Tag: Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service

Tomorrow Three Refugee Contractors Will be in Federal Court to Try to Kill Trump’s First Effort to Reform Refugee Program

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 6 Comments

We have reported on the case several times recently, but thought that the details of tomorrow’s court date in Maryland would be of interest to you.

HIAS’s Mark Hetfileld (left) protesting the President along with Church World Service in front of the White House in 2018. https://um-insight.net/in-the-world/advocating-justice/faith-groups-sue-trump-administration-over-refugee-resettlem/

 

Three big fish representing the Refugee Industry will be available to the press following the hearing.

This whole effort by the President to solicit consents (on non-consents) of governors and county elected officials throws a monkey wrench in the works for the nine contractors*** who have for decades been able to place refugees in pretty much any place they chose to set up a subcontractor office (of course in consultation with their ideological partners in the US State Department).

They will be in court to argue that you, taxpayers and citizens of Anytown, USA, have no right to voice your concerns about their ‘religious’ work of placing impoverished third worlders throughout America. 

And, specifically that the President is blocking them “from fulfilling their faith calling and missions to ‘welcome the stranger,” says Church World Service’s Erol Kekic here.

Below is the news from something called Value Walk:

LIRS, CWS, HIAS vs Trump

 

This Wednesday [tomorrow!], on January 8, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland will hear arguments on the Trump Administration’s Executive Order allowing state and local officials to stop refugees from being resettled in their jurisdictions.

The new order was signed on September 26, 2019, and for the first time ever, requires resettlement agencies to obtain written consent from all localities and states in which they plan to resettle refugees. This could prevent refugees who have waited years from being reunited with their U.S.-based families, and communities from welcoming refugees, even if they have long-standing and successful resettlement programs.

On November 21, three faith-based resettlement agencies, HIAS, Church World Service (CWS), and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), filed a complaint against this new order, charging that it violates federal law and is yet another attempt by the Trump administration to restrict refugee resettlement in the United States.

WHAT:

The case being heard is:

HIAS v. Trump, brought by the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), on behalf of HIAS, Church World Service (CWS), and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS).

WHEN:

Arguments: Wednesday, January 8, 2020, 10 a.m. ET

Immediately following the arguments, (approximately 12:30 p.m. ET), attorneys and plaintiffs will give statements and respond to questions outside the courthouse.

WHO:

Linda Evarts, Litigation Staff Attorney, IRAP

Mark Hetfield, President and CEO, HIAS [HIAS Federal funding from recent Form 990: $19,138,737—ed]

Erol Kekic, Senior Vice President, CWS [CWS Federal funding: $39,424,221—ed]

Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO, LIRS [LIRS Federal funding: 45,316,561—ed]

WHERE:

United States District Court

District of Maryland

6500 Cherrywood Lane

Greenbelt, MD 20770

The case is in the same court where an Obama-judge slapped the President on the so-called travel ban, but the judge is not the same one who made that decision.

https://www.knkx.org/post/new-rulings-against-trumps-travel-ban-what-was-blocked-and-why

See the schedule here and note that the judge tomorrow is Peter Jo Messitte, a 79-year-old Clinton appointed judge.   The pious contractors are surely ‘praying’ for a quick decision with the hope that Trump’s refugee program reform can be frozen in its tracks and they can go back to business as usual—changing America by changing the people and being paid for it!

I’m sure this information was posted so they could make sure some press showed up and maybe a little gaggle of supporters holding ‘Refugees Welcome’ signs (supplied by the contractors!).

One more time—Any Republican governors who virtue-signaled and pandered to the contractors, rushing their consent, were downright dumb in my opinion.

I see that Alaska’s governor yesterday joined the bunch thumbing their noses at the President weeks before a flexible deadline—a deadline that could be moot depending on what happens with the contractors’ case tomorrow and in the coming weeks.

 

LOL! Now to my daily message for new readers….

***For new readers these (below) are the nine federally-funded refugee contractors that operate as a huge conveyor belt monopolizing all refugee placement in America.

A ‘religious’ message from CWS one of three federally funded contractors suing to stop the President’s effort to reform the UN-driven Refugee Admissions Program.

And, they do not limit their advocacy toward only legal immigration programs, but are heavily involved in supporting the lawlessness at our borders.

The question isn’t as much about refugees per se, but about who is running federal immigration policy now and into the future?  

(I plan to say this once a day from now on!)

