A northwestern Minnesota county removed a Somali mother’s kids. Somalis want to know why.
Somalis in Minnesota and the worldare watching the case of an East Grand Forks mother whose children were removed by child protective services. Somali community members believe she’s being treated unfairly, but the facts are not black and white.
Nimo Khalif, 33, mother of six surrounded by supporters outside of the Polk County Court House.
CROOKSTON, Minn. — More than 100 Somali people packed the hallways of the Polk County Courthouse Monday, praying and then pressing officials to explain why the six children of a Somali mother had been taken away from her.
Nimo Khalif, 33, a widow who came to America from a refugee camp in Kenya in late 2014, had been raising the children ages 10 months to 16 years alone in East Grand Forks. Suddenly, the kids were in the custody of Polk County child protective services.
A distraught Nimo posted a video pleading in Somali for help. She said she wasn’t told why the children, ages 10 months to 16 years old, were removed and didn’t know what to do. Later, she would describe it as a “kidnapping.”
The Somali community across Minnesota responded. The widely shared video helped deliver supporters to the courthouse Monday, including many who drove nearly five hours from the Twin Cities. [Who helped her create her video to disparage America?—ed]
They left without answers. It turns out the case is more complicated than those responding to Nimo’s pleas might have realized. While concerns remain in the Somali community that Nimo’s being treated differently because she’s Somali, the facts are not yet black and white.
Polk County is five hours from the heart of Little Mogadishu (Minneapolis).
It began when one of Nimo’s daughters allegedly told a teacher in an email that she did not feel safe at home and was afraid to live with her mother.
[….]
The case has reverberated across Minnesota and the world. Somali National TV sent a reporter to cover the hearing. The video it posted on Facebook has nearly 150,000 views.
Somali community members who know Nimo said they couldn’t understand how she suddenly lost custody of her children.
Nimo strived to make sure her children were successful in their academic and Islamic education, said Abdirizak Duale, chair of Al-Huda Islamic Center of East Grand Forks.
[….]
Nimo, 33, works as a teacher’s assistant at Central Middle School, the same school where two of her daughters were taken into protective custody. She remains an employee of the district and has not been put on leave.
She said her husband, the children’s father, died 10 months ago in Uganda, leaving her to raise their children in far northwestern Minnesota without immediate family nearby.
Was it the fact that she, a “widow,” was resettled in Minnesota, or so we were told in 2014, lives alone struggling to raise six children on a low wage job (surely with the help of MN welfare), but now has a 10-month-old.
Where is the baby-daddy?
Why isn’t he helping the family? Or, is it possible that the refugee mom traveled back to where she ‘escaped’ from, Africa, 19 months ago for a conjugal visit with her ‘husband’ who is now conveniently dead.
The next time someone tells you that refugees don’t cost state and county taxpayers anything, remember this story.
Nimo Khalif and her brood will cost plenty—kids’ education, courts, social services, food stamps, housing assistance, medical care! And what does Polk County and America get other than worldwide criticism?
By the way, anyone seen CAIR Minnesota riding to her rescue?
Late last weekI reported that Beltrami County, MN county commissioners had taken up President Trump’s offer to opt-out of refugee resettlement for a portion of 2020.
Beltrami became the second county in the nation (that I know of) to take that action afterAppomattox County, Virginia.
Now see what the radical Left is doing. They have ginned up a campaign to attempt to boycott the county which depends on tourism for some of its income in hopes of scaring political leaders (and the Chamber of Commerce).
Just so you know, BIG MEAT/BIG POULTRY is the driving force for MORE refugees (to supply cheap labor) in other locations in Minnesota!
Boycotts like this are rarely successful and I suspect partly because those who support what the county has bravely declared—support for Trump’s immigration policies—will quietly respond and counteract the small number of big mouth boycotters on Twitter and add the county to their vacation plans especially when they now learn that this is Paul Bunyon land—LOL! I didn’t know that!
Minnesotans who believe their state has enough refugees and who support the President surely should get a counter campaign going!
Boycott Bemidji? Beltrami County’s vote to ban refugees stirs a backlash
BEMIDJI, Minn. — Almost immediately after the Tuesday vote was cast that established Beltrami County as the first governmental unit in Minnesota — and the second in the nation — to refuse refugee resettlement, a social media firestorm erupted, laden with calls to boycott the tourism-driven community.
These are the people in Beltrami County that the Open Borders Left hates. Hillary called them the deplorables and this is what this boycott is about—it is a Leftwing-generated proxy war against Trump’s people in Minnesota.
