AP (After Paris) two Governors say don't send Syrian refugees to my state

11/16/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

….and a third, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, wants answers from the federal government.
I had hoped to spend a lot of time this morning writing about the Governors, but unfortunately I have other duties today (of all days) that will keep me from posting all of the breaking news that is coming to us in the wake of the Paris massacre. But, LOL!, there are so many people writing about refugees now that I can soon retire!
Here (below) is the NYT on the governors (we told you about Michigan yesterday, here). What is so important about this news is that we are going to learn whether the governors have ANY POWER AT ALL TO SAY “NO” because we have long been told that they don’t by the federal refugee industry and its contractors.
If you are in one of these three states (Alabama, Michigan and Louisiana), you need to shore-up your governor now, because I suspect they are going to get hounded by the No Borders agitators and the refugee contractors (and so-called ‘church’ people) working there. Even if no Syrians have been admitted, or only a small number, you must make your voice heard now!
From the New York Times:

The governors of Alabama and Michigan said on Sunday they would not allow refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria to be resettled in their states, citing the attacks on Paris.

robert-bentley-04b472a25452ea93 — Alabama Governor Bentley: American citizens’ security comes first.

“As your governor, I will not stand complicit to a policy that places the citizens of Alabama in harm’s way,” Gov. Robert J. Bentley of Alabama, a Republican, said in a statement.

In Michigan, which has a sizable Arab-American population, Gov. Rick Snyder, also a Republican, said his state would not accept Syrian refugees, and he urged the State Department to review its procedures.

Syrians have already settled in Michigan, with one agency relocating about 200 of them in the past year, The Detroit Free-Press reported.

“Michigan is a welcoming state and we are proud of our rich history of immigration,” Mr. Snyder said in a statement. “But our first priority is protecting the safety of our residents.”

Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana has asked White House officials for information on how many Syrian refugees have relocated to his state, The Associated Press reported. Governor Jindal, a Republican, said he sought the information “in hopes that the night of horror in Paris is not duplicated here.”

I wish I had more time to talk to you about Alabama and Louisiana as so-called ‘Wilson-Fish’ states (learn what that means here) because in those states (there are 12 of them), the state government has been cut out of the refugee resettlement decision-making process altogether with the program administered from Washington through a non-profit group. I’m not saying governors in other states have much (or any control), but in these 12 states, the state and local taxpayers are completely unprotected.
If Jindal and Bentley really want to do something they need to begin to understand the system in their states, and stop it!

We are going to see now if governors have any say at all!

Breaking news: Michigan Gov. now says "no thanks" to Syrian refugees

11/15/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Drudge is reporting the news late this afternoon….

Rick Snyder, governor of Michigan, listens at a public meeting in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., on Friday, March 1, 2013. Snyder said he plans to name an emergency manager to handle Detroit?s fiscal crisis, stripping power from local officials in a withered city that in 1940 was the fourth biggest in the U.S. and a thriving capital of industry. Photographer: Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg via Getty Images — Snyder: Security comes first….

Will the dominoes begin to fall? Will other Governors demand a halt to Obama’s misguided plan to bring in 10,000 Syrians that the FBI says cannot be vetted?
And, funny coincidence I just a few minutes ago got off a radio interview in Michigan, but neither the host nor I had yet heard this incredible news. For our long time readers, this is a huge turnaround because the Republican Governor Snyder had earlier this year said he would like to resettle 50,000 Syrians in the state to “revitalize” dying Detroit, here.
Forty eight hours after Paris, here is the news —-a complete about-face by the Governor:

LANSING — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder says he is suspending efforts to bring Syrian refugees to Michigan in light of the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday.

“Given the terrible situation in Paris, I’ve directed that we put on hold our efforts to accept new refugees until the U.S. Department of Homeland Security completes a full review of security clearances and procedures,” Snyder said in a statement released by his office on Sunday.

