Tag: Pennsylvania

Refugees get jobs as dealers in PA casinos

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Jobs Americans won’t do?

Just as Atlantic City, NJ casinos are tanking with thousands expected to be unemployed, across the river in Pennsylvania refugees are getting jobs paying $22 to $28 an hour.  I know that area of Southern NJ and this is going to have a far reaching impact on the local economy.  Some of those employees might want to head to Pennsylvania.  But….

Extended family of Bhutanese refugees see first snow in Pennsylvania! PA is the top resettlement state for Bhutanese followed by Texas, NY, and Georgia. http://www.cdc.gov/immigrantrefugeehealth/profiles/bhutanese/population-movements/

From AP at Go Erie:

The gambling industry in western Pennsylvania is betting on refugee immigrants. And casinos say it’s paying off.

At Presque Isle Downs & Casino, 40 percent of the men and women in the pits flipping cards and counting chips got their initial training in a room barely larger than a closet in the rear of a former Methodist church owned by Multicultural Community Resource Center, an Erie nonprofit that helps resettled refugees find jobs, housing and schools.

[….]

Nearly 200 of the 1,800 workers at Rivers Casino on Pittsburgh’s North Shore, including those in the finance department and blackjack dealers, arrived as documented immigrants in the State Department’s refugee resettlement program. That’s twice the rate of foreign-born employment for the rest of Allegheny County, and it’s growing as charities help the state-regulated gambling parlor place qualified, law-abiding immigrants in service jobs that pay $22 to $28 an hour, depending on tips.

Now check this out!

That last line above (in red) has been edited because another version of the same article (this one at the Washington Times) says this:

Nearly 200 of the 1,800 workers at Rivers Casino on Pittsburgh’s North Shore, from the finance department to blackjack dealers, arrived as documented immigrants in the State Department’s refugee resettlement program. That’s twice the rate of foreign-born employment for the rest of Allegheny County, and it’s growing as charities – including the Catholic Diocese, Jewish Family and Children’s Services and the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council – help the state-regulated gambling parlor place qualified, law-abiding immigrants in service jobs that pay $22 to $28 an hour, depending on tips.

So why did Go Erie take out the names of the contractors resettling refugees in the area?

For more information, see our July post here—Pittsburgh at “tipping point!”  For more on how we came to take 70,000 plus Bhutanese refugees in the last few years, type ‘Bhutanese Sauerbrey’ into our search window.

Bethlehem, PA: Who will pay for Burmese refugee’s murder trial?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

That, readers, is a question we have been asking for months now as the number of trials for refugees committing violent crimes appear to be on the increase.

What did the Utah Burmese murder trial cost?  What did the Albany Iraqi rape trial cost?  What about the Somali terror trials in San Diego and Minneapolis?  And, that Iraqi sex trafficking case in South Dakota?  Interpreters alone cost the taxpayers a bundle!

Accused murderer, Win Min Htut, wants his kids to get his house. The taxpayers would then be responsible for his court costs.

From Lehigh Valley Live (Hat tip: the very busy ‘pungentpeppers’).  Emphasis below is mine:

With prosecutors seeking the death penalty against a Bethlehem man accused of shooting his wife in the street in front of their children, a Lehigh County judge said today the cost of defending the man at trial could hit six figures.

But in the case of Win Min Htut, there is a question of how those bills will be paid.

Htut is charged with homicide, burglary and criminal trespass in the Dec. 17 killing of his wife, 37-year-old Thida Myint. Prosecutors said Htut killed Myint in the street in front of their Bethlehem home on the day a permanent protection-from-abuse order was granted against him.

Htut is represented by the public defender’s office, court-ordered by Judge Robert Steinberg. The deed for the family’s home in Bethlehem is in Htut’s name only, officials sad, and Htut has said he wants the house to be given to his three children.

In court today, Chief Public Defender Kimberly Makoul said Htut told his attorneys he does not want to spend any money on experts necessary for a death penalty case.

“Our client does not want any of his assets spent,” Makoul said.

Steinberg said this is not a new situation, in terms of case law, and that while Htut may not want to spend his own money, “it doesn’t mean the county has to absorb the costs.”

Here is my suggestion:  The US State Department should be responsible for all of the refugee criminals that go before a court system.  I know, I know, that is taxpayer money too, but at least if someone (brave!) introduced such a bill in Congress it would get the public’s attention.

Then of course there is the much more intriguing idea of billing the resettlement contractors when their refugees break the law!

Note to “welcoming” communities—consider the case of Win Min Htut when you open your doors to more refugees.

