal immigration programs, but are heavily involved in supporting the lawlessness at our borders.
The question isn’t as much about refugees per se, but about who is running federal immigration policy now and into the future?
Go here to see that the nine contractors sucked down over $3 BILLION in federal grants in the last 11 years.
(I plan to say this once a day from now on!)
I continue to argue that these nine contractors are the heart of America’s Open Borders movement and thus there can never be long-lasting reform of US immigration policy when these nine un-elected phony non-profits are paid by the taxpayers to work as community organizers pushing an open borders agenda.
LOL! Don’t miss “notable rulings” by Clinton-appointed Judge Peter Jo Messitte at wikipedia. He banned use of words “Redskins” from his court in 2014. I think you can see how the POLITICAL winds are blowing! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Jo_Messitte
Of course I wasn’t there and you can never completely believe the media spin by major news outlets like the Associated Press, but past experience informs us that, yes, the federal judge hearing the refugee contractors’ case is sympathetic to the three federal refugee contractors and not the Trump Administration.
In fact, he asked the contractors’ attorney if this was a political move by the President.
Did he ask the complainers if they were operating with political motives? I bet not!
Why isn’t he simply looking at the LAW?
(By the way, be sure to see Michelle Malkin’s excellent pieceon the President vs. the contractors yesterday to see the long list of the Open Borders activists expected to be in attendance for the political press conference the contractors held after the hearing.)
Judge weighs bid to stop Trump’s refugee resettlement limit
But of course this isn’t political for the contractors (ha!) as they held a press conference outside the court house after the hearing. Looks like they had a small crowd.
GREENBELT, Md. — A federal judge on Wednesday pressed a government lawyer to explain why President Donald Trump signed an executive order allowing state and local governments to reject refugees, questioning whether the change was politically motivated.
U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte in Maryland didn’t immediately rule on a request by three national refugee resettlement agencies for a preliminary injunction stopping the Trump administration from enforcing the order.
During a hearing on the request, the judge said the president’s order essentially changed a federal law governing the resettlement of refugees.
“On what authority is the president acting?” Messitte asked Justice Department attorney Bradley Humphreys.
Humphreys said the 1980 Refugee Act gives the president “ample authority” to make such a change.
“Why change it now?” Messitte asked. “Is it purely a political thing?”
Humphreys said the executive order is designed to enhance the involvement of state and local officials in the process of resettling refugees. But he insisted it doesn’t give them a “veto” over resettlement decisions.
The Trump administration announced in November that resettlement agencies must get written consent from state and local officials in any jurisdiction where they want to help resettle refugees beyond June 2020.
Church World Service, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and HIAS — a Jewish nonprofit — filed the lawsuit in Greenbelt, Maryland, on Nov. 21. They are three of the nine national organizations*** agencies that have agreements with the federal government to provide housing and other services for refugees. [Notice AP won’t say that there is federal money involved for the contractors.—ed]
They have been providing these resettlement services for decades,” plaintiffs’ attorney Justin Cox said. [Makes it sound like it’s all being done with their private ‘religious’ charity.—ed]
At least 41 states have publicly agreed to accept refugees, but a governor’s decision doesn’t preclude local officials from refusing to give their consent.
For instance, the Democratic mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts, has refused to give written consent for refugees to be resettled in the city. [This especially grates on Hetfield because the subcontractor being shut out in Springfield is one of HIAS’s subcontractors.—ed]
HIAS President Mark Hetfield called it “unacceptable and un-American” that refugees could be banned from living in cities or even entire states.He said the executive order doesn’t explain how the secretary of state could override a governor or county official’s refusal to give consent.
“It’s even worse than a veto,” Hetfield said. “It’s very clear that we can’t even submit for a place unless we think that they’re going to consent.”
LOL! He says they can’t “submit for a place!”
That is code for ‘we can’t put our applications into the US State Department for our MONEY’—the money that flowed to them by the millions for decades from your (taxpayer) wallets to their salaries, overhead, travel and so forth.
***For new readers these (below) are the nine federally-funded refugee contractors that operate as a huge conveyor belt monopolizing all refugee placement in America.
