Afghan Evacuees are Going to Kentucky etc. etc. etc….

09/06/2021 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Photo from: **https://www.kentuckytoday.com/stories/100-afghan-refugees-to-arrive-in-owensboro-in-mid-september,33974**

The other day I mentioned that you could check this list of existng resettlement sites and have a good idea if your community was going to be ‘welcoming’ Afghan evacuees and Special Immigrant Visa holders that Biden flew out of Afghanistan in the last week.

Of course there are caveats. First, longtime readers know that new arrivals can be placed within 100 miles of the listed office, and secondly, they are permitted to move anywhere they wish and many will. That is because they will want to live with their own kind of people where existing enclaves of their particular ethnic group have settled.

But, just you try to say you want to live with your kind of people and watch the moral outrage! Funny how it isn’t considered racist or phobic in any way when the situation is reversed.

I also said I would tell you another method to find out if you were going to be the lucky recipients of mystery (they loaded up many who had no discernable reason to be getting seats on planes to America) Afghans is to (duh!) check your local papers as one of my readers did for Kentucky. See here:

Richmond Register:

Kentucky prepares to resettle up to 775 Afghan evacuees amid challenges

To test it out for you, I simply searched for Maryland and Afghan refugees (although most are NOT legitimate refugees) and presto up popped many articles from the last week or so including some about how our Republican Governor Larry Hogan has his arms open to invite them in!

Within a few minutes I saw stories from Michigan, Utah, New York, Massachusetts and Tennessee.

Another suggestion I have had in the past is to find someone with gumption to infiltrate your local ‘Interfaith group’ because they will be the first to be in on the action and in the know about who is coming especially if the new arrivals will be Muslims (which the majority of Afghans will be).

Okay, so when you get that information (assuming you are unhappy about it), what do you plan to do?

Are you planning to yak on social media about how it isn’t fair, that you had no say in the matter? Are you going to mount your high horse and fume about the Constitution and State’s rights as one “Constitutional Republican” did in recent days. In a comment shared with me, he fumed about Arizona’s Governor Ducey and asked why Ducey couldn’t just tell Biden NO, no Afghans should be dropped in Arizona.

WTH!!! Do you really think that the Open Borders Left plays fair and gives a flying c*** about prissy high-minded notions like what is Constitutional and what isn’t? And, besides, where were you all when President Trump did try to give governors the opportunity to stop resettlement? I reported extensively on his efforts.

Arizona’s Ducey was one of the Republican governors who told Trump, no thanks, the feds could continue sending refugees to Arizona at will.

Obviously not enough Arizona voters have told Ducey they are unhappy with him.

Only Texas Governor Abbott said he supported Trump in a bid to get his state’s right back! (If you are wondering, DeSantis and Kemp remained silent, the contractors sued and stopped Trump, and that was the end of it).

Breaking News! Texas Governor Abbott Says NO! Will not Accept More Refugees in 2020

So, back to my question: what are you going to do besides fume on social media?

Are you simply going to read more news at sites that agree with you, shake your head and fume some more? I’ve already told you what you have to do in my series on Fighting Back Locally.

Sorry I never finished it, but I saw little interest in it from my readers. Frankly I assume that was because it takes more work than reading news and yakking to like-minded people on Facebook, etc.

In my opinion, that is what is wrong with conservatives generally —we think our high-minded ideas are going to sway the debate. Fat chance!

What do we do now? Fight Back Locally!

If it is too hard for you to stick your necks out (and I understand that) even with the help of a few friends to speak up locally, or organize group of activists like the Left does, then at least now, more than ever, you must get to work on political campaigns for 2022!

And, let those who are in office now know what you think about the migrant invasion from all fronts. Pounce every time they make a move that you disagree with.

Find good pro-America candidates at all levels of government!

Then you better find candidates who put America First and work on those campaigns. Go to every campaign debate you can get to and ask the candidates in front of the audience and the media about immigration and where they stand!

You can choose to stay silent and watch them change America by changing the people, or speak up now, risk being labelled a racist (who cares!) and maybe, just maybe, pull America back from the brink!

