Tag: Gang of Eight

Refugee Council USA busy lobbying on S.744

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update:  More on yesterday’s amendments—come and get it!  Welfare for one and all (for the children)!

If you have been following RRW for the last few weeks, you know that S. 744 (The Gang of Eight plus Grover bill) isn’t just about amnesty for 11 million plus illegal aliens in the US,  it’s also about expanding our refugee and asylum system as well.  (Gang of Eight archive is here)

Yesterday we told you about Senator Grassley’s efforts to strip the refugee/asylum provisions from the bill until there had been a full accounting of how our asylum system is failing us as tragically demonstrated in Boston and the aftermath of the horrific April 15th terror attack by Muslims we “welcomed” with a grant of asylum.

Somalis waiting in refugee camps in Africa for their turn to come to America thanks to Refugee Council USA members.

You need to know more about the Refugee Council USA, the Washington lobbying consortium for the Refugee industry.

We have no one representing our views in Washington.

The big immigration restriction groups concerned with amnesty for illegals—FAIR, CIS, and NumbersUSA—have little time left over for countering the push to expand the refugee program which is really the root of  multi-culti conflicts, problems with Muslim extremists, and is a drain on social services as the US State Department and its contractors bring diversity from the third world to your towns and cities.

Refugee resettlement and asylum accounts for the largest percentage of our annual importation of 100,000 Muslims, here.

Here is what the RCUSA says they are about:

Refugee Council USA (RCUSA), established in 2000, is a coalition of U.S. non-governmental organizations focused on refugee protection.  RCUSA provides advocacy on issues affecting the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, displaced persons, victims of trafficking, and victims of torture in the United States and across the world.  The coalition also serves as the principal consultative forum for the national refugee resettlement and processing agencies as they formulate common positions, conduct their relations with the U.S. government and other partners, and support and enhance refugee service standards.

Yesterday the Refugee Council USA was lobbying against Grassley’s amendments.  This is from their action alert:

OPPOSE GRASSLEY AMENDMENTS #25, #26, #27, and #52

These amendments would strike most of the positive refugee and asylum provisions from the base bill, including provisions that would improve access to life-saving protection to religious minorities in Iran and other vulnerable populations,stateless persons, and asylum seekers. Grassley #52 in particular would delay positive changes to the asylum and student visa provisions in the bill by falsely conflating them with the Boston Marathon bombings.

The mark-up continues today, but Grassley has already lost a couple of his amendments (no surprise, he and Senator Sessions are basically shut out on every amendment they propose).  Go here and see the results so far.  Two of the Grassley amendments have already been defeated.

Grassley is right!  The refugee program should not be expanded in this monster bill, but a separate review of the program should be undertaken immediately!

Here are the member organizations of the Refugee Council USA (all nine of the major federal refugee contractors are here).  To add insult to injury many of these groups are funded with your tax dollars. They could not exist without federal and state grants:

Breaking! Senator Lindsey Graham prevails with stepped-up security amendment to S.744

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Just now, I happened to catch the live mark-up proceedings in the US Senate Judiciary Committee and saw Senator Graham make his pitch for his Amendment #1, described here, that is clearly in response to the Boston Bomber Tsarnaev family’s re-visits to the homeland where they supposedly were persecuted.

Dick Durbin leans on Graham at a previous meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee

Graham sought to amend S.744 with a provision that would revoke refugee or asylum status to anyone who returns to the land of their alleged persecution without “good cause.”

Of course, if S.744 passes there will be much to do about what exactly is “good cause” and how a refugee or asylee might apply to return “home” for a visit.  Going home to a funeral might be a ‘good cause’ but as Graham pointed out going home to learn bomb-making should have a penalty.  Graham’s victory is a symbolic victory for common sense, but likely temporary.

Arguing against Graham (and voting against him) were Senators Leahy and Durbin (no surprise).  Graham was successful by voice vote.   However, cynic that I am, I think Leahy and Durbin just went through the motions of opposing Graham for the sake of making a show for their “humanitarian” lobbyist friends.

Throwing Graham a bone to keep him on board (with the Gang of Eight and Grover) now was probably more important—they can always dump his amendment later in the process.  And, besides, now Graham can say he strengthened security measures in the bill.

Senator Chuck Grassley wants to strip refugee/asylum sections from Gang’s bill!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update May 21:  His amendment lost of course, the Dems teamed up with Graham and Flake have defeated just about everything Grassley and Sessions tried to do.  I’ll have more tomorrow, but for now check out this letter of all those opposing the bill when it comes to the floor.  We are among some great patriots!

