Tag: Refugee Council USA

Refugee Council USA Provides Handy Toolkit for Refugee Advocates

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 5 Comments

As I have said innumerable times over a dozen years, the Refugee Council USA is the lobbying arm of the refugee industry.  The nine federal refugee contractors*** are at the heart of it, and all funding for it flows through Church World Service. (See CWS and CAIR, here)

See all of their member organizations, here.

Don’t forget! The refugee contractors, like Church World Service here are not just refugee placement contractors, but are political advocates for the entire Open Borders movement. They shouldn’t be receiving any of your tax dollars!

Needless to say they are mobilizing their networks of Open Borders Activists to defeat Trump’s refugee slowdown and September Executive Order by getting your governors and local government officials to go on record saying they welcome more refugees.

If you are just learning the news that the President is attempting to make a fundamental change in how the US Refugee Admissions Program has operated for nearly 4 decades by giving some say to local and state governments about whether they want more refugees (that will be costing state and local taxpayers millions of dollars to take care of) here are some recent posts you should see.

Contractors sue Trump, here.

Refugee Advocates take aim at local government, here.

Governors are sending letters of support for more refugees, here.

88 Mayors say they want more refugees, 100,000!, but no letter yet, here.

Are you near a resettlement site, here?

Now that you are up-to-speed, see that the Refugee Council USA whose members have a huge financial stake in continued large scale refugee migration to America are working to generate action by their grassroots (and media lackeys) to follow the recent funding guidance from the US State Department.

(Although they claim the EO is illegal and are suing, they tell their followers to do this anyway!)

RCUSA’s Handy Tool Kit should be handy for you too!

Their financial future depends on ginning up their followers, see what they are telling their people to do….

Toolkit link is here.

 

Toolkit for Engaging Elected Officials on the “State & Local Resettlement Ban” Executive Order

 

Background: On September 26, the White House issued an Executive Order (EO 13888) that may drastically reduce, if not entirely stop, the resettlement of refugees in your community. The EO is already creating chaos and confusion about where refugees can be resettled, will lead to family separation for refugee families, and will leave refugees, former refugees and United States citizens without supportive services. To make matters worse, the administration proposed a refugee admissions goal of 18,000 refugees for the next year, a shamefully abysmal number for the world’s most powerful nation that stands in stark contrast to the historic average goal of 95,000 refugees. 

 

Together, these actions are likely to destroy the bipartisan refugee resettlement program for years to come. It’s critical that we work together to demonstrate nationwide, bi-partisan support for refugees and ensure our state and local officials publicly declare welcome for refugees. We need you to make your voice heard at the local level and reach out to your governors, mayors, and county officials and ask them to support refugee resettlement. 

 

Why is the EO harmful? The EO fundamentally alters the structure of the U.S. resettlement program by transferring decisions about who can resettle and where from the federal government to state and locally elected officials. Not only will this ultimately lead to a patchwork of conflicting policies running contrary to the purpose of a national resettlement program, but it will also leave thousands of refugees, former refugees, and U.S. citizens without consistent and routine access to integration services and other supports. The EO subjects families and our community members to the whims of politics and exacerbates uncertainty for refugee families and communities alike by requiring local officials to provide written consent before refugees can be resettled. This is an unprecedented and harmful procedure, particularly given that resettlement agencies already consult regularly with state and local stakeholders regarding community needs. In addition, U.S. citizens, immigrants, refugees, and visitors alike are constitutionally allowed to move freely between cities and states. We do not need explicit permission from cities to travel – or relocate.

 

What We Know: Governors and local officials must provide written consent to opt into resettling refugees in their states and localities. Resettlement agencies are responsible to obtain written governor and local consent – the administration will not be communicating directly to governors or local officials. Consent letters will be publicly available on the State Department’s website. Consent is needed from the governor of a state in order to continue refugee resettlement anywhere in that state. If a governor gives consent but a locality does not, refugees may be resettled in a different locality where consent is provided. Some family reunification cases that use the “follow to join” Visa 93 process may be exempted from parts of this EO. The EO does not directly apply to Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders.

 

In terms of local consent, the administration has referred to the county or county-equivalent. In some cases, there are no counties, and in others, counties do not have the authority. Ultimately, the administration will defer to local community’s determination of who has authority. If you have already reached out to a mayor’s office, please continue to get that consent letter. Our understanding is that in many places, that will suffice. When at all possible, please also obtain consent from a county official as well. The administration is requiring that a list of cities/towns that fall under the jurisdiction of the local body be included within or attached to the letter of consent. This can be prepared by the resettlement office or the official providing the letter, but it must be certified by the consenting official. 