Endnote: I have an extensive archive on Kentucky if you are interested, click here.

Kentucky Refugee Contractor Pivots to Helping Refugee Clients Cope with Covid

03/29/2020 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Kentucky is in the top ten refugee resettlement states in the nation, but between the President’s reduction in the number of refugees that can be admitted and the present suspension of the refugee program due to the Coronavirus crisis, the resettlement agency in Bowling Green, International Center of Kentucky, is not seeing many new arrivals and is now trying to educate their ‘clients’ about the virus and help many with their unemployment problems.

Before I get to the story, I hope all of you are well. I don’t know about you but even with more time, I’m not being as productive blogging here and at ‘Frauds and Crooks’ these days as I should be. But, one good thing is that there is more time to communicate with family and with friends, especially elderly friends, in my community.

From the Bowling Green Daily News:

Pandemic disrupts refugee resettlement by International Center

Before the rise of the coronavirus pandemic, Bowling Green’s refugee resettlement agency planned to welcome 400 arrivals this year.

Albert Mbanfu director of the International Center in Bowling Green will be helping refugee ‘clients’ get their unemployment insurance.

Now, with more than 500,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported worldwide, those plans have been thrown into chaos. International Center of Kentucky Executive Director Albert Mbanfu said Thursday that he expects the center will resettle less than half of the refugees it did last year.

“They will be barely trickling in,” Mbanfu said, speaking to a group of community representatives who assist with resettlement efforts.

[….]

Now, Bowling Green’s International Center has largely pivoted to assisting refugees who’ve been laid off work and informing the local community what steps they need to take to protect themselves from COVID-19, the respiratory disease that coronavirus causes.

Through social media and on its website, Mbanfu said, the center has been sharing videos in various languages like Swahili and Arabic to help inform Bowling Green’s refugee community about the virus and its effects.

Leyda Becker, Bowling Green’s international communities liaison, said the city also has resources in multiple languages online at bgky.org/ coronavirus.

Local refugees have also been impacted by business closures spurred by the pandemic. Mbanfu said Trace Die Cast, a top employer for local refugees, has laid off “almost all of our clients.” The employer is filing for unemployment insurance on their behalf, Mbanfu said.

I wonder why a company that makes automotive parts is laying off so many workers?

Mitch McConnell: money is on the way!

A representative from U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office said during the meeting that a $2 trillion stimulus package passed by the Senate and headed for House approval on Friday will offer some relief.

More here.

I have a pretty extensive archive on Bowling Green, see here, where there have been many problems involving refugees over the last dozen years.

Desperate Bowling Green, KY School System Overloaded with Refugee Children

09/30/2019 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ 2 Comments

What! How can this be? Too many refugees are arriving in one location in a year that we are told has one of the lowest arrival rates of all time.

Iraqi terrorists arrested in Bowling Green in 2011. As a result of this pair getting through our supposedly robust security screening, the entire cohort of Iraqis arriving in the US had to be rescreened that year.

Bowling Green, by the way, is the location where those Iraqi refugee terrorists were found about eight years ago and it is Senator Rand Paul’s hometown.

It has been a controversial resettlement location for years, see my archive here.

There is one important bit of information you need to pay attention to as you read about how the schools can’t cope. Hint! It involves a key component of Trump’s recent Executive Order that seeks to allow some cities and states to turn away refugees.

From Bowling Green Daily News:

Local schools ‘overwhelmed’ by refugee arrivals

The Bowling Green International Center is working with a special stakeholder group that will address local school superintendents’ concerns that their schools have been “overwhelmed” by the number of refugee arrivals in recent years.

“We’re barely getting by,” Warren County Public Schools Superintendent Rob Clayton said.

Clayton was joined Thursday by Bowling Green Independent School District Superintendent Gary Fields at the International Center’s fourth quarterly meeting with local resettlement stakeholders. [Just a reminder that you—members of the public—should be admitted to these meetings, but I know the contractors do everything in their power to keep the public out.—ed]

Together, the two superintendents emphasized a need for what they described as a more sustainable approach to refugee resettlement.