Pennsylvania is in the top five preferred resettlement states in America.

How many Burmese in the US:

Here is one accounting of how many we have resettled over the last 12 years from Burma and camps in Thailand.  They are still coming.

*Burmese refugees resettled in the US since 2001: 97,713

*Chin Refugees resettled in the US since 2001: 30,453

*Karen Refugees resettled in the US since 2001: 57,962

*The rest ethnic groups from Burma in the US since 2001: 9297

This last number above would include Burmese Muslims/Rohingya

Pennsylvania: Burmese refugee shoots wife, faces death penalty

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Well what do you know—another refugee criminal case (requiring a translator of course!).***

Never forget! Diversity brings strength to your “welcoming” community, or so we are told!  See our previous post on Burmese living in poverty in America, kids dropping out of school.

Burmese refugee accused of murdering his wife in Bethlehem, PA (Express-Times Photo | BILL ADAMS)

From Lehigh Valley Live  (hat tip: ‘pungentpeppers’ crime finder!):

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against a Bethlehem man accused of shooting his wife in the street in front of their children the day a protection-from-abuse order was approved against him.

Win Min Htut is charged with homicide, burglary and criminal trespass in the Dec. 17 killing of 37-year-old Thida Myint.

Prosecutors say they’re seeking the death penalty for three aggravating circumstances: During the killing, Myint committed felony burglary, presented a grave risk to others, his children, and violated the protection order.

Htut remains in Lehigh County Prison without bail. He was scheduled to be arraigned today before Judge Robert Steinberg, but the Burmese interpreter Htut requires was unable to attend due to the weather.

There is more, see how the prosecutors believe the murder went down.

Pennsylvania in top five resettlement states

I’ve been thinking about Pennsylvania ‘finding itself’ in the top five resettlement states in the US.  It occurred to me after we noted that former Governor Tom Ridge signed the Republican ‘bring more refugees to America’ letter with Grover Norquist, that perhaps it was during Ridge’s term as governor that Pennsylvania became an enthusiastic resettlement ‘leader.’

There is a snowball effect, once your state or city becomes a preferred resettlement site, more refugees (often the relatives) of the first group are brought there by the contractors or their subcontractors (they are paid by the head to bring in the family members) and there is also some ‘rule’ the US State Department has about a hundred mile radius in which they place related people.  There is also the secondary migrant effect when refugees resettled elsewhere migrate within the US to be near their people.   Wyomingites!  Do you get that?

***Just for fun I went to our ‘crimes’ category with its 1,396 posts to see how many criminal court cases we wrote about just since the beginning of the year (specifically involving refugees).  Too lazy to link them (you can find them in the crimes category by clicking here).

We had the Colorado Iraqi rapists, the Utah Burmese rape/murder trial, the Iowa Bosnian sex abuse case, the Illinois Sudanese murder retrial, Washington Somali rapist, New York Afghan welfare cheats, Florida Sri Lankan illegal alien trafficking case, California Somalis sentencing in terror funding case, Minnesota Somali woman sentencing delayed (terror funding), and the Nevada Chinese refugee ripping off the casinos!  All within the last seven weeks!

To states and cities planning to “welcome” refugees: refugee healthcare at crisis stage

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Weren’t we told Obamacare was going to take care of all the poor uninsured people?  I guess not according to this story, one more in a series, from reporter Erika Beras on refugees without health care and insurance in Pennsylvania.  Beras’ other stories are here.

From New America Media (Hat tip: ‘pungentpeppers’).  This is a long report but well worth reading.  Is your refugee contractor going to help care for the uninsured or dump them (after the federal money runs out) on your state and city?  On your local hospital?

Wyoming, are you ready for this?

Top four resettlement states for Bhutanese refugees as of 2012: PA, TX, NY, and GA.
http://www.cdc.gov/immigrantrefugeehealth/profiles/bhutanese/population-movements/

Just one of the featured refugees is Mira a Bhutanese refugee with lots of health problems and on a suicide watch.

Mira Chhetri knows all too well the perils of being uninsured. Chhetri, 23, came to the U.S. with her husband a couple years ago after spending most of her life in refugee camps in Nepal.

In her first few months here, she had ovarian cysts removed. The procedure was expensive, but like all of her health care needs at the time, it was covered by federal refugee medical assistance.  [US taxpayer funded!—ed]

All refugees have health care coverage for the first eight months they are in the U.S. But when the eight months are over, if they don’t qualify for Medicaid or disability or have a job that provides them health care, they are at a loss.

