HuffPo: Refugee processing pipeline being restarted, contractors optimistic

05/31/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

When I looked at this article (Huffington Post) more carefully, I see it only sends a garbled message about whether the refugee pipeline is being geared up to start seriously flowing again or is only trickling.
But, it does appear that the resettlement contractors are getting excited that it will flow with gusto soon since they are rehiring staff they let go shortly after Trump put out his first Executive Order.

Limbaugh: “Does he know that it’s the Republicans that are the roadblock here?”

I think the Trump team made a big mistake by placing the refugee moratorium (to assess the adequacy of our security screening) and a reduction in the CEILING for refugee admissions in an Executive Order with the so-called travel ban for all those coming from the terror hot-spot countries.

It is my view, that Trump did not need an EO to slow the flow of refugees across the board!

By combining the two (the ceiling cap and the ban) and the subsequent rogue court decisions, Trump has lost (given up?) his power (the power the President is given in the Refugee Act of 1980 to set the admissions limit on refugees). And, thus everyone is confused, apparently even within his Administration.
To add to the confusion the Republicans in Congress funded the US Refugee Admissions Program at a level for 75,000 refugees to be admitted by September 30th (the last day of this fiscal year), AND Trump signed it!

75,000 would be the second highest admission number in ten years! (see chart below)

Indeed, Rush Limbaugh was right yesterday when he asked (on a different issue): “Does he know that it’s the Republicans that are the roadblock here?”
Again, the President has the power to set the ceiling in “consultation” with Congress. If Trump wanted to take them on he could ask for a rescission of those funds to admit the numbers he wants—which he said would be UNDER 50,000!

Every day that the White House is silent on the stunning news we heard last week says to me that the White House agrees with the 75,000 admissions this year.

Why do the Republicans in Congress want to keep the pipeline going?
It is because most of them work for their big business donors and the Chamber of Commerce to guarantee a steady supply of cheap immigrant labor! Adding insult to injury, your tax dollars support refugee families through the welfare system because wages are too low! You pay for the importation of the labor and for the laborers’ support once here!

It is really quite a difficult obstacle for us (who wish to see the USRAP reformed) to overcome—big businesses and global corporations pushing cheap labor in conjunction with so-called ‘religious’ charities (paid by taxpayers!) claiming this is all about humanitarianism while essentially acting as ‘head hunters’ for big business.
Anyway, here is the HuffPo’s latest on the pipeline flowing:

The United States appears to be resuming its longstanding efforts to resettle refugees after the program was derailed and almost completely upended abroad for several months.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services “has begun to expand its interview schedule in the 3rd quarter of the fiscal year,” public affairs officer Marilu Cabrera told HuffPost in a statement on Friday. The Department of Homeland Security is working with the State Department to plan for a “further expansion” through the end of fiscal year 2017, she added.

[….]

Jen Smyers is a lobbyist for Church World Service in Washington, DC. “Director of Advocacy” is just a fancy name for lobbyist. https://cwsglobal.org/jen-smyers/

Even though both orders were blocked in federal court, the administration quietly pumped the brakes on various steps of the resettlement process that occur overseas. Vetting and screening refugees is an 18- to 24-month process, involving interviews with many branches of the U.S. government as well as various security and medical clearances.

[….]

USCIS noted in its statement that circuit rides ― a technical term that refers to DHS agent travel to different countries to conduct refugee interviews ― were suspended on Jan. 25, just prior to Trump’s first executive order, and continued on a reduced schedule from January through March.

In addition to stalled DHS interviews, security and medical checks expire after several months and “none of them [were] being re-run, said Jen Smyers, the associate director of immigration and refugee policy at Church World Service*** one of nine domestic resettlement agencies. “Also, our understanding is that for a while, [medical clearances] were not happening, with some exceptions for emergency cases.” [BTW, I don’t think they do any mental health screening as we learned here! —ed]

Because both of Trump’s executive orders attempted to lower the refugee admissions quota from 110,00 to 50,000 for the 2017 fiscal year, “the State Department and USCIS assessed that it was not necessary to interview large numbers of refugee applicants in order to meet the new ceiling,” the USCIS statement said.

[….]

Resettlement experts said they’re cautiously optimistic about the expanded interview schedule.