“We’re at capacity,” Fields said, describing the dearth of resources available to current English learner students in his school district.

By the end of the school year, Fields said, his district anticipates reaching the 20 percent mark for students classified as English learners. In Warren County Public Schools, one in five students fall into that category.

“As of September, we will have 190 Swahili speakers in our school district,” he said. “We have one translator.”

[….]

In some cases, due to the nature of their persecution and displacement from their homeland, refugees have interrupted educational experiences.

Bearing the responsibility for educating those students is sometimes a Herculean effort, Clayton said, citing an example of a 19-year-old student with no formal education.

[….]

Overall, the center received 513 refugees as of Sept. 20. That’s up from 297 refugees resettled in Bowling Green during the previous fiscal year.

Here it is, the major point I want you to see. Refugees are placed with family members who came before them so that once you have a contingent of certain ethnic groups in your ‘welcoming’ town or city more of that ethnic group will follow.

Also, note that there is no way to control “secondary migration” as refugees are permitted to move and often do for jobs or to be with their own kind of people.

Despite the uncertainty around what number the Trump administration would set, the Bowling Green International Center has seen a steady stream of arrivals.

This is mainly due to the role a refugee’s U.S. ties play in the resettlement process.

Refugees can ask to be resettled with family members already established in the country.The International Center also sees a significant number of “secondary migrants,” who initially resettle in other parts of the country and then travel to Bowling Green, often seeking work.

So, although you may hear the contractors squawking about Trump’s plan to let communities (or states) decide if they want more refugees, once a seed community is established there is usually no going back and the resettlement contractors know it.

Lexington KY: Catholic Church and Interfaith group stage refugee “pilgrimage” tomorrow

10/19/2018 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Here is what I don’t get: Why does their love of “the other” always have to be demonstrated via a political event— a staged event to show how good they are and how bad you are?

Screenshot (1498) — Social justice warriors: The Catholic Church and an ‘Interfaith’ group hold a political event in Lexington tomorrow.

Can’t these Catholics simply (quietly!) help refugees and immigrants without making a show of it?

Here is news from Lexington, KY about such an event tomorrow entitled: “Share the Journey with Migrant, Refugee, and Marginalized Sisters and Brothers” pilgrimage.

Implicit in the advertising is the political message: in the Trump era immigrants are suffering.

Maybe the good Catholics could help them privately and quietly with food and private loving care! (We assume that they have run out of poor and homeless Americans to care for in Lexington!)

Does it really help immigrants personally to showcase them, or is this all about the midterm elections?

From the Lexington Herald-Leader:

Show solidarity with migrants, refugees at Saturday pilgrimage, service

This is a time of great and increasing uncertainty for immigrants living among us, whatever their citizenship or country of origin. In fact, it is an extremely difficult time for the marginalized and members of minorities living among us, whether they were born in this country or not.

While immigrants from some countries have been welcomed over the years, too often refugee and immigrants from other countries have faced indifference or hostility. This has happened while we have often relied on them to do difficulty and sometimes dangerous jobs for long hours and for very low wages. [How about if the good Catholics find them work other than in low wage meat and poultry plants!—ed]

Recent changes in immigration and enforcement policies have left many of these people with very little sense of security or, sometimes, hope. Those of us in more fortunate circumstances must, in conscience, step up and offer them both expressions of solidarity and practical help. [How about some serious practical help without the showboating!—ed]

One important chance to express solidarity is the “Share the Journey with Migrant, Refugee, and Marginalized Sisters and Brothers” pilgrimage taking place Saturday, Oct. 20, starting at 10 a.m. at the Courthouse Plaza and ending at Historic St Paul Catholic Church, where there will be a brief service, beginning with song and dance by our Congolese sisters and brothers. [They love to bring out the refugees as props for their political message!—ed]

The intention of the event is “to promote a just and inclusive community, especially in this climate of enhanced danger for immigrants, refugees, and the marginalized. We stand together, walk together, and pray together as a public witness to the dignity of the human person and the obligation we have as companions on the journey to accompany one another and build the culture of encounter.” [They have that social justice lingo down pat, don’t they!—ed]

This event is sponsored by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington with Lexington UNITED Interfaith Encounters, Catholic Charities, The Catholic Action Center and others.