“After eight months they are like any poor American, low-income American,” said Leslie Aizenman, who runs Refugee Services at Jewish Family and Children’s Services, one of the four local agencies tasked with acclimating new refugees to Pittsburgh.

After their medical assistance ended, Chhetri and her husband were uninsured. They both made just above minimum — too much to qualify for Medicaid. Chhetri still had pending surgeries.

Before you read this below, know that there is nothing that precludes a resettlement contractor from raising PRIVATE funds to help offset the medical costs of those it brings to your city.

The U.S. State Department issues guidelines for what the resettlement agencies have to provide refugees. But when it comes to health care, Aizenman said it’s open to interpretation.

“As regarding medical care there are three sentences about what we must do for newly arriving refugees,” she said.

The agencies must make sure refugees get an entry physical in the first 30 days, and they have to address acute medical issues.

In Pennsylvania, before 2009, there wasn’t even a standardized physical exam. Physicians generally just checked for tuberculosis, parasites and sexually transmitted diseases. They also made sure that refugees got immunizations.   [Now that Pennsylvania gets so many refugees, they have stricter physical exam requirements.—ed]

Bhutanese refugees are committing suicide at alarmingly high rates (see our archive).

In Mira Chhetri’s case, in the last couple years, she and her husband have moved in and out of jobs, obtaining and losing health insurance along the way.

Along with her outstanding physical pain, in February, while she was uninsured, she attempted suicide. She spent a few days at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. Then, she received a bill for more than $8,000 in care.

Before yours becomes a “welcoming” resettlement city, get all the facts about what the ‘diversity’ is going to cost you!

Pennsylvania: Somali baby feared murdered by man allegedly on terror watch list

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Diversity is beautiful alert!

‘Paki’ arrested in the disappearance of Somali baby in bucolic Pennsylvania where the likes of Church World Service is changing America.

Here is another Somali in Pennsylvania story (see Erie earlier today) this time one with an apparently sad ending.   A Pakistani man is under arrest for kidnapping his Somali girl friend’s baby.  Authorities near York, PA are searching for the 7-month-old, but are not hopeful of finding him alive.

Here is how the article in the Philadelphia Inquirer begins, but please read the whole sorry tale.   (Hat tip: pungentpeppers)

A PAKISTANI NATIVE who a source said is on the FBI’s terrorist-watch list kidnapped his girlfriend’s baby from an Upper Darby home Sunday and may have killed the 7-month-old and buried his lifeless body along a rural roadside in York, police said.

Ummad Rushdi, 30, has been charged with kidnapping and related offenses after he was arrested early yesterday at his home in York. The baby, Hamza Ali, was last seen alive Saturday night and hasn’t been found, said Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.

“Our hope is that the child is alive, but the reality of the investigation thus far . . . is that the baby is probably dead,” Chitwood said.

The baby’s mother, Zainab Gaal, 20, who was born in Somalia and raised in Yemen, began dating Rushdi just three or four weeks ago, police said. Gaal and her son were already living with Rushdi and his brother at their home in York, police said. Authorities didn’t immediately know when Gaal came to the United States, and did not know the whereabouts or identity of her child’s father.

For more information on the Somali woman, the police and reporters should check with the US State Department and the Refugee Resettlement contractors operating in Pennsylvania.  Off the top of my head, the major contractors in PA include Church World Service, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (yes, they resettle Muslims too), US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, and the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.  One of them will surely know where to reach this woman’s baby’s father or her extended family.  Almost all Somalis in the US came in through Refugee Resettlement or the chain migration related to it.

****update**** We hear that the young mother is from Lewiston, Maine.  So, check with Catholic Charities (primary refugee contractor bringing Somalis to Maine) up there to see if they will help find her family.

Last week, the three adults and baby Hamza traveled to Upper Darby to stay with Rushdi’s parents at their well-kept stone rowhouse on Chestnut Street near Powell Lane, police said.

Several days before the kidnapping, Rushdi allegedly hurt the baby’s shoulder, Chitwood said. Gaal wanted to take Hamza to the hospital because she feared his shoulder may have been broken, but Rushdi and his parents wanted to “self-medicate” the boy, Chitwood said.

On Sunday morning, Gaal and Rushdi’s family awoke to find Rushdi and Hamza missing, police said. Rushdi’s brother began to relay calls between Rushdi and Gaal, saying that the baby was fine and that Rushdi would return him to Upper Darby, Chitwood said.

Read on for the rest of what the police think may have happened…..

For new readers, Pennsylvania is the 11th state in the list of states receiving the largest number of refugees with 14,365 having been sent there by the US State Department between 2007 and 2013.   See where your state ranks by clicking here.