I continue to argue that these nine contractors are the heart of America’s Open Borders movement and thus there can never be long-lasting reform of US immigration policy when these nine un-elected phony non-profits are paid by the taxpayers to work as community organizers pushing an open borders agenda.

 

Ten Governors (So Far) Silent on Whether they Will Welcome More Poverty to Their States

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 2 Comments

I am sick of writing about the governors and wasn’t going to start out with a tally this morning, that is until I saw this story about how the Lutherans are waiting on their big fish—Governor Abbott of Texas.

It is the same old boiler-plate BS, you can read it yourself at the Texas Tribune.

However, this made me laugh!

The reporter references the fact that Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) , one of nine federal refugee contractors***, headquartered in Baltimore’s posh Inner Harbor, has been keeping a tally of those who have consented (both the governors and the locals).  I directed you to it here on Friday.

Well get this! They now have it password protected! 

***Update*** A reader reported that they have removed the password protection.  LOL!  You think they might be reading RRW!

Only special people can access their website. No deplorables allowed!

And, think about it!  LIRS is 90% taxpayer funded!  They are paid nearly $50 million a year to do their ‘good works’! 

Requiring a password to access their website confirms once again that these Leftwing ‘religious’ charities take our money and then operate in secrecy!

(Because they are ostensibly private groups you can’t even use the Freedom of Information Act to get find out how exactly your money is spent.)

 

https://www.lirs.org/refugee-consents-2020

 

See what LIRS (new) CEO told the Texas Tribune:

LIRS new CEO, Krish Vignarajah, a former employee of Michelle Obama, took over at LIRS in the wake of a very messy internal battle that saw the previous CEO Linda Hartke eased out. Hartke was pulling down a salary and benefits package of over $300,000 as the scandal unfolded.  We reported the whole nasty business here. https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2018/02/14/lutherans-announce-departure-of-ceo-hartke-amid-claims-of-financial-irregularities-poor-management/

I wonder if they are paying Ms. Vignarajah that exorbitant salary as she presides over a quasi-government agency that is 90% funded by taxpayers.

Below she is quoted at the Texas Tribune story (which of course doesn’t mention that these ‘humanitarians’ are funded, not by Christian charitable giving, but by the US taxpayers):

As of Thursday, 39 governors [actually 40–ed] and 86 mayors and other local authorities had provided consent, according to the Baltimore-based Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, a resettlement agency keeping a regular tally of the latest decisions. Krish Vignarajah, the group’s president, said she is hopeful Abbott will join the other GOP governors who have stayed in the program despite the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on immigration across the board.

However, just in case they can’t pull this off politically they have their ace-in-a-hole!

Lawsuit!

LIRS, which did I mention is 90% funded with your tax dollars, has filed a lawsuit in a friendly court against the President to stop this whole exercise.

They want to continue to place refugees in locations of their choosing as they have been doing for decades!

So, that is why I’ve been saying that the Republicans who have caved so far, virtue-signalling to their state’s Leftwing agitators, are dumb.

Before this month’s deadline, a federal judge could decide the matter for the states — at least temporarily. The Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and the Church World Service sued the Trump administration in November alleging the executive order violates federal law.

[….]

A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Wednesday.

 

***For new readers these (below) are the nine federally-funded refugee contractors that operate as a huge conveyor belt monopolizing all refugee placement in America.

CWS poster girl! CWS is one of three federally funded contractors suing to stop the President’s effort to reform the UN-driven Refugee Admissions Program.

And, they do not limit their advocacy toward only legal immigration programs, but are heavily involved in supporting the lawlessness at our borders.

The question isn’t as much about refugees per se, but about who is running federal immigration policy now and into the future?  

(I plan to say this once a day from now on!)

I continue to argue that these nine contractors are the heart of America’s Open Borders movement and thus there can never be long-lasting reform of US immigration policy when these nine un-elected phony non-profits are paid by the taxpayers to work as community organizers pushing an open borders agenda.

 

Lutherans Report on their Refugee Consent Lobbying Efforts; Falling Short on Counties

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I know I’ll hear from Lutherans who disavow everything that Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) is doing (and don’t like being lumped in with them), but indeed it is this faction (the Leftwing) of the Lutheran ‘faith’ making all the news.

When I saw this website this morning (thanks to a reader) where LIRS (one of nine federal refugee contractors that monopolize all refugee resettlement in America***) is running a tally of their successes in gaining consents for their placement of refugees, I am struck by a couple of things.

