You can thank Senator Ted Kennedy, former Senator and Democrat Presidential candidate Joe Biden, and former President Jimmy Carter for giving us the dysfunctional US Refugee Admissions Programthat turns forty today—St. Patrick’s Day (Carter’s cute nod to Teddy).
Why any self-respecting Republican thinks this program has benefited America and should continue unchanged is beyond me!
I wasn’t planning to post anything this morning because I figured I really needed to catch up on all of my e-mails and other messages on social media. I don’t want to appear rude and not respond to your many inquiries, but it seems that I can never catch up! (LOL! New readers may not know that I have no staff, I just do what I can on my own.)
Anyway, my plan was to do some catching-up this morning until the first article I read in my alerts was this one from the Catholic Standardpeddling the myth I thought had been corrected long ago when Grover Norquist (of all people) was selling the fake news that Ronald Reagan signed the Refugee Act of 1980 into law.
But, alas here it is again!
Revisionist history is not a good look!
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops was testifying along with others in the refugee industry at a House hearing this past week.
Bishop urges Congress to show compassion, solidarity with refugees
WASHINGTON (CNS) — During a Feb. 27 congressional hearing about the status of the nation’s refugee program, Washington Auxiliary Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville quoted someone who is not frequently mentioned on Capitol Hill: Pope Francis.
“Today I am here to echo the Holy Father’s message: to recognize that we must at all times, but particularly at this moment of great global turmoil, recognize the most vulnerable and welcome them to the extent we are able,” he said.
The bishop, chairman of the migration committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, pointed out to the members of Congress and others seated in the hearing room that he was there to offer his perspective as a naturalized immigrant to the United States from Colombia.
He was one on a panel of four people addressing the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship, looking at the status of the U.S. Refugee Program, a week before 40th anniversary of the bipartisan Refugee Act of 1980, signed into law by President Ronald Reagan.
Bipartisan my foot!
The Refugee Act of 1980 was the brainchild of Senator Ted Kennedy; Senator Joe Biden was a chief sponsor; and it was signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on March 17,1980 (St. Patrick’s day as a gesture to Kennedy).
Reagan was not elected president until November of that year.
I hate it when Christians lie! The ends do not justify the means!
No bipartisanship here: Warren Magnuson, Tip O’Neill, and Jimmy Carter DEMOCRATS all!
Get ready for all sorts of media hoopla this month as the Refugee Act of 1980 is 40 years old!
If your local media runs any story that mentions Reagan signing the Act into law, you need to take action and force a correction. Watch for it!
For more on the USCCB, don’t miss my postwhere I reported that they are losing millions of taxpayer dollars under Trump.
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Commenter ‘Kansasdudess‘ said this yesterday in a comment to my post on about Twin Falls, Idaho, here.
“id like to point out that in every country except the us refugees are not placed into actual communities..they are housed in refugee camps..geeze if they knew they were going to live in camps and not in sociey with full benefits they wouldnt come..who the hell decided they need to be placed in regular society???!!!!when did refugee status become perminant status? refugee means they go home too…”
Refugees
First, here at RRW we are mostly focused on the present US Refugee Admissions Program established by law in 1980—The Refugee Act of 1980.
“Who the hell decided?” asked our commenter. Senators Ted Kennedy and Joe Biden with other Democrat Senators decided in 1979. The Refugee Act of 1980 was then signed in to law by President Jimmy Carter. Congress and the President decided 38 years ago, and if you want to change it now, Congress and the President must decide.
Briefly, refugees, as defined by the Act’, are people we have located abroad (mostly with the help of the UN now) who claim they would be persecuted if returned to their home countries—persecuted for their race, religion, political views and so forth.
We fly them to the US and through US State Department resettlement contractors (nine non-profits) we place them in hundreds of US towns and cities. They are here legally (permanently) and they are on a track to US citizenship.
You are not to be faulted for being confused about the word ‘refugee’ because the Leftists and No Borders activists around the world have done their best to make you think that anyone on the move around the world for any reason is a refugee deserving of special treatment. They are not. Most are economic migrants, some are getting away from civil wars at home, and some are criminals.
But, here the word refugee has a very specific meaning and is used for those who are legally here through the US Refugee Admissions Program.
As for Kansasdudess’s assertion that around the world “refugees” are in camps. Yes, in some places they are, but the vast majority of migrant asylum seekers (they are NOT legal refugees yet) are free in many countries until their asylum claim has been processed—think Germany, Italy, France, the UK etc. etc. There they live mostly in special housing and are free to move about in the community. (There is increasingly more talk in Europe about building detention centers.)
Asylum seekers and Asylees
So what is asylum? That is when migrants of some sort go to another country on their own initiative and then ask for asylum claiming they will be persecuted in their home country if they are returned.
The asylum process is being abused around the world.
All of those Africans and Middle Easterners flooding Europe are not refugees. Some may be able to prove (through an asylum process) that they should get the first class treatment afforded legitimate refugees, but most are economic migrants looking for a better life. I repeat: they are NOT refugees until they are given asylum status.