A ‘religious’ message from CWS one of three federally funded contractors suing to stop the President’s effort to reform the UN-driven Refugee Admissions Program.
And, they do not limit their advocacy toward only legal immigration programs, but are heavily involved in supporting the lawlessness at our borders.
The question isn’t as much about refugees per se, but about who is running federal immigration policy now and into the future?
(I plan to say this once a day from now on!)
I continue to argue that these nine contractors are the heart of America’s Open Borders movement and thus there can never be long-lasting reform of US immigration policy when these nine un-elected phony non-profits are paid by the taxpayers to work as community organizers pushing an open borders agenda.
Three big fish representing the Refugee Industry will be available to the press following the hearing.
This whole effort by the President to solicit consents (on non-consents) of governors and county elected officials throws a monkey wrench in the works for the nine contractors*** who have for decades been able to place refugees in pretty much any place they chose to set up a subcontractor office (of course in consultation with their ideological partners in the US State Department).
They will be in court to argue that you, taxpayers and citizens of Anytown, USA, have no right to voice your concerns about their ‘religious’ work of placing impoverished third worlders throughout America.
And, specifically that the President is blocking them “from fulfilling their faith calling and missions to ‘welcome the stranger,” says Church World Service’s Erol Kekic here.
Below is the news from something called Value Walk:
LIRS, CWS, HIAS vs Trump
This Wednesday [tomorrow!], on January 8, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland will hear arguments on the Trump Administration’s Executive Order allowing state and local officials to stop refugees from being resettled in their jurisdictions.
The new order was signed on September 26, 2019, and for the first time ever, requires resettlement agencies to obtain written consent from all localities and states in which they plan to resettle refugees. This could prevent refugees who have waited years from being reunited with their U.S.-based families, and communities from welcoming refugees, even if they have long-standing and successful resettlement programs.
On November 21, three faith-based resettlement agencies, HIAS, Church World Service (CWS), and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), filed a complaintagainst this new order, charging that it violates federal law and is yet another attempt by the Trump administration to restrict refugee resettlement in the United States.
WHAT:
The case being heard is:
HIAS v. Trump, brought by the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), on behalf of HIAS, Church World Service (CWS), and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS).
WHEN:
Arguments: Wednesday, January 8, 2020, 10 a.m. ET
Immediately following the arguments, (approximately 12:30 p.m. ET), attorneys and plaintiffs will give statements and respond to questions outside the courthouse.
WHO:
Linda Evarts, Litigation Staff Attorney, IRAP
Mark Hetfield, President and CEO, HIAS [HIASFederal funding from recent Form 990: $19,138,737—ed]
Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO, LIRS [LIRSFederal funding: 45,316,561—ed]
WHERE:
United States District Court
District of Maryland
6500 Cherrywood Lane
Greenbelt, MD 20770
The case is in the same court where an Obama-judge slapped the President on the so-called travel ban, but the judge is not the same one who made that decision.
See theschedule hereand note that the judge tomorrow is Peter Jo Messitte, a 79-year-old Clinton appointed judge. The pious contractors are surely ‘praying’ for a quick decision with the hope that Trump’s refugee program reform can be frozen in its tracks and they can go back to business as usual—changing America by changing the people and being paid for it!
I’m sure this information was posted so they could make sure some press showed up and maybe a little gaggle of supporters holding ‘Refugees Welcome’ signs (supplied by the contractors!).
I see that Alaska’s governor yesterday joined the bunch thumbing their noses at the President weeks before a flexible deadline—a deadline that could be moot depending on what happens with the contractors’ case tomorrow and in the coming weeks.
LOL! Now to my daily message for new readers….
***For new readers these (below) are the nine federally-funded refugee contractors that operate as a huge conveyor belt monopolizing all refugee placement in America.
A ‘religious’ message from CWS one of three federally funded contractors suing to stop the President’s effort to reform the UN-driven Refugee Admissions Program.
And, they do not limit their advocacy toward only legal immigration programs, but are heavily involved in supporting the lawlessness at our borders.