Your State & Local Officials Need to Hear From You

 

When you engage your local officials, we encourage you to educate them about the existence and content of the EO and ask whether they will provide written consent to resettle refugees. Here are the top two ways to take action:

 

 

  • Tell Your Governor to Declare Welcome for Refugees: Click here to contact your governor and tell them to declare that they welcome refugees in your state. Ask them to provide the necessary written consent to the federal government stating that refugees are welcome. A template letter that can be adapted to your state is available here.

 

 

 

 

 

Letters should be addressed to: Secretary Michael R. Pompeo, U.S. Department of State; and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Carol T. O’Connell, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, U.S. Department of State.

 

The following language should be included in order to provide consent: “As [Governor/Mayor] of [state/city], I consent to initial refugee resettlement in [state/city] as per the terms of the Executive Order. This consent is valid unless or until withdrawn.”

 

An important note / disclaimer: Since we do not want our communications to imply that we endorse or agree with the EO, it would be helpful to include the following disclaimer in correspondences: “Communication about, or participation in, the implementation of Executive Order (EO) 13888 is not an endorsement of the legality of the EO.”

 

Steps to Organize Meetings with State & Local Officials

 

Template Letter to Officials: Click here for a template letter from community members, click here for a template letter from faith leaders, click here for a template letter from businesses and click here for a template letter from Members of Congress, to governors and state and local officials to invite them to declare welcome for refugees.

 

Step-by-Step Guide: Click here for guidance on how to prepare and organize meetings with governors, mayors, county executives, and other local officials. 

 

Bring Handouts: Bring copies of this letter that is collecting signatures from state and local officials – governors, mayors, state/local legislators, etc. You can also adapt this template letter for your state and local officials for your meeting. 

 

Provide Feedback: Don’t forget to tell us how it went! Click here to fill out a survey with feedback from your meeting. Contact Elissa Diaz at ediaz@cwsglobal.org if you would like help in preparing for and/or following up with your meetings with officials.

 

Additional Resources to Help You Talk to State & Local Officials

 

Talking Points and Messaging Guidance: For talking points on the executive order and the proposed refugee admissions goal of 18,000, please visit our Talking Points primer: http://bit.ly/EOPDTalkingPoints. Additional resources debunking the administration’s harmful “resettlement vs. asylum” narrative is available here: http://bit.ly/PDFactsheet. 

 

EO Factsheet: Click here for a one page backgrounder and here for analysis about the EO and its impact.

 

Power Map: Who can make the decision you need to influence (your primary target)? Who influences them (your secondary targets)? Who uses influence for/against this decision? A power map is a simple yet powerful tool to map decision makers and focus your energy where it makes the greatest impact. Click here for a basic template to construct your power map, and click here for some tips on how to research and map targets.

 

Letters from State & Local Officials: A template letter from state and local officials to the administration that can be easily adapted to your state / locality is available here. Feel free to reach out to Elissa Diaz at ediaz@cwsglobal.org for help crafting a tailored letter for your specific officials. In addition, we are still seeking state and local officials – governors, mayors, state/local legislators, etc. – to sign on to this letter. Here are additional statements declaring welcome for refugees by Governor DeWine (R-OH) and Mayor Ben Walsh (I-Syracuse, NY).

 

Local Resolution Template: Template resolution language for local municipal, county, or other government bodies that authorize, support, or otherwise give a nod in favor of continuing to resettle refugees in response to the refugee EO can be found here.

 

Social Media Guidance: Check out our rapid response toolkit on the refugee admissions goal for sample social media posts, graphics, and more: bit.ly/EOSocialMedia. 

 

*** For new readers, these are the nine federal refugee contractors:

 

 

As October Ends, No New Refugees Admitted to the US

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 1 Comment

It is extremely rare for an entire month to pass with no refugee admissions and needless to say the refugee industry spokesmen are not happy.

No refugee arrivals means no per head payments for the contractors!

We reported earlier that two different dates were given for resumption of taxpayer-funded flights of refugees to arrive in the month of October.  CNN is now reporting that the first refugees of FY2020, which began on October first, might not get here until November 5th.

