Refugee lobbying group, RCUSA, is a mystery, promotes secrecy

12/31/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday I told you more about the Refugee Council USA and how they are pumping out information to an uninformed media/public all of it aimed at making the President look as mean-spirited as possible.

RCUSA-300x300 — Any legal eagles out there interested in finding out more about its corporate structure and the finances behind RCUSA? Sure hope none of your taxpayer dollars are ‘finding their way’ to RCUSA!

Knowledge is power!
This may get into the weeds for some readers, but it’s important to understand how the refugee industry works and so I encourage you all to dig deeper (wherever you live) if you ever want to see the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program either abolished or reformed.
***Update*** Check out that RCUSA has a state by state report here.
You’ve seen me write often that the Refugee Council USA (RCUSA) is a consortium including all nine of the federal refugee contractors*** that monopolize all resettlement in the US, but it also includes many groups (see here) that “advocate” for more immigration of all sorts for America.

Advocacy is the polite word for lobbying in Washington.

RCUSA operates as a central clearing house in Washington for member groups and sends out marching orders in addition to planning media strategy and influencing Congress (remember they hired the Podesta Group to lobby certain Senators), but secrecy is its watchword!
RCUSA is located at 1628 16TH STREET NORTHWEST, WASHINGTON, DC.

Legal structure is puzzling…

Yesterday I noticed that RCUSA is not a 501(c)3 organization, the IRS designation for charitable groups. In fact there is no where on its website that describes its legal status (that I could find!). It clearly doesn’t want to be a 501(c)3 that is restricted from lobbying. There is no mention of it being a 501(c)4 either (a designation that allows lobbying, but where donations are not tax deductible).
Church World Service is its bank!
In fact, because they are not a 501(c)3, if you want to donate to their work (and have it be a charitable deduction on your tax return), you must send your money to Church World Service, a member of the big nine. By donating here you will get your charitable donation:

To Donate To Refugee Council USA.

*When you click to donate, you will be taken to the webpage of Church World Service, Inc. (CWS), a non-profit corporation incorporated in the State of New York in 1946. CWS is tax exempt under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. CWS serves as the fiscal sponsor for Refugee Council USA (RCUSA). As such, CWS accepts contributions, gifts and grants for RCUSA intended to support our programs.

It’s funny but when I went searching (using google) for more on RCUSA’s structure and activities I found mostly posts by me!

I can’t even find a wikipedia page for them, can you?
In this post by me in 2015 I reported this below from their website (at the time!). That page is now missing!

Here is what they do (important to understand that ‘advocacy’=lobbying):

RCUSA is a member-driven coalition and its funding comes solely from member dues. There are a number of standing committees that serve to structure the on-going work of the coalition. In addition to these committees, members are informed daily through RCUSA communications about meetings, events, and other relevant information pertaining to refugee and displacement issues.

General Council: The executives and/or officers from each member agency meet regularly to discuss the council’s work and reach consensus on key advocacy positions and other relevant issues.

Advocacy Committee: Individuals from each member agency meet bi-weekly in Washington, D.C. to coordinate legislative and administrative advocacy efforts at the national and local level.

The committee works together to advance refugee protection, strengthen the United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), educate policymakers about the value of refugee protection and a strong resettlement program, and promote adequate funding for refugees. Katie Conway, Immigration and Refugee Policy Analyst, Episcopal Migration Ministries, currently chairs this Committee.

Go here for more! [Oopsy! The information is now gone from their site. Why the secrecy?—ed]

Rotating chair isn’t even discussed on their site today:

I had also learned in 2015 that they had a rotating chairman.
Right now HANS VAN DE WEERD is the chairman, and, since I’ve been paying attention, previous chairs included Melanie Nezer of HIAS and Anastasia Brown of the USCCB. (Brown went on to work for Obama’s ORR, not sure if she is now part of the deep state!).
And, adding to the evidence about secrecy promoted by RCUSA, don’t miss the post where I reported that RCUSA was sending out information so that orders were given to not give out any information about refugees coming to your town. See letter at end of this post from World Relief headquarters to its subcontractors.
By the way, do you see how they view you. If you want to know what is happening with the refugee program in your town, you are automatically “Anti-Refugee.”
This is how it begins:

From: Casey Leyva
Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2015 5:07 PM
Subject: Potential Anti-Refugee Contacts

Dear Office Directors,

We’ve heard recently from other members of RCUSA (Refugee Council USA) that local affiliates have been contacted by individuals questioning the U.S. refugee program. This is a result of an interview Ann Corcoran, a blogger who runs Refugee Resettlement Watch, with a local news station in Minnesota. She has told her followers to to ask you for your R&P abstract – please do not send it. And please let us know if you are contacted.

See my RCUSA archive here.
***These are the nine federal refugee contractors that monopolize all resettlement in America. They are all members of RCUSA:

One less swamp creature! Podesta Group closing!