“Michigan is a welcoming state and we are proud of our rich history of immigration,” the statement said. “But our first priority is protecting the safety of our residents.”

Huge test of states rights!

Now, we will be watching to see if this Governor (or any other of the fifty governors) have any power to halt the resettlement (by the federal government) of refugees in their states.

Martin O'Malley In Dearborn, Michigan: Bring in the Syrian Muslims! Michigan needs more!

10/24/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

They are just like my Irish ancestors!

I know, O’Malley is going nowhere in his bid to knock out Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and still possibly Joe Biden to become the Democrat nominee for President of the US, but since he was Maryland’s governor and Baltimore’s mayor, this news interested me (a Marylander). And, LOL! I think I might be in that “shadowy network” he refers to (but, it is not so shadowy).

From the Detroit Free Press:

Speaking to Arab Americans in Dearborn, Democratic presidential candidate and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley slammed “Islamophobia and xenophobia,” saying the U.S. should take in more Syrian refugees.

“I stand for a more compassionate America,” O’Malley said to about 200 people at the University of Michigan-Dearborn as part of a three-day conference held by the Arab American Institute. “We are a nation of immigrants and refugees. It’s in our DNA…The enduring symbol of America is not the barbed-wire fence. It is the Statue of Liberty.

O’Malley spoke Friday afternoon in a city whose population is more than 40% Arab-American Muslim. His remarks were the most extensive of any presidential candidate so far this year about Arab-American and Muslim issues. Before his talk, he met with Syrian and Iraqi refugees in metro Detroit, listening to their stories.

O’Malley called for bringing in 65,000 Syrian refugees, more than what the U.S. government currently plans to take in. Noting that Germany is taking in 800,000 refugees, he said: “As a nation, we should step up…we are a large nation. We must do better.” [I think he hasn’t been properly briefed—all of his pals on the hard left are pushing for 100,000 Syrians now, 65,000 was sooo last spring!—ed]

Muslims are just like my Grandpappy from Ireland!

“When I look in the eyes of immigrants, I see my grandparents,” he said.

Bad boys—Donald and Ben!

O’Malley slammed Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Detroit native Dr. Ben Carson for making anti-Muslim remarks. He said there is a disturbing pattern of anti-Muslim sentiment, saying “houses of worship…have been denied permits, worshippers exiting the mosque in Phoenix (Arizona)…greeted with protesters carrying assault rifles.”

O’Malley said that a “shadowy network of hateful” groups is “scapegoating and marginalizing Arab and Muslim Americans.”

I don’t think there is anything shadowy about those thinking it’s absolutely INSANE to bring in 65,000-100,000 (or even 10,000) Syrian Muslims (97% entering the US right now are Muslims) and disburse them throughout America. We are all quite out in the open!
Note to the “shadowy network” in Michigan….
O’Malley is not alone—Michigan Republican Governor Snyder wants to boost the Muslim population of Michigan too! Here is more news on that which I won’t have time to post separately. See if you can figure out for what Michigan is receiving $3 million from the feds. If it’s for the school system that would be a drop in the bucket for what the refugee kids cost state taxpayers.

Two weeks into FY2016, 51 Syrians arrive in US; Kentucky 'welcomed' the most

10/19/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

As we know, the Obama Administration is aiming to resettle 10,000 Syrians this year. The resettlement contractors, including the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, are pushing for 100,000 (btw, this post on the Bishops and 100,000 took off on social media in the last few days).
From the US State Department’s Refugee Processing Center for October 1-October 15 (hat tip: Diane).

As we previously reported, 97% of the Syrians resettled to the US in FY 2015 are Muslims. Make no mistake, this is not about saving the persecuted Christians or Yazidis.
Related: Have a look at this AP article about Syrians going to Michigan where the Republican governor is welcoming them (and wants many more). It was only posted yesterday and has 2,786 comments already (as of this writing) with the vast majority opposed to what Governor Snyder is doing.