LIRS National Headquarters are in this building owned by the Lutherans and located in a prime Inner Harbor Baltimore neighborhood. Taxpayers fund LIRS about $50 million a year (90% of their budget is taxpayer funded). LIRS is one of three contractors suing Trump to stop the President’s refugee reform plan.

First, where the heck is the Department of State that promised a running tally would be publicly available.

As of this writing the DOS website is pathetic compared to LIRS.

Of course since LIRS is almost completely funded by the federal government (taxpayers like you and me!), funding based on the number of refugees they place, they have a lot to lose if they can’t get enough consents when applying for their contract with the State Department.

(From its most recent Form 990 (page 9) we see that LIRS is 90% funded from the US Treasury!)

Weak Governors are falling like dominoes as we have been reporting, see here yesterday, but where are the counties?

The US State Department’s Funding Guidance (the rules for the President’s reform initiative) specifically says that in addition to governors, the contractors must get consent from COUNTY governments.  There is no mention of Mayors of cities having any say!

By the way, the contractors hate Trump’s new reform plan because they have had free rein for decades to place refugees pretty much wherever they wanted with guidance from friendly and ideologically aligned bureaucrats in the State Department.

And, they certainly never had to solicit support from elected officials to get their MONEY for the year (actually now only a portion of the year from June to the end of September 2020).

Here is the pertinent section of the Funding Guidance:

Consistent with Section 412(a) of the INA and Executive Order 13888, Enhancing State and Local Involvement in Refugee Resettlement, PRM and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) seek to promote the involvement of states and localities in the selection of locations for initial resettlement. In addition, PRM and ORR seek strong environments to support resettlement and speedy integration, and regard state and local consent for resettlement activity as important evidence of such strength. For each state and locality where the applicant proposes to resettle refugees during the award period, the applicant should seek written consent for resettlement of refugees from the state governor’s office and the chief executive officer of the local government (county or county equivalent). PRM will take into account such consents to the maximum extent permitted by law, including Section 412(a) of the INA and antidiscrimination laws, in deciding where to place refugees.  [A little wiggle room here at the end, but still no mention that mayors must approve.—ed]

Now go here and check out LIRS lineup of support.

Notice that only a small number of counties have submitted consents (29 out of a list of 86 local consents), see if yours is on the list!  Also, see if your mayor has said sure send us more poverty we don’t have enough of our own!

So to my readers who have been asking if it’s too late to put pressure on your county to say NO, the answer is NO IT ISN’T TOO LATE!

P.S. Your federal representatives—US Senators and Congressmen—have nothing to do with this plan so don’t waste time on them right now! It is county elected officials and a few remaining governors that matter!

 

***For new readers these (below) are the nine federally-funded refugee contractors that operate as a huge conveyor belt monopolizing all refugee placement in America.

Church World Service poster girl!

For decades they have decided in secrecy where to place refugees and they don’t want to lose that power because even as they pontificate about their religious convictions and humanitarian zeal, they are Leftwing political activist groups working to change America by changing the people and using your money to do it!

And, they do not limit their advocacy toward only legal immigration programs, but are heavily involved in supporting the lawlessness at our borders.

The question isn’t as much about refugees per se, but about who is running federal immigration policy now and into the future?  

(I plan to say this once a day from now on!)

I continue to argue that these nine contractors are the heart of America’s Open Borders movement and thus there can never be long-lasting reform of US immigration policy when these nine un-elected phony non-profits are paid by the taxpayers to work as community organizers pushing an open borders agenda.

(If you are new and are confused because your local resettlement agency doesn’t have one of these names, just know that they are a subcontractor of one of the nine and you can usually find out which one by going to their website.)

 

Suck-up Letters from Republican Governors Causing me to Start Swearing

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 2 Comments

And, if governors like Arkansas’s Asa Hutchinson are an example, their Leftwing Refugee contractors aren’t even very appreciative of the caving that one Republican governor after the other is doing—-I suspect at the behest of Secretary of State Pompeo who is (I believe) attempting to undermine his nemesis in the White House Stephen Miller (more on that later).

Hutchinson abandons the President on refugee program! Caves to the Religious Left! (Or was it to Tyson Foods?). He could have kept his letter simple, but oh no, he had to demonstrate his ignorance and suck-up to the ‘religious’ Leftwingers in his state.

As the Republicans are lining up to oppose the President (yes, that is what they are doing!), I said I wasn’t going to write about each capitulation, but a few might be worth it to demonstrate the governors’ ignorance of the refugee program that Trump wants to seriously bring under control.

This just in: 15 Republican Governors have turned against the President so far!  See if yours is one of them!

