Readers, I am so backed up with news that I really need to share before I go away. I am going to just put up a bunch of posts and not say much (you probably are cheering that news!).
Here is a story from the Portland Press Heraldwith the subheading:
Few organizations offer the types of financing allowed by Islamic law, discouraging many eager immigrant entrepreneurs.
That is what the Somali (Lewiston is the Somali capital of New England!) and other Muslim immigrant boom has brought to Maine. See our EXTENSIVE Maine archive by clicking here. Governor LePage is trying to hold back the tide in a state whose famous welfare generosity caused a rush on Maine, here, a few years ago.
I like this photo of Gov. LePage holding the Heritage Foundation’s copy of the US Constitution.
Update!Reader Dana sent us this link. 16 Test positive for TB at Sacramento area high school—wonder where it came from???
Not physically slapped around, but verbally in the Bangor Daily News which apparently wants to debunk his claim. Note the first sentence of the story by Christopher Cousins—if you don’t read beyond that, you have been told what the media wants you to believe.
….however, there are a large number of ACTIVE TB cases in Maine!
Regular readers may remember that Maine has become the go-to state for asylum seekers—migrants who got into the country one way or another and are now seeking ‘refugee’ status. In Maine, while they are waiting for the decision, they can get various social services that are not available elsewhere.
There may be other states that give out welfare to asylum seekers, but I haven’t read about those. Gov. LePage has been attempting to remove the sweetener that Maine has been providing.
AUGUSTA, Maine — The consensus among public health experts regarding Gov. Paul LePage’s comments linking illegal immigrants to the spread of infectious diseases during his State of the State address on Tuesday is that they have seen no data to back up his claims.
Officials from the LePage administration have provided no substantiation for the comments and have not responded since Wednesday to the Bangor Daily News’ requests for data and comment on the matter.
Here’s what the governor said:
“When a refugee comes here from a foreign country, they get a medical assessment, and we know their health. But when they come here illegally, they don’t get medical assessments. And one thing that we don’t want to see is the uptick of hepatitis C, HIV and tuberculosis. But it is here. We are dealing with it. And it is very costly. So if nothing else, they should be getting a medical assessment when they get here.”
By the way, even if a refugee gets a medical assessment before entering the US, the presence of TB or HIV is not a bar to entry.
So, after many paragraphs of making light of the governor’s comments we come to this one (below) on TB. I was blown away by the number of ACTIVE Tuberculosis cases diagnosed in Maine. Do you remember when one guy with active TB got on a plane somewhere a few years ago and all hell broke loose in the media — well, heck, why isn’t there a lot of news about these ACTIVE cases in Maine? How many are there in other states?
The resettlement industry mouthpieces are quick to tell us that LATENT TB is no big deal. O.K. but what about all these active cases getting in here? Twenty plus cases of ACTIVE TB over three years is a lot of cases—and, you are paying for their meds!
Active tuberculosis cases were higher in 2012 and 2013 than they had been since 2009, with 15 reported cases in 2013. There were less than 10 new cases reported in 2014, according to Hannan’s data. The CDC also tracks latent cases, which means the tuberculosis bacteria is present but the patient shows no symptoms (untreated latent tuberculosis is a precursor to full-blown tuberculosis in up to 10 percent of cases). There were 433 latent cases recorded in 2013, up from 398 in 2012. The CDC report also includes the country of birth for people recorded to have latent tuberculosis. The top countries of origin for latent tuberculosis cases were Angola (41), Burundi (43), Congo (51), Iraq (41), Rwanda (38), Somalia (53) and the United States (78).The 2013 CDC report contains no information about how long the patients had been in Maine before their diagnosis.
See our‘health issues’category for more on diseases, mental health problems and other medical issues involving refugees. I’ve often said that health concerns are going to have a far greater impact on American attitudes toward immigration than the fear of terrorists getting in here.
His former lawyer anguishes over belief that the system fails refugee children. This may be the first Portland murder this year, but it sure isn’t the first crime involving refugees in Maine in recent years. A quick look at our archives (five minutes!) and I see several cases we reported on of crimes involving youthful refugees in Maine.
The “system” has had plenty of opportunities to learn from run-ins with refugees and crime. Surely you lawyers aren’t proposing special treatment for them?
No experience with refugee youth trauma in Portland? Have we forgotten Muktar? And, what about the victim’s trauma? https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2013/06/11/maine-somali-youth-sentenced-to-8-years-for-raping-woman-no-prospect-for-rehabilitation-says-judge/
Now to the latest, the murder of a Sudanese refugee in Portland. From Central Maine (hat tip: ‘Pungentpeppers’ crime researcher extraordinaire):
It’s America’s fault…
Richard Lobor’s family fled Sudan when he was a boy to escape the violence of civil war and the threat of execution.
But instead of finding safety in America, Lobor was shot in the head last month in the doorway of a Portland apartment, becoming the city’s only homicide victim this year.
Lobor, who was 23, was the oldest of the family’s six children and had been expected, in accordance with Sudanese tradition, to become the head of the family soon. Now his parents, Robert Lobor and Christina Marring, are asking themselves as they grieve how things went so wrong in a country they thought would lead their children to prosperity and a better future.