Comments from thousands of people across the country poured in on Twitter and Facebook, with many expressing that they would no longer vacation or spend money in the northern Minnesota county because of their disapproval of the Beltrami County Board’s 3-2 vote. The option to deny consent to refugee resettlement was granted to state and local governments under an executive order by President Donald Trump.
The move will have little practical effect as no refugees have been resettled in Beltrami County in at least the past five years.
I wonder if this is happening in Appomattox County, Virginia, also a tourist destination county because it is famously the location where the South surrendered to the North to end the Civil War. Yikes! (Just saying!)
Toughen your hides as November approaches, the Left plays very dirty. And, I think they would agree with me—immigration is the number one issue that will determine the future of America!
The contrast between President Trump and the Democrat candidatesis stark on the issue. The Refugee Act of 1980 is still in place and the Dems have already said they will immediately open the gates to over 100,000–200,000 refugees on day one of a Democrat president’s term.
Tom Steyer recently pledged to open our borders to so-called climate refugees creating a whole new category of legal migrants for you (the taxpayers) to take care of!
Besides adding Paul Bunyon country to your vacation plans, the most important thing you all must do now is reelect Donald Trump.
Previously, I reported that Appomattox County, Virginia had gone on record in response to the President’s refugee resettlement reform plan and said no thanks to refugee resettlement.
Every county in America is up for grabsas the US State Department hires its contractors for later in Fiscal Year 2020 to place the Africans, Asians and Middle Easterners (largely chosen by the UN) destined for Anytown, USA.
Now check this out, Beltrami County, Minnesota voted Tuesday to tell the State Department to count them out.
Even if Beltrami has not been a target site in the past, they want to make it clear that at least for FY2020 they don’t want to be like some other of the refugee hotbeds in the state.
Speaking of hotbeds, Stearns County (St. Cloud) voted to table the issue until the end of the month as did several other refugee resettlement locations in the state.
From theBemidji Pioneer where reporter Matthew Liedke did an excellent job of explaining the complex issue. H/T Ron
UPDATED: Beltrami County votes no to accepting refugees
Tuesday’s no vote in Bemidji was the first for any county in Minnesota.
An estimated 200 people came out to let their elected officials know that they don’t want to become a resettlement site for 2020.
BEMIDJI — With applause from a loud, passionate crowd Beltrami County on Tuesday, Jan. 7, became the first local government unit in Minnesota to refuse refugee resettlements.
In a 3-2 vote, the county’s Board of Commissioners chose to opt out of accepting refugee resettlements.The decision comes months after President Donald Trump signed an executive order enhancing state and local involvement in refugee resettlements. The order says the federal government “should resettle refugees only in those jurisdictions in which both the State and local governments have consented to receive refugees.”
While the order doesn’t take effect until June, though, resettlement affiliates and nonprofits are required to submit their placement strategies to the State Department by Jan. 31. Because of the short timeline, District 1 Commissioner Craig Gaasvig said organizing a public hearing wouldn’t be feasible, and as a result, the crowd of at least 200 people weren’t able to comment Tuesday at the meeting in Bemidji.
[….]
While no official comment period was held, the standing room only crowd extending out into the lobby of the County Administration Building did make itself heard at various times in the meeting.Additionally, when asked by Gaasvig for a show of hands on how many were opposed to accepting refugee resettlements, a clear majority of the crowd raised their hands. More than 200 people attended the meeting.
[….]
The refugee subject has been the talk of the area for the past few days.While it wasn’t on the agenda Monday for Bemidji’s City Council meeting, City Hall was still packed with individuals expressing concern over the matter.
Somalis have dominated the refugee flow to Minnesota, resettled there mostly thanks to Catholic Charities and Lutheran Social Services.
Earlier Tuesday, the St. Louis County Board voted 4-3 to delay its response to refugee resettlement until May after two-and-a-half hours of testimony in Duluth.
Counties to have approved accepting refugees after the executive order takes effect include Blue Earth, Kandiyohi and Nicollet. According to the Associated Press, the nation’s first county to ban refugee resettlement was Appomattox County, Va., where commissioners voted 4-1 on Dec. 17 to deny consent to resettlement.
[….]
Since 1980, more than 100,000 individuals have come to Minnesota through the United States Refugee Admissions Program.
Before Christmas I told you about how Leftwing Evangelicals were playing the‘Jesus card’ in Tennessee and I guess because Leftwing Evangelicals are in short supply in Minnesota we have the Leftwing Catholics and Lutherans pressuring local governments to welcome more “strangers” from the third world, but lacking in their demands for Christian charity is any mention of the fact that money is involved!
Governance by contractor is BAD GOVERNMENT!
