“The United States welcomed Allawi into our country from war-torn Iraq in 2012. But instead of taking advantage of the many opportunities this country affords, he decided to make money by peddling a deadly narcotic to Americans in the grips of addiction.”
(US Attorney John Bash)
Just when the Refugee Industry agitators and their sycophant press is crying the blues because the President wants to limit the number of so-called ‘translators’ who helped America in the Iraq war, along comes news that all of these “brave” Iraqis are not all they are cracked up to be!
See my recent post on Special Immigrant Visaholders where I ask why we have to take one more?
(For new readers these mostly Muslim SIVs from Iraq and Afghanistan receive all the benefits that refugees receive—which is basically every form of welfare, job counseling, health care, etc.)
Thanks to a twitter follower for alerting me tothis story. Here from OAN:
Texas Judge Sentences Iraqi Immigrant To 30 Years For Massive Drug Operation
An Iraqi immigrant is sentenced to 30 years in prison for running a massive drug trafficking ring on the darknet. 30-year-old Alaa Mohammed Allawi learned his fate in a Texas court Thursday after pleading guilty to several charges, including conspiracy and money laundering back in June.
The individual was granted a U.S. special visa in 2012 after serving as an Iraqi interpreter to the U.S. Department of Defense. He came to America to seek better opportunities than what was offered in his war-torn country.
“The United States welcomed Allawi into our country from war-torn Iraq in 2012,” stated U.S. attorney John Bash. “But instead of taking advantage of the many opportunities this country affords, he decided to make money by peddling a deadly narcotic to Americans in the grips of addiction.”
Police said Allawi used the so-called “deep web” to sell and distribute millions of dollars worth of counterfeit opioids online. The operation led to at least one death after a North Carolina marine, who was stationed at Camp Lejeune, died of a fentanyl overdose after taking one of his pills.Between 2015 and 2017 alone, Allawi reportedly distributed over 350,000 pills.
“We’re talking about a two to three month trial with massive amounts of evidence and documents,” explained Bash. “That’s taken not only prosecutors, but agents out of the field to combat this problem.”
In addition to his prison sentence, Allawi was ordered pay $14.32 million dollars to plaintiffs. He faces deportation after he serves his sentence.
My alerts are filled to the brim day after day with stories from around the US featuring a sob story for some refugee who won’t be able to reunite with a family member because there is a meany in the White House.
Inevitably a sad tale anchors a story which tells readers in a state—in this case Idaho—about how bad the Trump Administration’s proposed refugee ceiling of 18,000 is going to be on the refugee resettlement industry that derives most of its funding from the taxpayer—from you and me.
At least this story does mention the fact that federal funding is tied to the number of refugees admitted. But, I got a laugh when I saw thatthe report from Idaho Press uses the International Rescue Committee as the example of an agency singing the budgetary blues.
Heck! TheIRC’s head honchomakes nearly a $1 million a year salary—a figure that has jumped at least a quarter of a million since Trump took office!
They simply can’t be that bad off!
The IRC’s Idaho representative Julianne Tzul told the Idaho Press:
Much of IRC’s funding comes from federal grants based on the number of refugees it serves, and Tzul expects to have “a wild ride to plan a budget when you don’t know if a major (funding) component is zero or is healthy.”
Still, Tzul said the agency has “no intention of going away.”
But, that isn’t the part that I want to tell you about. It is the part about their featured Iraqi refugee sob story.
(Virtually every article I’ve read in recent days features some family that has been separated. Instructions must have gone out to every resettlement office in America to find a family separation story to feed to the local press!).
What new refugee limit could mean for the Treasure Valley
BOISE — Under the Trump’s administration’s latest cap on refugee resettlement, Idaho refugees who have been separated from their families will likely have to wait longer to be reunited, and local resettlement agencies are expecting a dip in federal funding.
“We are going to see fewer refugees make it to Boise,” said Julianne Tzul, director of International Rescue Committee’s Boise office. “When total national numbers contract, they contract everywhere.”
The Trump administration last week announced an 18,000 cap on the number of refugees resettled in the U.S. this fiscal year, which started Tuesday. Trump’s final decision on the cap must include consultation with Congress, which could push for a higher total, according to the Associated Press.