“We’re waiting to celebrate until we see the pipeline of refugee processing look healthier,” Smyers said. “All of this is really preliminary.”

But they are already in the process of hiring back some of the almost 600 staffers they had to lay off worldwide during the executive order legal limbo.

[….]

Congress recently passed a budget with enough funding to resettle a total of 75,000 refugees through the end of the fiscal year. This should mean significant increases in the number of refugee arrivals in the coming weeks.

More here.
By the way, in a report on Trump’s original idea of choosing Christian refugees as a first priority, Smyers called it “shameful.”
***See my most recent post on Church World Service finances. 67% of their budget comes from you—taxpayers!

No refugee “clients” means no payola for them! For new readers here are the nine contractors:

15,726 refugees admitted to US since Inauguration Day, see where they went

05/31/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I recommend that all of you interested in the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program have some fun at the Refugee Processing Center (aka Wrapsnet). Play around with the databases and you can learn a lot about what is happening in your state and of course in the country.

Because Donald Trump has not put his people in place in the DOS, Simon Henshaw, a career official, is in charge of the US Refugee Admissions Program. https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/bureau/213334.htm

Today I wanted to see exactly who are the Trump refugees and where were they placed.
Here (below) is the breakdown of nationalities (top 12) admitted by the Trump Department of State which is still largely being run by the bureaucrats because, at least for the department of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM), there is still no Trump appointee running the bureau.
Henshaw, at right, would have been the person responsible for the shocking announcement last week that the number of refugees arriving per week are going to jump dramatically.***
Here are the top 12 sending countries:

DR Congo (2,579) The Obama Administration promised the UN we would take 50,000 and we are getting pretty close now.

Burma (2,083) A whopping 541 of these are Muslim Rohingya

Iraq (1,711)

Syria (1,626)

Somalia (1,564)

Ukraine (1,275)

Bhutan (1,104)

Eritrea (765)

Iran (751)

Sudan (406)

El Salvador (392) Not refugees, these are the result of a special illegal program Obama set up!

Afghanistan (385)

So where did Trump’s 15,726 refugees go:

Alaska got 23 and Hawaii, Wyoming and Washington DC ‘welcomed’ zero. The fact that Hawaii, begging for more diversity, got zip is so telling.

Here are the top ten states receiving Trump’s refugees:

***15,726 is about 874 refugees a week entering the US since Trump was inaugurated. We are told that the number will be jumping to 1,500 a week shortly.

Burmese biter was headed for New Bern, NC; are we importing mentally ill in refugee program?

05/28/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Yes, we are. We have been doing so for all the years I’ve written this blog. Many stories show up in our ‘Crimes’ category as those with mental illness end up committing crimes of greater or lesser degree.
This is just the latest, in case you missed it a couple of days ago.

So much for extreme vetting!

Two points jump out at me—first, where is our supposed extreme vetting? And, these refugees coming in in ever- increasing numbers now (here) are Trump’s refugees and I will be referring to them as his!
Here is the headline and story in the latest case (that we know of!) of a mentally impaired refugee coming to a town near you! (Hat tip: Ann)

Documents: Man tried to bite flight attendant before jumping out of plane

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A man who traveled thousands of miles to get the United States has been charged with jumping out of an American Airlines plane Thursday onto the tarmac at Charlotte Douglas Airport.

Burmese biter Tun Lon Sein. Is he a Rohingya Muslim? We will never know! BTW, what is that on his neck?

Tun Lon Sein is facing federal charges. He appeared Friday morning in federal court.

The incident was reported on American Airlines flight 5242 from Charlotte to New Bern, according to the federal complaint.

Sein is from Myanmar [aka Burma—ed] and had traveled halfway around the world to get to his final destination in New Bern. He flew from Thailand to Hong Kong to New Jersey. Charlotte was his last stop before heading to New Bern.

But in Charlotte, he got out of his seat, went to the main aircraft door and tried to open it, according to the criminal complaint. The document said the flight attendant and two other passengers got out of their seats and attempted to get Sein to return to his seat.

Sein is accused of trying to bite the flight attendant’s hand before opening the galley service door and jumping onto the tarmac.

[….]