No refugees will be resettled in the US in October, leaving hundreds in limbo around the world

Washington (CNN)  The United States is on track to not admit any refugees in October, after already canceling around 500 flights this month, CNN has learned.

A pause on admissions that was expected to lift on Tuesday will now extend into November, leaving those who expected to resettle in the US in limbo. It also means additional travel will need to be canceled and re-booked at the expense of federal taxpayers.

That previous line gave me a chuckle—they are worried about taxpayer expenses!  Since when?  And, by not bringing any refugees in October taxpayers were spared at minimum a quarter of a million to a million dollars in just the cost of resettlement, let alone the initial cash handouts and social service (aka welfare) expenses the refugees incur upon arrival.

CNN continues….

Danielle Grigsby interim Director of the refugee industry’s DC lobbying office and PR firm, Refugee Council USA, told CNN that the delay was “unconscionable.”

The moratorium will run through November 5, according to a State Department spokesperson. “We will work with our implementing partners to plan for a resumption of refugee arrivals, including rescheduling travel for those affected by the extension,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

It’s the third time this month that the State Department has delayed refugee admissions. Travel for refugees who were told they could come to the US was postponed through October 21, and then later to October 28. There’s usually a pause in arrivals the first week of October.

The Trump administration has proposed capping the number of refugees allowed into the US at 18,000, a historic low. But in order for refugees to be admitted in the new fiscal year, President Donald Trump has to sign off on the refugee ceiling. The consistent delays in travel suggests Trump has not signed it yet.  

The latest travel delays come as the humanitarian crisis in Syria worsens.

More here.

Limbaugh on Trump and Middle East refugees!

I never got a chance to post it, but this seems like a good time.

Trump gave a speech on October 23rd about the US pulling back in Syria and here is what Rush Limbaugh said about Trump and his comments.

Right on!

He gave a mini-barn-burner here. He ripped into Obama. He ripped into previous presidents for a bunch of basic dishonesty in committing American troops around the world. He pointed out that the Middle East has become more unstable as more troops have been deployed. The wars have never ended.

And he made a great point, that as we have continued to send troops to these areas of the Middle East and as the chaos in these areas has ratcheted up, guess what else has happened at the same time? We have opened our borders to more refugees and more immigrants. And Trump says these days are over.

We’re not gonna go sponsor chaos and then say out of compassion, “Well, come here,” and open our borders. We’re not falling for this anymore.

This is exactly why Trump got elected.

He made it very clear what the game has been.The State Department, the permanent Washington establishment commits American troops to little skirmishes here and skirmishes there, and nobody ever wins because they never end. We recycle troops. We sell more ammunition and more weapons. The areas become war-torn and unlivable and the people that live there flee, and they go to Europe and some want to come here.

At the same time, we open our borders, we open our borders to more illegal immigrants, and we open our borders to more refugees, and he said these days are over, this is not gonna happen any longer in announcing this permanent ceasefire.

More here.

Will Trump stick with the 18,000?  Guess we will find out shortly.

Refugee Industry Agitators Launch Social Media Campaign; 95,000 Refugees Each Year by Law!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 1 Comment

Today, while reading one more story about how the President is killing the US Refugee Admissions Program, it reminded me that I wanted to go back and have a look at the Refugee Council USA report where they list the many refugee offices that have closed in the last two years.

Longtime readers may remember that in the heyday of the Obama Administration the US State Department was working feverishly (and secretively) with its nine major contractors to find new locations to place refugees.  We wrote about it many times.

In fact, in June of 2018, Judicial Watch sued in an attempt to get the list of proposed Obama sites and the criteria used to choose them, see here.  I don’t know where the case stands, but will find out.

However, when I went to the Refugee Council USA site for their report on Trump-era office closures this morning, the report was blacked out.  WTH!  Readers were directed to a new initiative.

This is a good opportunity to hammer the point again—they never give up! 

The Open Borders pushers are always on the offense coming up with some new effort to show their supporters they are working hard to move the needle in their direction in support of mass migration.

Frankly, other than Trump, people who want to see restraint used in how much immigration America can sustain are almost always playing defense!

Anyway, here is their latest initiative which began yesterday.  For some strange reason they want their supporters to black out their social media accounts.  But, more importantly they are looking for support for the so-called GRACE ACT which seeks to set a minimum refugee number each year of 95,000!

Go here to see the GRACE ACT which would. among other things, set the minimum number of refugees to be admitted to the US each year at 95,000.