Republican Governor Snyder welcomes Syrians to Michigan; Arab activists want more welfare

10/11/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We’ve written about Gov. Snyder and his plan to re-populate Detroit with 50,000(!) Syrians, but where does he expect 50,000 (or even 5,000) to work, or will they just bring federal welfare dollars to the city?
Here is the latest from the The Detroit News (hat tip: Joanne). Emphasis is mine.

Haifa Fakhouri — Does Ms. Fakhouri understand that the vast majority of the Syrians she is advocating (for Michigan) will be Muslims?

Michigan, already home to one of the largest communities of Syrian immigrants in the nation, can expect even more in the coming months as lawmakers warm up to the idea of welcoming more people from the war-torn country.

[….]

The prospect of accepting the migrants has support in Michigan, where about 4,000 refugees were resettled last year, with more than half of those from Iraq, according to data from the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement within the Department of Health & Human Services.

“Gov. Snyder believes Michigan should be a welcoming state,” said Dave Murray, spokesman for Gov. Rick Snyder. “We are open to working with the federal government to see if there is a role that Michigan can play with this issue.”

It’s unclear how many Syrian refugees could end up living in Michigan. Resettlement inside the U.S. is influenced by several factors, including whether the refugee has relatives living in the U.S. already, and the capacity of the resettlement agencies in local communities to handle individual or special casesand languages spoken.

“Each state also has the ability to comment on the capacity of the agencies and the communities in which they propose to place refugees,” said Danna Van Brandt, an adviser for the U.S. Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration within the State Department.

Liar, liar pants on fire!

It is absolutely NOT true Ms. Van Brandt that each state has the ability to comment on the capacity for the communities to handle more refugees, as all of you working in ‘pockets of resistance’ can attest. If they consult at all, they consult only with ‘friendlies’ like Gov. Snyder!

More welfare please!

The Detroit News continued with, get this, they want more welfare for Michigan refugees! This when we already know ,thanks to the work of Senator Sessions’ office, that Middle Easterners (Muslims and Christians) are gobbling welfare at a higher rate than other refugees.

Activists in Metro Detroit’s Arab community are pushing for the federal government to offer more aid to refugees from the Middle East and Africa.

“We’ve seen refugees coming here from the Middle East for the last 36 years,” said Haifa Fakhouri, president, CEO and founder of the Arab American and Chaldean Council….

[….]

The Arab American and Chaldean council is helping refugees through programs run by the United Nations, Catholic Relief Services and through efforts by churches and mosques, Fakhouri said.

Someone please do an economic study to counter the idea that refugees bring boom times to dying cities!
Logic tells us that that is simply impossible. Leave out the welfare dollars, the special loans for start-up refugee businesses, and money for HUD housing (coming from Washington, from taxpayers!) and then do the study! Be sure to factor in the remittances leaving the US permanently as refugees send money “home.”
Finally a clever reporter notices!
Every time you hear about how we have to help Europe out of its crisis remember that the vast majority of our Syrian refugees are chosen by the UN from UN camps, and here we see that 15,000 are in the pipeline from UN camps (previously we were told 17,000). Whether it’s 15,000 or 17,000 that is still over the 10,000 Obama says we will take in FY2016 (which got underway on Oct. 1).
Does Ms. Fakhouri understand that 97% of the Syrians who came through the Refugee Admissions Program so far are Muslims!
The Detroit News:

The refugees from Syria would be people who are already in the pipeline and waiting to be let into the United States, not the thousands working their way through eastern Europe and landing in Greece. It was not immediately clear how admitting a larger number of Syrian refugees who are in the processing pipeline would help alleviate the crisis that European countries are grappling with.

About 15,000 Syrians are waiting for the clearance process to conclude, according to the State Department.

There is much more including a list of Michigan elected officials for and against the Governor’s wish to bring ’em in! Continue reading here.
By the way, back in 2008, the US State Department slowed the flow to Michigan as the state was overwhelmed with welfare-gobbling refugees, so what changed their minds?