Court documents said Sein spoke little to no English, which turned out to be an issue in federal court. The prosecutor said officials couldn’t find an interpreter who could translate Sein’s dialect from his native Myanmar***. It will be at least a week before the courts can bring a translator so he will have to stay in jail. [Local and state taxpayers are on the hook for expensive translators!—ed]

The Episcopal Migration Ministry sponsored Sein’s immigration to the United States. The agency said it’s talking with the law enforcement and the State Department to see what they can do to help.

***Didn’t the resettlement contractor have someone who spoke the biter’s dialect waiting at the airport for him? Where is that person to help authorities?
So, what the heck will EMM do?
Nothing! This “man” is now going to cost the US taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars, maybe more, as he goes to a mental hospital and through the court system! Do you think there is a chance in hell that the refugee contractor—Episcopal Migration Ministries—is going to take any responsibility for this “man”? Will one of their employees invite him to live with them? Not a chance in hell!

Eh Lar Doh Htoo, 18, killed three young brothers ages 1, 5, and 12 in New Bern in 2015. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/n-teen-murders-3-boys-machete-attack-cops-article-1.2153935

Tun Lon Sein is not the first Burmese mentally disturbed person to arrive in the US, and not the first in North Carolina (home to a huge Burmese, mostly Christian, population, however we are increasingly bringing large numbers of Burmese Muslims to the US).
As we told you here recently, the refugee contractor propaganda campaign going on now promotes the big lie that refugees don’t commit crimes in America.
Here is a case we told you about also in New Bern where a Burmese refugee slaughtered three children in 2015.
LOL! Sorry to laugh when the stories are so horrendous, but virtually never is the word ‘refugee’ used. In the 2015 case the criminal is a “teen” and in the biter case he is simply a “man” in the headline.

Esar Met (Burmese Muslim refugee) in prison for life for killing Christian Burmese girl in Utah.

I’m wondering if the refugee contractors discount cases, like this one (left) and that horrific murder in Salt Lake City also by a Burmese refugee (Esar Met) who brutally raped and murdered a little Christian Burmese girl at his resettlement housing complex, where the killer kills his own ethnic people rather than Americans. Maybe somehow that doesn’t register as a crime to them?
For folks in New Bern, you need to ask your Congressman to look into whether refugees headed to your city have been screened for mental illness. Tell him to call the Trump State Department and ask what is going on?
For all of you looking for more on refugee criminals, please see my ‘Crimes’ category because there is no archive or compilation that I know of for refugee-committed crimes.
Also, see my ‘Health Issues’ category for more on refugee mental health.
For new readers, the federal resettlement contractor, Episcopal Migration Ministries is one of nine that monopolize all resettlement in the US:

Pipeline disruption? LA Times adds a bit more information to the Trump refugee admission reversal

05/28/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Go here to see what the LA Times is reporting about the stunning reversal on Thursday by the Trump State Department on refugee admissions where we learned that by September 30th we could see 70,000 refugees admitted to the US, in a year Trump initially said we would see a MORATORIUM. 70,000 is a number higher than five of Obama’s eight years!

Worried about not enough paying ‘clients’ in the pipeline to America! See how much of your money they get here: https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2016/11/05/refugee-contractor-church-world-service-could-not-exist-without-your-tax-dollars/

Be sure to take note that it is Congress that is shoving money (your money) for refugees down the throats of the Administration. I contend that the Administration has the power (but no will!) to reject it and tell Congress to rescind it (but that is a story for another day).
This is the bit of the LA Times story I wanted you to see. The refugee resettlement contractors are complaining that the “pipeline” abroad has been so severely interrupted that they might not get even 50,000 in FY18. Only urgent cases are being interviewed! Isn’t that what should be done? Why are US taxpayers responsible for non-urgent cases?

“I worry the damage has been done internationally,” said Erol Kekic, executive director of the immigration and refugee program at Church World Service. “Agencies that do refugee processing have been so severely cut [including] staff laid off that even if the money is made available, it will take time.”

[….]

Experts are also concerned about the near-complete halt in interviews and screenings by the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, which is required for refugees to complete the application process.

“Only people with urgent cases are being screened and interviewed,” Kekic said. “Unless we continue to add people to the pipeline, we aren’t certain if we will be able to even meet the level of 50,000 refugees entering the U.S. for fiscal year 2018.”

There is more here.

This entire system of refugee resettlement set up by the Refugee Act of 1980 should be scrapped. Contractors like Kekic’s Church World Service are worried because they are paid by the head and must build their entire budgets (since it is largely funded by you) around the number of refugee clients in a “pipeline” to America.