You can read the long discussion yourself of Lobor’s run-ins with the legal system. Then this from his former attorney Gina Yamartino. Honor the refugee experience she says.
The system failed him!
Although she ultimately relented and allowed him to be prosecuted as an adult, after Lobor insisted to her that’s what he wanted, she said she still feels “like the system failed him.”
“I don’t think we fully understand – and how could we? – what his experiences were before he got here. I truly believe he suffered from a fair bit of trauma, and coming here wasn’t going to fix it all,” Yamartino said. “I think we have to think long and hard about kids coming from different countries and understand what their experiences were and honor those experiences as best we can.”
Yamartino said that although Lobor’s criminal record looks bad on paper, that doesn’t tell the story of who he was.
SYSTEM INEXPERIENCED WITH REFUGEES! (Not!)
Thibeault [Christine Thibeault, the head of the juvenile division of the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office] said those who work in juvenile justice in Maine are experienced in how to deal with childhood trauma from abuse and neglect, but have little background in treating trauma of refugee children.
Guess they better get to work then because more are coming to Maine every day.
We have a huge archive on Maine, click hereto learn about many more problems Mainers are having! See especially one of our top posts of all time—Maine as the welfare magnet.
Who brings refugees to Maine for the US State Department (and the UN):
Longtime readers know we have closely followed the controversy in Maine (archive here) where the state had gained a reputation around the country (and probably the third-world) as the state to go to and apply for asylum. Why? Because even as federal law does not say asylum seekers can get welfare during their wait for the legal process to play out, Maine was giving hand-outs to the “undocumented.”
Paul LePage for President? (That little book he is holding is the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution published by the Heritage Foundation.)
Republican Governor LePage vowed to reform Maine’s reputation as the go-to state for taxpayer-funded goodies and he was re-elected in blue New England.
And, btw, it was Maine’s generosity that attracted the first Somalis to Lewiston, Maine. See our entire Lewiston archive for the mess that created.
PORTLAND Maine (Reuters) – Maine’s largest city has begun clamping down on spending as newly re-elected Republican Governor Paul LePage makes good on a campaign promise to cut funding to cities and towns that give aid to undocumented immigrants.
In an internal memo released on Wednesday, Portland city officials said they had frozen hiring and cut travel and overtime spending after their requests for reimbursement from the state for assistance provided to families with children in emergencies had gone unanswered since July.
The budget shortfall could grow to as much as $3 million this year, city officials said, a hefty sum that underscores the increasingly local impact of the tense congressional standoff over national immigration reform.
“We just don’t have that kind of money sitting around, so we need to act prudently,” said city spokeswoman Jessica Grondin. “We’re in a holding pattern until we receive some kind of official response.”
Tea Party-backed LePage, who was re-elected last week with a strong mandate to reform the state’s welfare system, had threatened in June to cut funding to municipalities that give state-reimbursed general assistance to undocumented immigrants.
“Tell your city councilors and selectmen to stop handing out your money to illegals,” LePage said in a radio address.
Then take note of this next paragraph…..
“It basically came down as an edict from the governor,” said municipal association spokesman Eric Conrad. “How can you expect a municipal clerk to determine immigration status when they’ve never done that before, and haven’t been trained?”
Train them!
When I speak with people who know nothing about the immigration horrors going on in America, they are always stunned to learn that NO one EVER asks for documentation relating to immigration status—not colleges accepting students and collecting tuition, not welfare offices, not motor vehicle administration offices and not board of election offices. I know this from personal experience. If documentation were required it would cut down ultimately on the number of illegal aliens of all stripes living in America!
Now be sure to go to the Reuters story to see the comments! As of this writing there are 1,806—mostly supporting the Governor! And, some suggesting he run for President of the United States.
Mayor McDonald is continually under fire from Leftists and Somali agitators. Here is one such case in 2012: http://www.pressherald.com/2012/10/02/lewiston-mayor-asked-to-resign-after-comments/
Although the “S” word is not mentioned, it does seem that the mayor ( Mayor Robert Macdonald) had Somalis on his mind when he talked with WMTW.TV(hat tip: ‘pungentpeppers’):
Voters in Lewiston have repealed an agreement that would have given some pieces of city land to a landlord whose properties were destroyed in a 2013 arson. Affordable housing would have been built at the site. Mayor Robert Macdonald said the city has enough housing and more than 40 vacant buildings have been torn down so far.
[….]
He is concerned about building more housing that can attract people from other areas and take advantage of public services. When we bring these people in here, they perpetuate the—the myth that Lewiston is nothing but a welfare place.
By the way, I assume the arson fire discussed is this onewhich did involve a Somali boy. More here.
How did all those Somalis (thousands of them) end up in Lewiston? See our post from 2009 on Maine and the welfare magnet, here.
You also might want to have a look at our extensive archive on Lewiston by clicking here.
And, one more thing, Maine’s Governor Paul LePage, who has been trying for years to get rid of Maine’s reputation for welfare generosity to migrants and asylum seekers, was re-elected last week(the Left is not happy). See our Maine archive here.