This entire exercise we have been writing about for weeks is about MONEY-—MONEY for the nine refugee contractors*** that monopolize all refugee placement in America.
Let me say at the outset, that the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program is the ultimate example of bad government!
You simply can’t have taxpayers funding un-elected non-profit groups, many masquerading as ‘religious charities,’ making decisions about which UN-chosen refugees will be placed in your town while spending your MONEY to do their supposed ‘charitable’ work.
And, then adding insult to injury, lecturing us and elected officials about our Christian duties—duties that are not the role of government!
The President’s Executive Order issued in September is the first attempt in forty years to give voice to local elected officials on the issue that will effect all of our pocketbooks—medical care, education, housing, food—to care for tens of thousands of imported poor people. What! No American poor people left to care for?
Rules to get MONEY!
The Executive Order is directly tied to the funding for the nine contractors*** and that is why they are now in high dudgeon—they are fighting tooth and nail for their federal boodle!
If you take a few minutes and read the US State Department’s Funding Guidance, yes Funding Guidance resulting from the President’s reform initiative, you will see that in order for the contractors to get their MONEYfor later in 2020, they must line up support from local governments (and governors).
However, you would never know that this is about MONEYwhen you read the screed being sent around to local elected officials in Minnesota.
Taking care of the “stranger” is the role of Christians, but surely Jesus never expected Caesar to do that job.
I can’t speak for Jesus (like some of these men and women of the cloth believe they can!), but I feel sure he meant for good people to share from their private pocketbooks, and give their private time, not steal from others and call it Christian charity.
But, that is not how the Leftwing Catholics and Lutherans of Minnesota see it! (My comments are in brackets throughout!)
Resettlement policy: Create a welcoming society, not more barriers, for refugees
A message from Catholic and Lutheran bishops in Minnesota. By CATHOLIC and LUTHERAN BISHOPS OF MINNESOTA
December 23, 2019 — 5:43pm
“I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” Matthew 25
In this holy season, as we prepare to welcome friends and family into our homes, we are given new reason to reflect on our calling to welcome the stranger. Specifically, what is our calling to welcome immigrants and refugees?
The question has taken on new urgency this year as a result of Executive Order 13888, issued on Sept. 26.
The order requires consent from state and local governments for federal resettlement of refugees in their area.
Consent must be given within 90 days — by Dec. 25.
[Actually no, read the Funding Guidance, they were just telling this little fib to get elected officials signed up quickly because their funding proposals are due in late January and they wanted enough time to write their location-specific proposals so they could get their MONEY without delay—ed].
Author of this polemic is Ronald Pagnucco, Ph.D, Associate Professor Department of Peace Studies, College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University. What! The bishops found a community organizer to write their emotional appeal for MONEY? Do they think that if they dress up the refugee industry in religious garb no one can criticize them? https://www.csbsju.edu/peace-studies/faculty/ronald-pagnucco-phd
The new order seems to unnecessarily politicize what has been a humanitarian program [funded by federal and state taxpayers—ed] rooted in our nation’s long history of resettling families fleeing from life-threatening dangers. We are also troubled by the decision to set a limit of 18,000 refugees in 2020, the lowest number in 40 years.
[Of course they are because when your MONEY from the feds is based on the number of paying clients coming in, aka refugees, there is no incentive to ever take a breather and slow the flow. They have salaries to pay after all!–ed]
We are saddened [Sniff!—ed] that as Christians prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ — who himself experienced life as a refugee when his family fled to Egypt — our nation may be creating even more hardships for vulnerable refugee families. We, the Lutheran and Catholic bishops of Minnesota, invite our members, our political leaders and all of goodwill to prayerfully consider the following reflections.
In our traditions, Advent is a time to prepare for the coming of Jesus both at Christmas and at the end of time.
But it also challenges us to welcome him when he comes to us in other ways, particularly through the people we encounter every day.
[Yeh! Like what about poor Minnesotans?—ed].
Every human person is created in the image and likeness of God and therefore imbued with a sacred dignity [so they can be employed in Minnesota slaughterhouses.—ed] we must respect and protect. This is especially true when it comes to the poor and vulnerable.
[Yeh, as I said, like poor Minnesotans.—ed]
We acknowledge that resettlement can bring new challenges for our communities.
That uneasiness is real.
Yet, the world is experiencing the largest displacement of persons in human history. Our nation’s refugee policy is one way to demonstrate our values by following a common moral exhortation in the Bible: to welcome the stranger in our midst.