This is such good news! Really, really, really good news!  [Amendment lost but thank Grassley anyway and tell him to take the fight to the floor!]

You must call Senator Grassley this morning to tell him you support this effort! (see below)

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is offering an amendment to S.744  to remove all references to refugees/asylum from S. 744 until after a report is completed about how the Tsarnaev terrorists were granted asylum!  I could kiss the Senate Judiciary Committee ranking Republican!

Erol Kekic of Church World Service does not want more security provisions added to S.744.

I stopped in his office last Wednesday when I went to DC for the State Department hearing and left a letter for him asking him to do just what the Washington Times is reporting (LOL!  But, I am sure he figured this out without any help from me!).

From the Washington Times (hat tip: Joanne).  Emphasis below is mine:

The Boston Marathon bombing hasn’t derailed the immigration debate, but it has sent lawmakers back to the drawing board on some key provisions, including changes to the asylum system that the two suspects in the bombing used to come to the U.S.

Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were brought to the U.S. a decade ago by their parents, who fled the deteriorating economy and burgeoning conflicts in the Central Asian region the family had called home.

Now, as the Senate Judiciary Committee works its way through the 867-page immigration bill, some lawmakers say it’s a chance to make changes that could help prevent a future incident.

Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the committee, has introduced an amendment that would prevent any changes to the asylum or refugee systems until at least a year after an audit of what went wrong in Boston.

“The Boston bombing probably made us take a closer look at the asylum provisions in the underlying bill,” Mr. Grassley said. “My asylum amendments don’t address Boston specifically, but they will require a look back by the inspector general before any changes to weaken the current asylum law goes forward.”

The asylum program is for those who apply from within the U.S., while the refugee program is for those applying from outside the border. The U.S. is the most generous country in the world in granting protections, but the programs also have seen periods of fraud and abuse.

Mr. Grassley said the bill written by the “Gang of Eight” senators actually waters down some of the security measures in current asylum and refugee law, and he said he would prefer to see the process stiffened instead.

Let the whining begin! 

Refugee contractors are out in full force trying to protect their turf.  You see, they are paid by the head (with your tax dollars) to resettle refugees and get asylees hooked up with welfare goodies.  They don’t like Senator Graham’s amendments one bit either!

Human rights groups [Federal contractors—ed]…. are gearing up for a fight over another proposal by Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, who wants to prevent anyone granted asylum or refugee status from returning to their home countries, unless they got a waiver from the Homeland Security Department.

And, who is one leading whiner—Erol Kekic of contractor Church World Service.  Kekic testified at the State Department hearing on Wednesday for CWS and for the lobbying arm for contractors—Refugee Council USA.   Mr. Kekic is from Bosnia, here is his bio.

Erol Kekic, director of the Church World Service’s immigration and refugee program, said there are situations where someone wants to return home to see a dying relative or to try to play a role in constructive politics. And then there are the situations where someone was granted asylum years before, but their home country has since stabilized.

“If we’re going to deny protection for people like that I think that’s really taking away from any common sense,” Mr. Kekic said.  [Most people would see it’s common sense that if a person returns to the place of his persecution he is either crazy or never persecuted in the first place!—ed]

He said it wasn’t even clear whether Homeland Security officials could track every person they suspected of returning to their home countries.

We better damn well be able to track these people after what we learned in Boston!

NOW!  Please call or fax Senator Grassley’s office and tell him to strip out all refugee and asylum references in S.744.  No matter what happens with his amendment, thank him for his concern for our security!

Here is his fax and phone number.  If you call it will ring for awhile…they are being swamped with calls.

(202) 224-3744
Fax: (202) 224-6020

This is the most important thing you can do today if you want to get this refugee program under control.  And, don’t forget to call Senator Rand Paul too.  Although he isn’t on the committee he will eventually play a huge role in determining whether this monstrous bill—S.744—passes.

PLEASE ALSO GET THIS AROUND VIA SOCIAL MEDIA—PLEASE TWEET!

Update:  The refugee contractors are tweeting like crazy esp. IRC, CWS and Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS).

The IRC has a lobbying office in Washington and it should be busy today

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

For some unknown reason information on the International Rescue Committee’s D.C. lobbying office came up in one of my alerts this morning.  Maybe it’s because last week they put out an alert to tell supporters of the refugee resettlement industry to call US Senators working on the Gang of Eight plus Grover bill being marked up in the Senate Judiciary Committee today.

We told you about that here last Thursday.  (Go there to see what you must do!)

You need to call today too!  S.744 will increase the number of refugees and asylees in the US and it provides a slush fund for “non-profits” like the 9 BIG federal refugee contractors and their 300 plus subcontractors.