The question isn’t as much about refugees per se, but about who is running federal immigration policy now and into the future?
(I plan to say this once a day from now on!)
I continue to argue that these nine contractors are the heart of America’s Open Borders movement and thus there can never be long-lasting reform of US immigration policy when these nine un-elected phony non-profits are paid by the taxpayers to work as community organizers pushing an open borders agenda.
Jen Smyers of Church World Service: “The impact if Texas doesn’t allow refugee resettlement to continue will be really dismal.”
The Leftwing federal contractors *** are on pins and needles waiting to see if they can reel in their big fish—Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
Texas is their most desired catch because although Abbott tried to get out of the program several years ago, the state remains the top refugee placement state in the nation(the Left is turning Texas blue!).
Smyers told reporters that many church groups on the ‘religious’ Left and advocates for Open Borders have met with Abbott’s staff.
Abbott silent as refugee resettlement deadline approaches
The article suggests that the deadline is “looming.” It isn’t! as I explained herewhen I told you about the dumb Republican governors who jumped on the consent bandwagon prematurely when they obviously hadn’t read the guidance from the US State Department.
I wonder, did Governor Little get a call from Pompeo too? Did he get any suggestion from anyone in Washington that his MONEY depended on his consent?
Governor Brad Little joins the list of governors thumbing their noses at one of the the President’s major goals—reforming the dysfunctional UN-driven Refugee Admissions Program and reducing refugee admissions.
Although Idaho doesn’t receive the massive number of refugees that Texas does, it nevertheless has been one of the major controversial locations in the country where many citizens there do not want to see more diversity and more poverty moved from Africa, Asia and the Middle East to their rural state.
County, Little offer support for refugee resettlement, but questions over jurisdiction remain
You can read the story yourself, but I want to be sure you see the Governor’s letter to Secretary of State Pompeo:
You should consider this a weasel letter. The Governor is saying (sigh) if Twin Falls County wants it, it’s okay with me.
Twin Falls County
Three cheers for a government body that actually read the rules.
More important than the governor’s weak letter is this letter that Twin Falls County sent to the Dept. of State. In the opening paragraphs, commissioners criticize the Funding Guidancefor its lack of clarity, but toward the end of the three-page letter, they penned an important few paragraphs.
Don’t forget, this whole exercise is about whether federal contractors will get MONEY (your tax dollars) later in 2020.
Shut out of so-called ‘stakeholder’ meetings!
They want to be included in consultations in the future (having been shut out so far) and if this exercise is to be repeated they want to hold “robust public hearings.” That is exactly what should be happening across 49 states (Wyoming has never been in the program).
Don’t forget the 100-mile radius rule!
When a contractor is ‘hired’ by the feds and approval is given by, in this case, Twin Falls County (and the governor), contractors may place certain refugees in a 100-mile radius of the resettlement office.
With its consent, Twin Falls County has granted permission for refugees to be placed in these locations within a hundred miles. See radius calculator.
This region includes 11 counties: Blaine, ID; Butte, ID; Camas, ID; Cassia, ID; Elmore, ID; Gooding, ID; Jerome, ID; Lincoln, ID; Minidoka, ID; Power, ID; Twin Falls, ID
***For new readers these (below) are the nine federally-funded refugee contractors that operate as a huge conveyor belt monopolizing all refugee placement in America.
Church World Service poster girl!
For decades they have decidedin secrecy where to place refugees and they don’t want to lose that power because even as they pontificate about their religious convictions and humanitarian zeal, they are Leftwing political activist groups working to change America by changing the people and using your money to do it!
And, they do not limit their advocacy toward only legal immigration programs, but are heavily involved in supporting the lawlessness at our borders.
The question isn’t as much about refugees per se, but about who is running federal immigration policy now and into the future?
(I plan to say this once a day from now on!)
I continue to argue that these nine contractors are the heart of America’s Open Borders movement and thus there can never be long-lasting reform of US immigration policy when these nine un-elected phony non-profits are paid by the taxpayers to work as community organizers pushing an open borders agenda.