More here.

Kentucky is a ‘welcoming state’!

What do the Kentucky refugee admission numbers look like?

When I wrote this post yesterday, I learned that Kentucky ranks #14 in the list of states with the most resettled refugees.

In fact, according to Wrapsnet, since October of 2008, Kentucky ‘welcomed’ 16,901 refugees!

Here is a list of the top twelve countries whose refugees, Catholics and other ‘religious’ resettlement agencies, have added to Kentucky’s diversity (mostly chosen by the UN).

Syrians to KY — See first Syrians arrive in KY in 2015 with the help of an Islamic charity. https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2015/02/15/first-syrian-refugees-arriving-in-louisville-ky-helped-with-grant-from-islamic-charity/

Burma (3,964)

DR Congo (3,040)

Bhutan (2,592)

Iraq (2,435)

Somalia (2,171)

Cuba (827)

Syria (495)

Sudan (231)

Burundi (210)

Eritrea (127)

Afghanistan (120)

Pakistan (107)

Go here for my Kentucky archives. Don’t miss the story about the Iraqi refugees arrested a few years ago in Bowling Green, now doing life in prison on terrorism charges.

Kentucky Somali says the UN picked Louisville as his resettlement destination

04/06/2018 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Hmmmm!

This is from a short article at The Catholic Record in Kentucky. It’s about how difficult it was for a new employee with Migration and Refugee Services in Louisville to learn the ropes about the resettlement process.
I can relate since I’m still learning the system after writing about it for nearly 11 years, but one bit caught my attention!
Here is what Catholic Charities of Louisville’s “employment team leader” Somali Ahmed Hussein told the new guy on the block:

One of my co-workers who is always willing to share his story and answer questions about his experience as a refugee is our employment team leader, Ahmed Hussein.

Ahmed is a Somali refugee who came to Kentucky after spending eight years in a Kenyan refugee camp. I remember when I first met Ahmed, I asked why they chose Louisville as a destination, and his response was really eye-opening to the entire resettlement process, “Man, we didn’t choose Louisville, they (the United Nations High Commission for Refugees) choose for you, and you take the destination they offer.”

You know what!
Since the US State Department and their resettlement contractors*** NEVER explain to the public how locations are chosen (it is one of the most closely held secrets of the whole process), we’ll go with Mr. Hussein’s explanation until we get some real answers!
And, have a look at this graphic I found. It’s a couple years old, but it does give you some idea of where the UN is placing Somalis!

Somali cities map — I missed this article in 2016: http://stumpinfortrump.com/2016/03/19/somali-tsunami-obama-sending-700-per-month-u-s-cities-despite-admitted-terror-recruitment-problem/

This is the Top Twenty list of cities (targeted by the UN?) from that map:

Minneapolis-St. Paul – 646
Columbus, Ohio – 412
Buffalo, N.Y. – 361
Syracuse, N.Y. – 307
Dallas-Ft. Worth – 302
Salt Lake City, Utah – 276
San Diego – 275
St. Cloud – 243
Louisville, Ky. – 236
Phoenix, Ariz. – 218
Seattle, Wash. – 212
Erie, Pa. – 207
Atlanta – 159
Glendale, Ariz. – 155
Tuscon – 154
Boston – 153
Houston – 150
Nashville – 148
Kansas City, Mo. – 145
Portland, Ore. – 132

See my Kentucky archive, here.

Contact the President by clicking here. Tell him it is time to get the UN out of our refugee resettlement business!

*** These are the nine major resettlement contractors who keep this secret well: How is your town or city chosen?
I post the contractor list almost every day because I want new readers to know exactly who is responsible for driving the US Refugee Admissions Program (in addition to the UN!).
(Catholic Charities works for the US Bishops.)
The number in parenthesis is the percentage of the nine VOLAGs’ income paid by you (the taxpayer) to place the refugees, line them up with (low paying) jobs in food production and cleaning hotel rooms, and get them signed up for their services! From most recent accounting, here.