The historically low cap would affect people like Ali Al Abboodi, a 28-year-old from Baghdad who was separated from his family in 2014 while they were traveling to Boise to be resettled. His family has worked with U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, in trying to secure his entry into the U.S.
.[….]
After seven years in Syria, the family moved back to Iraq to await permission to become refugees in the United States. They received refugee status and flew to Boise in January 2014. Ali Al Abboodi’s case was separated from the rest of his family, but the plan was he would follow the family to Boise a few days later.
I want to know why wasn’t he with the family as they were shuffling around between Syria and Iraq? Why was his case separated as the family left for Boise?
And then this: Are we really expected to believe that someone just dying to be reunited with his family in the US missed TWO scheduled flights that would take him to America?
Idaho Press continues….
Ali Al Abboodi missed his first flight because of traffic and missed his second because of a car wreck, according to the family. After that, his case for refugee status was closed.
In 2017, Trump restricted travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iraq, further hindering Ali Al Abboodi’s ability to travel to the U.S.
Ahmed Al Abboodi did not let the travel bans stop him from trying to get his son to Boise. He met with Crapo with his caseworker, and urged the senator to help his family. Crapo helped reopen Ali Al Abboodi’s case for refugee status.
What do you think? I’m thinking there is more to this story than we are being told!
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s esteemed foreign affairs columnist Trudy Rubinhas penned an opinion piece dripping with venom and bias against the President (and White House aide Stephen Miller) claiming we still owe US citizenship to thousands more Iraqi and Afghan “translators” who supposedly all helped the US military.
The war in Iraq ended in 2011, so first let me ask why after 8 years we still must be giving anyone from Iraq (maybe with an exception for truly persecuted Christians) a taxpayer-funded new life in America?
We spent enormous blood and treasure giving Iraqis new leadership and a fresh chance at governing themselves, why must we move tens of thousands of the newly freed Iraqis (mostly Muslims) to a town near you?
Just a reminder here, dear readers, that when we go to war in a Middle Eastern country the Leftists will claim, now and forevermore, that we are morally bankrupt if we don’t bring that country’s nationals to America!
To hear Ms. Rubin you would not know that since the fall of 2006 through last week we admitted the following astronomical numbers from these two countries.
Afghanistan:
11,142 refugees and 59,104 SIVs (those that supposedly helped us)
Iraq:
143,135 refugees and 18,530 SIVs
(Below I’m going to show you all where Ms. Rubin can find accurate numbers so that maybe next time she won’t get all her facts from refugee contractors who make fat salaries off the US taxpayer and thus have a pecuniary interest in ever-growing refugee numbers.***)
So I guess Trudy Rubin doesn’t think we have already done enough!
And, by the way, by highlighting a sympathetic case she deploys the sob story method to play on her readers’ emotions. I can do that too….learn moreabout the convicted rapist Jasim.
For extra added measure she throws in the canard that our population is declining in America so we need all these new people to pay taxes.
Another Trump scandal: Blocking visas for Iraqis who saved American lives
Apart from Ukraine-gate, another White House scandal revved up recently, almost unnoticed.
The White House effort to block legal immigration shifted into overdrive. The State Department announced last week it would slash the already shrunken U.S. refugee program almost in half, to 18,000 admissions over the next 12 months, nearly eliminating America’s historic role as a safe haven. [I’m questioning why America always has to be a safe haven!—ed]
And the Trump team is trying to limit the impact of a recent D.C. District Court ruling that it end years-long delays in granting special immigrant visas (SIV) for thousands of Afghans and Iraqis who helped the U.S. military – as mandated by Congress.
The SIV mandate is a joke. Then Sen. Ted Kennedy added the provision for SIVs to a defense authorization bill and so there was never a Congressional debate on Iraq and Afghanistan SIVs.
What kind of moral bankrupts try to shut our doors to those who saved American lives?
Cry me a river!
Look who is talking!
“With one final blow, the Trump administration has snuffed out Lady Liberty’s torch and ended our nation’s legacy of compassion and welcome,” says the Rev. John L. McCullough, president of Church World Service,a cooperative ministry of 37 Christian denominations.
Just a cooperative ministry of 37 Christian denominations?
John McCullough pulls down a salary of over $300,000 a year as President and CEO of Church World Service, a federal refugee contractor that got over $40 million in federal tax dollars in a recent year to place refugees throughout America while acting as a leading far left Open Borders political agitation group!