 

Check out Hutchinson’s ‘kiss-ass’ comments at Arkansas Online:

At least he could have been honest and mentioned that he has to keep Tyson Foods happy (See Lutherans in Arkansas get a $50,000 grant from Tyson Foods!) just like ol’Bill Clinton did when he supplied Big Meat with refugee labor.

Refugee order appreciated, state advocates say

FAYETTEVILLE — A leader with Canopy Northwest Arkansas on Tuesday welcomed Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s executive order that Arkansas will continue to accept legally immigrating refugee families.

Faint praise for the governor who capitulated:

“I don’t want to make it more than it is, which is that we will continue to do what we are doing, but we appreciate the governor’s support,” said Clint Schnekloth, chairman of the board of Canopy, a refugee assistance nonprofit group.

Clint Schnekloth

An executive order from President Donald Trump allows states to refuse further refugees. The U.S. Department of State coordinates refugee relocation with nine charitable organizations [federal contractors—ed]*** through agreements [aka federal contracts—ed] with the government.

The Northwest Arkansas group worked with two of those nine groups — Catholic Charities Immigration Services and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service — to get the region accepted in 2016 as a refugee resettlement site. [This was the period at the end of the Obama Administration when his State Department was rapidly expanding resettlement sites—ed].

“Previously, there was no coordination with the state and little awareness,” Hutchinson said in a statement Tuesday. “Under the new executive order, the state will have more visibility. The approval will need to be each year, and the state will be able to assure the refugees are assimilating into the community and have access to jobs, education and job training. I have confidence that local communities will provide the support necessary, but we will be able to monitor.”

WTH the state will be able to assure the refugees are assimilating. Really? Monitor how? And, if you, governor, somehow figure out that they are not assimilating will you have the backbone to say NO next year?

States have until Jan. 21 to declare whether they will allow placement of refugee families through the federal admissions program under the executive order. More than 30 governors have agreed to accept refugees, according to The Associated Press.  [Only a tiny fraction of the consent letters have been received by the State Department as of this writing.  What! bureaucrats on vacation?—ed]

[….]

Schnekloth said the Canopy group appreciates the degree of support and clarity in Hutchinson’s decision to beat the deadline by a month and to reiterate the importance of helping legal refugees. The governor announced his decision Monday in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Dumb Asa didn’t have to send any consent for at least another month and the squishy language of the funding guidance allows even more foot-dragging by governors beyond January 21, 2020.

The Contractors wanted quick consents so they can prepare their requests for YOUR money by January 21st.

“While we fully support control of our borders and oppose illegal immigration, we also value the contribution of immigrants and understand the importance of America continuing to be a welcoming nation for those truly seeking refuge and following the legal path to our land,” reads Hutchinson’s letter to the secretary. [Contractor boiler-plate language!—ed]

“To that end, I have received confirmation from local municipalities, members of the faith-based community, as well as members of the nonprofit community, confirming they will coordinate support and facilitate employment opportunities for refugees that are approved for relocation to Arkansas,” the letter says. [More contractor boiler-plate language—ed]  

How does Hutchinson plan to monitor the “faith-based community” to make sure they will support and find jobs for refugees?

And, in reference to his earlier opposition to the Obama plan for a mass movement of Syrians to America, he says this:

The family-by-family relocation by the admissions program is not the same, and recent efforts by the administration “enhancing security checks to ensure proper screenings are carried out” in the program are appreciated, the governor’s letter says.

It is the same program Obama used! 

There is nothing new because the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program HAS NOT BEEN REFORMED.  And, in this, one small effort by Trump to rein-in the dysfunctional program, we have spineless governors kissing-up to ungrateful (anti-Trump) Lefties.

 

***For new readers these (below) are the nine federally-funded refugee contractors that operate as a huge conveyor belt monopolizing all refugee placement in America.  For decades they have decided in secrecy where to place refugees and they don’t want to lose that power because even as they pontificate about their religious convictions and humanitarian zeal, they are Leftwing political activist groups working to change America by changing the people and using your money to do it!

And, they do not limit their advocacy toward only legal immigration programs, but are heavily involved in supporting the lawlessness at our borders.

The question isn’t as much about refugees per se, but about who is running federal immigration policy now and into the future?  

(I plan to say this once a day from now on!)

I continue to argue that these nine contractors are the heart of America’s Open Borders movement and thus there can never be long-lasting reform of US immigration policy when these nine un-elected phony non-profits are paid by the taxpayers to work as community organizers pushing an open borders agenda.