You are probably saying, that it won’t go anywhere and you would be right.

However, with each of these campaigns where they are on the offense and the media laps it up, they move the needle in their direction.

So why can’t we do that and demand a moratorium—zero admissions—until our whole US immigration system is revamped? 

We could (and it would help Trump!), but it would look extreme and heaven-forbid the immigration control groups running the show in Washington don’t want to look extreme, not ever!

How about a new group!  Something like Migration Moratorium NOW!

More on the President’s 18,000 Refugees for FY2020 Decision

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 4 Comments

Editor:  First, see my quickie post last night.  Also, note that I am now able (at this newly reconstructed RRW) to accept comments and I suspect more than a few of you might not like my analysis. So I will say at the outset, my hesitation to give a full blessing to the Presidential Determination in no way diminishes my support for the President. 

As the Leftists know so well, in order to move the needle on any political issue there has to be someone staking out a position who is willing to say it is not enough!  Heck, all of the groups included in the Refugee Industry were demanding 95,000 refugees knowing that was NEVER going to happen. They didn’t come in with anything that would appear reasonable—say 35,000-40,000—they went for the extreme.

However, I’m not saying that I wanted zero this year purely as a political ploy, but I am saying that simply reducing numbers and tinkering around the edges of an extremely flawed program designed in 1979 and 1980 by Senator Ted Kennedy and President Jimmy Carter is not going to fix how we admit refugees in the decades ahead.

Setting the level at zero would likely have forced a major national debate and Trump could have said to Congress—you don’t like it, then dump the Refugee Act of 1980 and reform the entire process by which we admit refugees.

And, yes, this is only the beginning you might argue, but only if Donald Trump is reelected in 2020!

As predicted, those organizations with a vested interest in admitting more refugees both as future Democrat voters and because they are paid to place refugees are furious.

Here is what the Refugee Council USA (an Open Borders lobbying consortium in Washington, DC) said last night.

Washington, DC – The Administration announced that it is proposing to set the Presidential Determination (PD) for annual refugee admissions for FY 2020 at 18,000. This decision is unprecedented, cruel, and contrary to American humanitarian values and strategic interests.

[….]

The US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) is built on nearly four decades of public-private partnership, bringing together nonprofits, faith groups, local communities, and the Federal and State governments for this essential community-building work. Refugees strengthen our communities and our country socially, culturally, and economically.

Public-Private Partnership mumbo-jumbo!

Of course, and as usual, there is no mention that nine of the members of RCUSA*** have a financial interest in keeping numbers high because they are paid from the US Treasury to place refugees into towns and cities of their choosing.

I continue to argue that the major flaw in the US Refugee Admissions Program is the fact that Left-leaning non-profit groups are paid for their ‘charitable’ work, so there is never any incentive to adjust the flow without those groups taking to the streets with anti-Trump placards held aloft.

Kennedy and Carter created a political structure funded by taxpayers that assures a continuous flow of third world poverty to American towns and cities. 

Those of us who object have no political organization with the financial resources of the nine resettlement contractors and their extensive networks, mostly through their church or synagogue infrastructure, to fight back. Not to mention the big bucks certain industries (meatpackers!) and the Chamber of Commerce are shelling out in order to keep a steady supply of cheap labor.

Although there was talk last year of dropping some of the nine federal contractors, that didn’t happen and all nine are still in place. But, even if this coming year’s low number forces a couple of the contractors to close their programs, it just allows the big ones like the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and the International Rescue Committee to further monopolize the process.

First, get rid of the contractors!

I have said and continue to maintain that if we are to admit refugees then there is no reason that these non-profits, including the churches, can’t still do their ‘humanitarian’ work in the old fashioned way—with true private charity, and not as paid agents of the federal government.

Geographic placement of refugees

Lawrence Bartlett, as far as I know, still runs the Refugee Program at the State Department. Here he proudly displays a map of the resettlement sites chosen with very little consultation with communities by the nine resettlement contractors. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-refugees/sidelined-state-department-official-returns-to-refugee-post-idUSKCN1NO2K6

The second important issue I’ve raised here for years involves the placement of refugees which has been largely dictated by the nine federal contractors for decades.

Yes, they coordinate with the US State Department, but it’s largely a game of pin the refugee on the map. 

Only when citizens of the ‘lucky’ chosen community organize and object does anyone pay any attention to concerns about a given location (a large part of my work here for a dozen years has been to show where citizens in “pockets of resistance” have objected to the US State Department changing their community by changing the people.)