(Ms. Rubin might want to have a look at CWS’s Form 990 here.)
Even more shocking is the White House willingness to betray Iraqis and Afghans who are at risk because they helped the U.S. military.
[….]
Administration callousness beggars belief. Many of these applicants and their families have been hiding for years under death threats.
Meantime, State Department data show that only 1,649 Afghans got SIV visas in 2018, a 60% drop from 2017.
See how she cherry-picks the numbers to put Trump in the worst light! Is it possible that maybe, just maybe, it is time to stop the SIV program? Haven’t we brought enough already? Isn’t 59,104 enough already!
As for Iraqis, the situation is far worse. Those in greatest danger – such as military interpreters and their families – have been tossed into a huge pool of applicants also entitled to visas because they worked for U.S. civilians. That backlog has reached 100,000.
Under Stephen Miller, only 51 Iraqis were admitted in 2018 (as compared with 10,000 in 2016). [LOL! Of course, gotta get their boogey man Miller in here. Don’t they call this dog whistling!—ed]
“They [the SIV applicants] served bravely in support of our missions abroad, and we promised them a pathway to safety in return,” points out Deepa Alagesan, the supervising attorney who brought the successful court case on behalf of the International Refugee Assistance Project.
Under pressure from Congress, 4,000 [more—ed] of the rare refugee slots will supposedly be reserved for Iraqis who worked for the U.S. military. But will they ever receive them?
161,665 refugees and SIVs moved to America isn’t enough?
Was our blood and treasure squandered for a country that eight years after the war ended isn’t safe enough according to the refugee industry agitators?
Are we expected to bring Iraqi ‘refugees’ to our American towns for the next ten years and ten after that?
*** For inquisitive readers, lazy reporters and for Ms. Rubin, hereis where you can find accurate numbers. This is the State Department’s Refugee Processing Center.
These particular data bases for Iraq and Afghanistan show placement for each state for refugee numbers vs. SIV numbers.
We have admitted almost 240,000 refugees including interpreters and others who supposedly helped us in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2006 and some former military leaders say it isn’t enough and are pushing for more ‘new American’ Muslims for your neighborhoods.
It sure ticks me off!
Recently one of the nine federally-funded refugee contractors—the International Rescue Committee—crowed that former military leaders had sent a letter to the White House telling the Prez that it was imperative to bring in tens of thousands of additional refugees to help them—the military—around the world.
You cansee the letter here. For anyone who knows even a little about the refugee industry you will immediately recognize the language in the letter as boilerplate refugee industry lingo.
You might also notice that the military brass is mixing apples and oranges when discussing refugee admissions.
There are two major flows for legal ‘refugee’ admissions.
One is the original program set up by the Refugee Act of 1980 that is at present admitting around 30,000 refugees from places like the DR Congo, Burma, the Ukraine and some other African countries. Our military isn’t actively engaged in those places. That is the program approaching a critical decision point in the coming days and weeks.
Then there is the newer Special Immigrant Visa Program that admits the supposed military helpers from Iraq and Afghanistan. It seems that those are the primary places of concern to top brass who have made promises of a ticket to America in exchange for their help.
The numbers of Afghan and Iraqi SIVs are separate from the Refugee Act of 1980refugees.
[An aside: I argue that if you bring every last Iraqi and Afghan supporter of America to live in the US, what have you left in those countries—only those that hate us!]
Before I even get to the news—An important meeting is scheduled at the White House on Tuesday to discuss setting the cap for refugee admissions in FY2020—ponder these numbers.
Since October 1, 2006, we admitted 10,917 regular refugees from Afghanistan and 58,371 Special Immigrant Visas through August 26, 2019 for a total of 69,288.
During that same time period we admitted 143,082 Iraqi refugees and 18,508 SIVs from Iraq for a total of 161,590.
Total interpreters for the two hotbed Islamic countries was 76,879!
Really! That many were doing translation services for us? Or did anyone who took out the trash qualify to become your new neighbor?
Isn’t that enough? And, how many of the military brass who are shilling for the refugee contractors (like moneybags Miliband) are inviting Afghans and Iraqis to their homes, or to their neighborhoods?