Dear Tucker, What the Heck Happened to the Daily Caller? Sucking up to Refugee Contractors!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 8 Comments

Did you see the news that Democrat candidate for President Beto O’Rourke told an audience recently that he wanted to pull the tax exempt status of any religious organization that refused to perform gay marriages?

Yes Beto! Get rid of tax exempt status for some ‘religious charities’ but not for the reasons you suggest!

Well after having followed the fake non-profits hired by the feds to place refugees into unsuspecting towns and cities for over a decade, I have been thinking that we ought to pull the tax exempt status of any ‘religious’ group that operates in secrecy, gobbles up millions of tax payer dollars and then goes out and protests against the President (who is funding them!)….

….You know groups like the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Church World Service, and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.

But holy cow! I never expected to see the Daily Caller  carrying the water for those federal refugee CONTRACTORS in order to take a swipe at Beto.

The Daily Caller, called by wikipedia a right wing media outfit started by Tucker Carlson in 2010, must be trying to suck up to the Left with this distorted piece about how much religious groups do to help the poor and struggling refugees coming into the US from the third world.

Go for it, help the poor refugees (ignoring vulnerable Americans!), but do it with your own private charitable resources—NOT WITH TAXPAYER DOLLARS AND TAX EXEMPT STATUS!

[I just had a look at dozens of posts about the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and the millions it receives from the federal government and came across this 2017 post where Tucker Carlson eviscerates the Bishop’s Washington, DC lobbyist! Clearly Carlson is ‘Tucker who?’ at the Daily Caller!]

So what got me fired up this morning?

It is this headline at the Daily Caller:

Religious Institutions Support Refugees, But Beto Wants To Take Away Their Tax-Exempt Status

What do you mean by “but?” I agree with Beto—take away their tax-exempt status!  Of course, however, the young Catholic-educated reporter is referring to his statement about gay marriage.

Here are the opening two paragraphs in a report by Mary Margaret Olohan:

2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke wants to take away religious institution’s tax-exempt status if they will not perform same-sex marriages, but religious institutions make major contributions in helping refugees.

O’Rourke sparked backlash at CNN’s LGBTQ forum on Oct. 10 when he said that religious institutions that would not perform same-sex marriages should lose their tax-exempt status. He reiterated his statements Sunday, adding that this would apply to mosques and minority churches.

And, then she uses the supposed good works of two of nine refugee contractors to make her gushing points about how they help refugees and thus it’s an outrage for Beto (who loves refugees!) to suggest these benevolent politically Leftwing groups should lose tax exempt status.

Let me say it more clearly, it isn’t just that these ‘religious charities’ help refugees with taxpayer dollars, they promote illegal immigration and they actively protest on the streets against this President while living almost entirely on OUR US Treasury! 

See Ms. Olohan’s credentials! https://dailycaller.com/author/Mary+Margaret+Olohan

You can read more from Ms. Mary Margaret Olohan, the Daily Caller‘s Social Issues reporter, yourself, but since she extols the virtues of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) as an example of a ‘religious charity’ making a major contribution to helping refugees (not American poor people!), I thought I would have a look at their most recent IRS Form 990.

[I mentioned the latest finances of the US Catholic Bishops here at ‘Frauds and Crooks.’]

First take a trip down memory lane and see this post about LIRS I wrote on Valentine’s day 2018:

Lutherans announce departure of CEO Hartke amid claims of financial irregularities, poor management

During the Obama years LIRS was 95% federally funded. According to the most recently available Form 990 (2018) they have slipped some and only received 87% of their funding from the US taxpayer—$41 million!

But here is the stunner! CEO Hartke was getting the heave-ho that year, but look at the salary she got going out the door! Over $400,000!  That is about $80,000 more than the previous year! Pay-off?

This is largely your money!
Screenshot of a portion of the salaries page at LIRS 2018 IRS Form 990

What good is it if we have “right wing” media doing propaganda for Open Borders Inc?

So, I suggest Ms. Olohan do a little more research before picking which ‘religious charities’ to use as examples of virtue. And, btw, where was her editor?

Endnote:  I don’t want to sound like I’m whining, but I’ve just spent a couple of hours (I don’t get paid!) doing research that salary-collecting reporters should be doing.

The transgressions of LIRS have been widely reported for years and even if she couldn’t find my work because WordPressdotcom killed RRW, Breitbart did do a bunch of stories on the financial scandal surrounding Hartke’s departure.