11/13/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

So why are we interested in this latest news from CNN?

One of Washington’s most prominent lobbying firms is on the verge of shuttering after becoming ensnared by special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Kimberley Fritts [who had worked for Jeb Bush!—ed], the chief executive of the Podesta Group, told employees during a Thursday staff meeting that the firm would cease to exist at the end of the year, according to two sources. Employees were asked to clear out their desks and were told they may not be paid beyond November 15, multiple sources said.One of Washington’s most prominent lobbying firms is on the verge of shuttering after becoming ensnared by special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

[….]

Talk of potentially closing the Podesta Group marks a dramatic downfall of one of K Street’s most iconic and well-connected firms. In its heyday, Podesta Group was the largest non-law firm lobbying organization in Washington. Tony Podesta, the firm’s founder and chairman, helped fuel the company with work for foreign governments. He and his brother, John, founded the company almost three decades ago. (John Podesta chaired Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. He left the firm in 1993.)

Even if Mueller wasn’t investigating, the Podesta Group was going to lose influence now that Hillary is a nobody!

Our interest (story here from Breitbart in case you missed it) is in the fact that, for 2017, the Refugee Industry lobbying arm (Refugee Council USA) had dropped 100K on Podesta to lobby certain Senators, including prominent Republicans, for their help in assuring they would get more refugees and more money for themselves.

Targets specifically identified in the proposal included, among others, Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as well as Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), all on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

I would love to know whose brilliant idea it was to spend that kind of money on lobbyists in the swamp—-lobbyists who are now on a sinking ship.

Did the refugee contractors get their money’s worth?

And, I would like to know if any of the 100K was our money—taxpayer money!

Refugee lobbying consortium hires Podesta Group

11/02/201705/03/2020 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The Refugee Council USA, a group of ‘non-profits’, it is revealed, paid Podesta $100,000 to influence Congress. Was that your taxpayer dollars they used?

RCUSA the lobbying arm of the nine federal resettlement contractors*** and the same group that marched for CAIR in Washington recently hired the lobbying firm—Podesta Group-–to influence certain Senators to continue their advocacy for refugee resettlement/immigration reform and to get Congress to give them more payola!

For all of the members of RCUSA see this post.

Senate Holds Hearing On Extending Term Of FBI Director Mueller — Rubio and Graham, two of the Senators the Podesta Group was hired to keep on the Open Borders (more refugees!) bandwagon by supplying them with talking points to counter YOU!

This news is a shocker and an indication that the refugee industry is much sleazier than I dreamed even after ten years of following their maneuvers to change America by changing the people.

Michael Patrick Leahy at Breitbart has uncovered an internal agreement (between the group that carries the name of Clinton’s campaign manager and also includes someone in its leadership that came from the Jeb Bush team) that is simply stunning.

For those of you working (on your own dime and your own time) in small ‘pockets of resistance’ in your local communities, look what you are up against!

But take heart! Things may be unraveling and maybe the swamp is starting to be drained after all!

(If you missed it, check out giant foreign meatpacker paying the Lutherans for help with supplying cheap and compliant refugee labor, here.)

Here are Leahy’s opening paragraphs:

The lobbying arm of the refugee resettlement industry hired the Podesta Group earlier this year to deliver “talking points” that provide “cover” to Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and other pro-amnesty Republican members of Congress when discussing the issue of refugee resettlement with the media and other Republicans.

The Refugee Council USA (RCUSA), the “trade organization” of refugee resettlement agencies who receive almost all of their funding from the federal government, paid the Podesta Group $100,000 to lobby Congress in 2017, according to Open Secrets.

RCUSA describes itself as “a coalition of 25 U.S.-based non-governmental organizations . . . dedicated to refugee protection, welcome, and excellence in the U.S. refugee resettlement program.”

The Podesta Group “can help RCUSA develop messaging that concedes the political dynamic that gave rise to the [Trump Executive Order reducing refugee arrivals and increasing vetting], that acknowledges the felt security risk, and that reframes its core asks in a way that does not alienate Republicans but gives them an incentive to collaborate,” the proposal submitted by the Podesta Group in March of this year to the RCUSA for the engagement stated….. (See Breitbart for those snips.)

Leahy continues:

“Our primary targets will be Republicans–and some key Democrats who work well across the aisle–who sit on committees of jurisdiction and whose responsibilities include refugee and asylum policies,” the proposal added.

[….]

Now check out the proposal from Podesta. Gotta keep the federal money flowing to the refugee contractors (that is why the focus on the Appropriations Committee).

Continue reading here, this is so juicy!

I can’t emphasize this enough! Rather than being discouraged by the money and power lining up against you (as this news shows), in ‘Pockets of Resistance’ you are making great headway in educating your fellow citizens about this secretive and sleazy process called refugee resettlement! Don’t give up now!