Sorry this is getting long, but here is the story you need to read. From the New York Times(hat tip: Joanne):
Trump Administration Considers a Drastic Cut in Refugees Allowed to Enter U.S.
WASHINGTON — The White House is considering a plan that would effectively bar refugees from most parts of the world from resettling in the United States by cutting back the decades-old program that admits tens of thousands of people each year who are fleeing war, persecution and famine, according to current and former administration officials.
In meetings over the past several weeks, one top administration official has proposed zeroing out the program altogether, while leaving the president with the ability to admit refugees in an emergency.
Another option that top officials are weighing would cut refugee admissions by half or more, to 10,000 to 15,000 people, but reserve most of those spots for refugees from a few handpicked countries or groups with special status, such as Iraqis and Afghans who work alongside American troops, diplomats and intelligence operatives abroad.
Both options would all but end the United States’ status as a leader in accepting refugees from around the world.
The issue is expected to come to a head on Tuesday, when the White House plans to convene a high-level meeting in the Situation Room to discuss at what number Mr. Trump should set the annual, presidentially determined ceiling on refugee admissions for the coming year.
[….]
Advocates of the nearly 40-year-old refugee program inside and outside the administration fear that approach would effectively starve the program, making it impossible to resettle even those narrow populations. The advocacy groups say the fate of the program increasingly hinges on an unlikely figure: Mark T. Esper, the secretary of defense.
Barely two months into his job as Pentagon chief, Mr. Esper, a former lobbyist and defense contracting executive, is the newest voice at the table in the annual debate over how many refugees to admit. But while Mr. Esper’s predecessor, Jim Mattis, had taken up the refugee cause with an almost missionary zeal, repeatedly declining to embrace large cuts because of the potential effect he said they would have on American military interests around the world, Mr. Esper’s position on the issue is unknown.
The senior military leadership at the Defense Department has been urgently pressing Mr. Esper to follow his predecessor’s example and be an advocate for the refugee program, according to people familiar with the conversations in the Pentagon.
[….]
A senior Defense Department official said that Mr. Esper had not decided what his recommendation would be for the refugee program this year. As a result, an intense effort is underway by a powerful group of retired generals and humanitarian aid groups to persuade Mr. Esper to pick up where Mr. Mattis left off.
A reminder to all! Even if the number of refugees drops to nearly zero (it won’t!), the program will still be in place for a future President to simply put it on steroids to make up for what they will call the “lost Trump years.”
There must be a complete overhaul of the program while Trump is in the White House!
*** I hadn’t checked British national David Miliband’s salary for awhile so imagine my shock to see this from the most recent Form 990 for the IRC.
The IRC received over $500 MILLION from the US Treasury (from you!) in this one year!
Look at these salaries!
You shouldcontact the White Houseover this weekend and on Monday and tell the President what you think he should do!
A Coolidge man awaiting prosecution in state court for murder and attempted murder, among other charges, was sentenced Monday to five years in federal prison stemming from his Sept. 20 conviction of being a felon in possession of firearms and of ammunition.
Abdullatif Ali Aldosary, 48, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton on Monday morning in Phoenix.The judge combined his sentences, pointing out that he faced up to 10 years in prison on the three counts. Aldosary has 14 days to appeal his federal sentence.
Additionally, Aldosary was fined $7,500 and ordered to pay a $100 court fee. He was sentenced to three years supervised probation after he’s released from federal prison, ordered to participate in a mental health program and to have no contact with any employees of the Casa Grande Social Security office.
“The court believes the defendant presents an extreme danger to the community,” Bolton said during the sentencing hearing.
Aldosary is accused of setting off a homemade bomb at the Casa Grande Social Security office on Nov. 30, 2012. His federal court convictions stem from materials police found at his home after they arrested him the day of the bombing. Besides ammunition, they found paperwork related to how to make a bomb and other materials that could be used in a bomb. Because of a 2008 conviction in Maricopa County for aggravated harassment, a felony, Aldosary is not allowed to possess weapons or ammunition.
So much for that refugee security screening process we are always hearing about. And, so why didn’t we just deport the violent man when his green card was first denied?
Aldosary came to the United States legally in 1997 from Iraq. In 2008 his request for a green card was denied because in 1991 he fought with anti-government forces trying to overthrow former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. He sought a green card a second time, which has not been granted.