I recommend that you tell Senators that due to recent refugee-perpetrated terrorism cases that they should strip all references to the refugee program from S.744 and hold separate hearings!

To add insult to injury, the word is that the US State Department helps to fund the lobbying offices for the contractors.  I have written about that before especially as it relates to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (or any of the nine)—it infuriates me to think the Bishops are taking your hard-earned tax dollars to fund their lobbying campaigns!

Here is what the IRC says about their DC shop.  And, btw, they were not at the State Department hearing on Wednesday.  Where were they?  Or did they feel they had an inside track to the State Dept and didn’t need to provide their wishlist for 2014 before their critics in public?

Asst. Secretary of State for PRM, Anne Richard, in Philadelphia recently with an Iranian transgender refugee.

Oh, yeh, they do have an inside track—Anne Richard, the Asst. Secretary of State for the refugee program, just recently left the IRC as one of its 6-figure salaried veeps.   Classic Washington DC case of the revolving door (federal contractors in and out of government jobs)!

The International Rescue Committee office in Washington, DC maintains relations with U.S. government offices, especially those that support some of the IRC’s programs.  This includes the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Migration, and Refugees and the U.S. Agency for International Development.  The IRC meets regularly with decision-makers on both sides of the political aisle, and in both the Executive branch and Congress, to raise issues of concern and advocate for change in U.S. government policies.  The IRC is also active working in coalitions  and with other non-governmental organizations.  Members of IRC’s public policy and advocacy department in Washington, DC also plan and guide IRC’s global advocacy efforts [Like snuggling up to Hamid Karzai?—ed].  The Washington, DC office houses staff from IRC’s International Programs Department and the Women’s Refugee Commission.

Contact Us:

International Rescue Committee
1730 M Street, NW – Suite 505
Washington DC 20036
Tel: 202-822-0166
Fax: (202) 822-0089
e-mail: advocacy@rescue.org

Gang member, Senator Graham, has amendments to S.744 for the purpose of increasing security in the refugee program.

Senator Lindsey Graham still has two amendments pending that are apparently inspired by the Boston refugee bombers ‘success’ in killing and maiming innocent Americans on April 15th.  We told you about them here and here.  It will be interesting to see if those commonsense security enhancements make it through mark-up.  You can bet the IRC is lobbying hard against them today!

Here is our entire archive on the IRC for the ambitious readers among you!  They just hired former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband to step into his $450,000 a year job as its new CEO.

Photo is from Philadelphia Gay News, here.  Muslims persecute gays, so there is a big push to bring in refugees who are LGBTs from Sharia-loving countries.

Non-profit refugee contractor telling its supporters to call Senate on S.744

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The International Rescue Committee is a multi-million dollar a year non-profit largely funded by you, the US taxpayer.  They are lobbying for more refugees and asylum seekers to come to America and there is more money in it for them if they do.  Remember S.744 (the Gang of Eight bill) has an NGO slush fund.

Just now they are tweeting to their people the following action alert.  They say refugees and asylum issues will be addressed in the Judiciary Committee on Monday, the 20th.

So you should contact Senate Judiciary Committee members and tell them to strike all refugee/asylum sections from the bill and hold separate hearings on the program that has never (for three decades!) been properly reviewed by Congress.  It is especially important to review it in light of the Boston Marathon terror attack perpetrated by people to whom we gave asylum.

Here is what the IRC is tweeting to their groupies:

URGENT: Protect Refugee & Asylee Provisions in the Immigration Bill
Call the Senate Judiciary Committee Today!

For decades, the U.S. has provided protection to refugees and asylees who face persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.  In search of a better life for themselves and for their families, refugees and asylees are eager to participate fully in the economic and civic life of this country. Through a network of 22 offices in the United States, the International Rescue Committee provides assistance and the tools of self-reliance to refugees and asylees.

The Senate immigration reform bill (S.744) includes provisions that would provide much needed improvements to the protection of asylum seekers and refugees. On Monday, May 20, the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to consider amendments relating to refugees, asylees, and other vulnerable populations in the bipartisan immigration bill. Committee members need to hear from you – refugees, volunteers, and community members from across the country.  Please call 1-866-940-2439 to speak with the office of a specific Judiciary Committee member.

Here are the members of the Committee!

Senator Jeff Sessions has been doing a huge amount of work, please tell him to keep it up and to strip out all Refugee/Asylum provisions from the bill!   These are provisions that will allow more refugees/asylum seekers to come to America, as well as put more of your money into the pockets of refugee contractors!  Tell them to strip out the special new grant program for non-profit open borders groups like the IRC!

Call as many Senators as you can!