[As long as we get our federal MONEY-–ed]
We fear the executive order will create further hardship for refugees by delaying the resolution of their cases, dividing extended families and placing additional strains on the resettlement system. While we support local engagement, refugee resettlement agencies are already working closely with state and local officials as well as community stakeholders to facilitate this process, and we foresee a host of practical problems would arise [like their MONEY might be unavailable!—ed] if states and municipalities were given a veto over refugee resettlement.
[This ‘stakeholder’ meeting issue is one of their biggest lies! Across America and especially in Minnesota, citizens are barred from the supposed stakeholder meetings and I have an extensive archive of such episodes here at RRW to prove it.—ed]
We would like to address a few specific groups directly regarding their duties related to this issue:
[The nerve—a lecture from our moral superior!—ed]
To our refugee sisters and brothers: We stand with you as you start new lives in this country. You have escaped terrible situations of persecution and violence, leaving your homes and livelihoods to face an uncertain future. We know you are eager to live in safety with your families, find employment and become integral,contributing members of your local communities. We pledge our support, promise to be your advocates and trust that we will be mutually enriched as we come to know each other’s culture and experiences. We ask you to be patient with those for whom your presence presents a challenge.
[Be patient, we can help you when our MONEY comes in.—ed]
To our elected officials: We thank Gov. Tim Walz for expressing his support of resettlement, indicating that “the inn is not full in Minnesota,” and we ask our mayors and county elected officials to also publicly express support for refugee resettlement.
[If county elected officials say NO, it means the contractor doesn’t get MONEY to place refugees in that county for only a brief period in 2020, from June through September. It is not forever!—ed]
The assistance we offer refugees is repaid through the talents they share and their economic participation in the life of our communities. Rather than posing a threat to our values or our way of life, most refugees seek to build a better life and contribute to the vibrancy of their new homeland. We ask that you become their advocates, too.
Three guesses what they think of your Christian virtue-signalling!
To those who support refugee resettlement: Please don’t demonize those who are opposed.
[Little virtue-signalling by the peace professor.—ed]
We need to build bridges of dialogue instead of walls of resentment.
[These hokey lines just crack me up!—ed]
To our congregations and those of goodwill: Pray for refugees and voice your support for them to our elected leaders. Reflect on ways you or your church congregation can assist them [without being paid to do it!—ed] and other newcomers and how we can together address the fears and misconceptions that are all too common in these situations.
To those who are challenged by the influx of refugees: We invite you to seek to encounter them, learn their stories and work to see them as God sees them — as sons and daughters.
[Sure and you can help them where they live in the world!—ed]
In sum, the reduced cap on the number of refugees [reduced number of paying clients!—ed] as well as the executive order lack the mercy, compassion and justice that are not only called for by the Gospel but that also should be expected from a strong and historically diverse nation.
[Blah, Blah, Blah! who said a diverse nation is a good thing? You Lefties just make up this s*** and expect us to respond like a bunch of bobble-heads—ed]
Although we feel Executive Order 13888 should be rescinded [because we loved the power to change communities of our choosing—ed] the fact remains that the 90-day deadline stipulated in the executive order is Dec. 25 — Christmas. Although the impact [Money flow possibly halted—ed] will not take effect until several months into 2020, it is urgent that our community and elected officials respond right away.
[Because the Catholic and Lutheran contractors in Washington must get their funding applications filed in late January! There is no urgency on the part of governors and county governments! Make them sweat!–ed]
We can and must do better to create a welcoming society for those most in need.
[So do it with your own MONEY!—ed]
This article was submitted on behalf of bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: Thomas Aitken, bishop, Northeastern Minnesota Synod; Jon V. Anderson, bishop, Southwestern Minnesota Synod; Regina M. Hassalany, bishop, Southeastern Minnesota Synod; Patricia Lull, bishop, Saint Paul Area Synod; Ann Svennungsen, bishop, Minneapolis Area Synod; William T. Tesch, bishop, Northwestern Minnesota Synod.
Also submitted on behalf of leaders of the Roman Catholic Church: Bernard A. Hebda, archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis; Michael J. Hoeppner, bishop of Crookston; Donald J. Kettler, bishop of Saint Cloud; John M.LeVoir, bishop of New Ulm; John M. Quinn, bishop of Winona-Rochester, and Andrew H. Cozzens, auxiliary bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
Ron Pagnucco, Associate Professor Department of Peace Studies
College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University
St. Joseph, MN 56374-9447
rpagnucco@csbsju.edu
320.363.5784
***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 decidedin 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.
Don’t miss yesterday’s post about 15 dumb Republican governors who fell for the religious Left’s schmaltzy emotional ‘welcome the stranger’ mumbo-jumbo weeks/months before they really had to weigh-in.
Let me say at the outset, that the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program is the ultimate example of bad government! 