I give the President kudos for an attempt to address the problem of placement with an Executive Order signed yesterday.  Read it here. But, honestly it has not been very carefully thought through and thus strikes me as a political bone thrown to critics of the program.

Why didn’t the President’s people call in some of us who are somewhat knowledgeable about how the program works on the ground to help craft a feasible way to give decision-making power to the states and local citizens who will be most affected by the arrival of large numbers of impoverished people?

This is getting too long, but let me give a few examples of why I say the order has not been thoroughly thought out.

So, governor number one (who might only have a year or so left in his/her term) says yes, we love refugees send more, but a neighboring governor says no thanks.  What is going to keep the refugees in welcoming state number one?

In America, all of us are allowed to move without government approval and that includes refugees.

You can run that same scenario involving mayors.  One mayor says we love refugees, but a town down the road isn’t on board with the idea. Refugees placed in town number one pack up and move to town number two anyway!

Then how about ‘welcoming’ governor number one is out of office in a year and is replaced by another governor who wants to stop the refugee flow to the state, how quickly could the feds put on the brakes to stop the flow to the now ‘unwelcoming’ state?   You can see the chaos that would ensue.

I do have some ideas that I think could work in terms of revamping the whole program (assuming Americans want to continue accepting some refugees), but no one has ever contacted me to ask.

There are so many other issues involving the Presidential Determination that need to be discussed and I’ll do that in the coming days—things like: we are going to continue to take Australia’s rejected asylum seekers!  Nuts!

Let me just say once again, maybe more clearly:  We can still support President Trump and criticize some of his decisions.

It is my view that Trump’s greatest downfall as President began on day one when he did not immediately clean out the deep state actors throughout the White House and federal agencies and move his genuine (and knowledgeable) loyal supporters into his Administration.

The best thing you can do now is work hard for Trump’s reelection so that he has four more years to get it right and solve this problem.

***For new readers these are the nine federally-funded resettlement contractors:

Just So You Know! There is No Muslim Ban

~ Ann Corcoran ~ 1 Comment

Muslim refugees from 35 countries arrived in the US this fiscal year!

Granted fewer Muslims are entering the US right now as refugees compared to when Obama was in office, but yesterday I checked the data for this fiscal year (the one that is ending this coming Monday night) and was surprised at the great ethnic diversity of refugees from 35 countries representing several sects of Islam we have ‘welcomed’ this year.

Find the whole report here: http://www.rcusa.org/report

What got me interested in checking the data maintained by the Refugee Processing Center was a report released in June by the lobbying arm of the refugee industry—the Refugee Council USA.

It’s one of those reports meant to draw media attention to—you guessed it—that meany Donald Trump.

By the way, the Refugee Council USA (RCUSA) is a consortium of twenty plus Open Borders groups that includes the nine federal contractors and the Muslim charity Islamic Relief USA, see here.  

RCUSA has a lobbying office in Washington, DC and their finances are handled by Church World Service.

On page 8 of the report, they published a chart that caught my eye.  They want to show how few Muslims the Trump Administration is admitting to the US compared to the huge numbers Obama admitted.

Here it is.  FY16 is definitely Obama, but FY17 was already underway when Trump moved into the White House.  FY18 is, of course, Trump’s, and the numbers for FY19 are only up to June (8 months of FY19).

(These are just the refugee numbers and do not include all of the other programs that admit immigrants to America.)

Even I was surprised at the huge number of especially Syrian Muslims admitted in Obama’s last full year!

But, their chart doesn’t tell the whole story!

First their column for FY19 through today is updated here:

Egypt 4

Iran 31 (no explanation for the discrepancy, I found 31)

Iraq 353

Libya 0

Mali 3

Somalia 230

Sudan 220

Syria 503

and Yemen 3

Okay, still not a lot you say.  But, surely enough to prove there is no Muslim ban!

However, there is more.  We admitted Muslim refugees from 35 different countries (not just the eight or so singled out by RCUSA).

In addition to those above:

Afghanistan came in at number one with 1,113, then Burma Rohingya (931), DR Congo (519), Eritrea (343), Central African Republic (165), Pakistan (78) and dozens more with smaller numbers for each.

The grand total of Muslim refugees admitted in FY19 up to yesterday is 4,759!

There is NO MUSLIM BAN!