There is never any incentive to moderate the flow when nine contractors are ‘bidding for bodies!’

My disappointment at the news, that Trump’s State Department has apparently caved to pressure and is opening the spigot wide for the remainder of the fiscal year, is primarily because this move signals that the Administration has no plans to lead a reform of the program in Congress.
Congress is never going to review, in any serious way, the program and change it significantly without leadership from the White House.
What can the White House do? The White House could have continued on its earlier course. A MORATORIUM placed on the program would be a strong incentive for Congress to finally, after 35 years, review the original law and scrap or re-write it.
And, remember this in the first EO, see here?

It is Section 5 (g):

(g) It is the policy of the executive branch that, to the extent permitted by law and as practicable, State and local jurisdictions be granted a role in the process of determining the placement or settlement in their jurisdictions of aliens eligible to be admitted to the United States as refugees. To that end, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall examine existing law to determine the extent to which, consistent with applicable law, State and local jurisdictions may have greater involvement in the process of determining the placement or resettlement of refugees in their jurisdictions, and shall devise a proposal to lawfully promote such involvement.

There is no longer any mention of impact on communities, states rights, cost to taxpayers, public health concerns, crime, security concerns, transparency, nothing!—nothing that motivated voters to work their butts off for Trump.
Sadly, we have been dragged into a debate framed solely on numbers. Will it be 50,000, 60,000, 75,000, 100,000, more?

Stunning news: Trump State Department opens the flood gates, refugee admissions will explode in coming weeks

05/27/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Betraying the voters who elected Donald Trump, the Department of State slipped the news to the contractors on Thursday who then slipped the news to the New York Times just as you were packing up for the beach or getting ready for a family barbecue using the federal government’s favorite holiday weekend trick to bury the news.

Forget everything I said in my post yesterday about Trump’s “average” admissions. If they do as they are now saying they will, Donald Trump will be responsible for one of six highest resettlement years since 9/11.***
Manchester here we come!
Here is the headline (Hat tip: Julia). Emphasis mine:

U.S. Quietly Lifts Limit on Number of Refugees Allowed In

WASHINGTON — Despite repeated efforts by President Trump to curtail refugee resettlements, the State Department this week quietly lifted the department’s restriction on the number of refugees allowed to enter the United States.

The result could be a near doubling of refugees entering the country, from about 830 people a week in the first three weeks of this month to well over 1,500 people per week by next month, according to refugee advocates. Tens of thousands of refugees are waiting to come to the United States.

The State Department’s decision was conveyed in an email on Thursday to the private agencies in countries around the world that help refugees manage the nearly two-year application process needed to enter the United States.

In her email, Jennifer L. Smith, a department official, wrote that the refugee groups could begin bringing people to the United States “unconstrained by the weekly quotas that were in place.”

[….]

Refugee groups now predict that entries into the United States could increase so rapidly that the total number of refugees admitted by Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, could exceed 70,000.

[….]

Happy Happy Happy Hetfield. https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2016/11/13/hebrew-immigrant-aid-society-lectures-trump-never-mentions-its-pecuniary-interest-in-refugees/

Refugee advocates were delighted by the State Department’s decision.

“This is long overdue, but we’re very happy,” said Mark Hetfield, president and chief executive of HIAS, an immigrant aid society.

Continue reading here as the contractors say they are worried for next year. Oh, sure they are.
Bottomline is that it appears that the REPUBLICAN Congress (never forget they want to keep big business donors happy by providing a steady supply of cheap labor) appropriated gobs of money for refugee resettlement!
And, the Trump Administration (remember Trump campaigned with talk of a moratorium on refugee resettlement) appears to have no fight left in them on this issue (other issues too!).

***Here are the refugee admissions since 9/11 (those in red exceed Trump’s projected 70,000). Bush had only 2 years in excess of 70,000 and Obama had 3 of his 8 years higher than 70,000.

2001: 87,259 (this year’s number would have been proposed by Clinton in the fall of 2000)

2002: 45,896

2003: 39,554

2004: 79,158

2005: 69,006

2006: 41,223

2007: 48,282

2008: 60,191

2009: 74,654

2010: 73,311

2011: 56,424

2012: 58,238