Here in the US our immigration system is being scammed now as thousands cross our borders and ask for asylum. If they get through the asylum process and are judged to be legitimate refugees, we call them asylees. And, then, just like the refugees we flew in, they can stay and take advantage of the many benefits life in America will give them (including ultimately citizenship).
So in summary, the word ‘refugee’ used at this site refers to a class of LEGAL immigrant.They are flown here by our government. They are here to stay. They can work. They can get welfare. They will eventually become US citizens.
And, if an asylum seeker can make his or her case through a legal process, then that person can say they are a refugee as well.
Bottomline: words matter!
Don’t fall for the Left’s broad definition of refugee. Everyone on the move around the world is NOT a refugee.
No wonder people can’t trust the big print media anymore.
Don’t mainstream media outlets have some responsibility to fact check letters to the editor or can anyone just make up ‘facts’ from history, that are very easy to check, and just throw them out there for the gullible public? I looked for a photo of Eric Goldman, but there are too many political activists with that name, but heck, why not illustrate this story with this refugee convicted murderer from Burma resettled in Utah by Catholic Charities or the International Rescue Committee.
Before I get to the letterfrom someone named Eric Goldman, let me say that there was a time that I wrote in glowing terms about the reporting from The Salt Lake Tribune and that was when they did super reporting on the horrific rape and murder of Hser Ner Moo, a little Christian Burmese refugee, by a fellow refugee from Burma (a likely Rohingya) named Esar Met. The Salt Lake Tribune actually sent a reporter to the camps in Thailand to get the full story. But, that was before the Mormon church had drunk the koolaide on the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program and began enthusiastically welcoming refugees of all stripes to Utah. Click here for all of my posts on this Utah murder case that was never thoroughly reported on a national level, but see what a good job the Trib did in its coverage.
(I think it was never widely reported because Esar Met didn’t fit the media image of a refugee—lovable, grateful and hardworking.) Now back to my beef today with The Salt Lake Tribune….. Continue reading “Ronald Reagan was NOT responsible for Refugee Act of 1980; fake news from The Salt Lake Trib”→
Norquist and Republican friends should have been praising Jimmy Carter in their recent letter!
Update March 1: Even the head of Human Rights First accepts Grover’s rewrite of history, here.
I should have noticed this myself!
Yesterday when we wrote about Georgia and Jimmy Carter, reader ‘tomasrose’ sent us this comment (below). ‘Tomasrose’ is referring to the letter that has the earmarks of a Grover Norquist project written all over it, signed by Norquist’s sidekick Suhail Khan and 8 other Republican open-borders agitators asking for more refugee resettlement.
We reported the story here, and hereis the letter itself.
We know about Reagan’s 1986 amnesty (which must have made Norquist happy, or maybe he was behind it!), but let’s not ‘credit’ him with the Refugee Act of 1980 as well!
‘Tomasrose:’
According to Grover Norquist, Jason Carter needn’t feel any family kinship with the 1980 refugee act since it was Ronald Reagan who signed it into law, not Jimmy Carter. The reason the Refugee industry is so robust is because of general ignorance about the program.Exhibit A of this ignorance is found in Grover’s letter to Republicans asking them to let more questionable refugees in.
In the letter he states: “President Reagan’s belief in America’s role as a refuge for the persecuted went beyond his words. Thirty three years ago, he signed into law the Refugee Act of 1980…”
To set the historical record straight, here is Carter’s signing statement on March 18th, 1980 (the bill had been spearheaded by Ted Kennedy and Joe Biden in the Senate):
It gives me great pleasure to sign into law S. 643, the Refugee Act of 1980, which revises provisions for refugee admissions and assistance. This legislation is an important contribution to our efforts to strengthen U.S. refugee policies and programs.
The Refugee Act reflects our long tradition as a haven for people uprooted by persecution and political turmoil. In recent years, the number of refugees has increased greatly. Their suffering touches all and challenges us to help them, often under difficult circumstances.
The Refugee Act improves procedures and coordination to respond to the often massive and rapidly changing refugee problems that have developed recently.
It establishes a new admissions policy that will permit fair and equitable treatment of refugees in the United States, regardless of their country of origin. It allows us to change annual admissions levels in response to conditions overseas, policy considerations, and resources available for resettlement. The new procedures will also ensure thorough consideration of admissions questions by both the Congress and the administration.
Moreover, the Refugee Act will help refugees in this country become self-sufficient and contributing members of society. Until now, resettlement has been done primarily by private persons and organizations. They have done an admirable job, but the large numbers of refugees arriving now create new strains and problems. Clearly, the Federal Government must play an expanded role in refugee programs.
The Refugee Act is the result of close cooperation between the administration and the Congress, with important support from those who work directly with refugees in State and local governments and private groups. Everyone who worked so long on its passage can be proud of this contribution to improved international and domestic refugee programs and to our humanitarian traditions.
Note: As enacted, S. 643 is Public Law 96-212, approved March 17.
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