With a slowdown in refugee arrivals and thus a slowdown in payments from the Treasury to these contractors, the system (keep fingers crossed!) may be on the verge of self-destructing. [Update May 2020: the system is alive and well and federal money is still flowing to the contractors.]

***These are the nine federal refugee contractors that make-up the core of the Refugee Council USA. We have written about RCUSA often, click here. In addition to their march for CAIR and more Muslim migration to America recently, here is another recent mention. As I reported just two days ago, they alerted the contractors to NOT give out R & P Abstracts (plans for resettlement to your towns and cities) to taxpaying citizens.

Trump Admin. rumored to be tightening refugee screening; announcement could come this week

10/22/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

“When you put in additional security checks you can basically halt the system.”

Bob Carey

When I say “rumored” in my headline, it is because there are bureaucrat blabbermouths obviously reporting to former Obama Administration officials who are then taking the news to the likes of Reuters, here.

We learn that the bureaucrat(s) can’t speak on the record, but….

We have Bob Carey speaking on the record, former director of Obama’s Office of Refugee Resettlement. Not mentioned here is the fact that he was also (and may be again) a senior Vice President of the International Rescue Committee (the revolving door between contractor and government is alive and well!) one of nine major federal resettlement contractors.***

Screenshot (1000) — From Dutch citizen(?) **Hans Van de Weerd**‘s facebook page. He wears two hats. In addition to his job at the IRC, he is Chairman of the DC lobbying arm of the refugee industry that recently joined CAIR in their protest of the Trump Admin. See his bio here: http://www.rcusa.org/staff/

Then we have Hans Van de Weerd weighing in who works for the IRC now.

So bureaucrats blab to Bob and Bob gets Hans to talk to Reuters.

But, frankly Trump is at fault for still not placing his own people in the State Department and DHS thus letting the blabbermouths run free. Here is yet another story on that subject which I don’t have time to write about today.

Back to Reuters and the latest round of leaks and wailing from the refugee industry (in and out of government) about what could happen this week as the 120-day refugee ‘moratorium’ ends.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – President Trump’s administration has drafted a plan to pause a program that allows family members join refugees already settled in the United States until they can undergo increased security checks, two sources with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.

The measure is one of several being considered for refugees, the sources said.

The administration also may expand the use of intensive security checks by multiple federal agencies, called “security advisory opinions” (SAO) to apply to women from countries designated as high-risk by the U.S. government. Currently there are usually only mandatory SAOs, as they are called, for men from those countries, the sources said.

The administration is also considering expanding the categories of refugees required to be fingerprinted, the sources said.

The proposals, if implemented, could significantly slow down refugee admissions and leave refugees who thought they were headed to the United States in perilous situations abroad, say refugee advocates and former officials.

[….]

A 120-day temporary ban on refugees, put in place to study current procedures, expires on Oct. 24.

The sources, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak about the plans before they are announced, said the new measures could be announced at the end of the temporary ban.

[….]

“Reports on the type of vetting measures being considered for our refugee resettlement program are disturbing,” said Hans Van de Weerd, the Vice President of U.S. Programs at the International Rescue Committee. [I previously did some research on ol’ Hans here and he earlier was reporting he was a Dutch citizen. Seems that little nugget is missing from his bio now.—-ed]

[….]

“When you put in additional security checks you can basically halt the system,” said Robert Carey, the former director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement under former President Barack Obama, a Democrat.

“Every check is only good for a finite period of time and they expire and the whole process has to start all over again,” he said, adding that the level of scrutiny is higher for refugees than most any other visa applicant to the United States.

More here.

Looking for something to do?

If every one of the thousands of you who read this post took 2 minutes to write to the White House and tell the President to tighten security screening for all refugees, you might actually succeed in hitting a nerve at the White House.

~~Click here~~.

Update! I did not find that link above to work! Try here.

***For new readers, these are the nine federal refugee contractors that monopolize all refugee resettlement in the US. Go here and see my latest financial report on all of them. The more refugees admitted to the US, the more funding they get from you!

The IRC is the largest financially (the Catholic Bishops place the largest number of refugees in your towns) and pays out some whopping big salaries. David Miliband, CEO of the IRC, is not a US citizen and he is raking in annually just short of $600,000 partially supplied by you—US taxpayers! Doing well by doing good! And, changing America to boot!

Looks like it will be poor showing for #NoMuslimBanEver rally in DC tomorrow

10/17/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I told you about the rally here and here.

Normally a rally like this (supported by CAIR) wouldn’t be something I would write about, but when I learned that all nine of the federal refugee resettlement contractors (which are largely funded by you) were trying to gin up support for the rally, it became our business.

Remember folks, most of the nine quasi-government agencies*** whose job it is to take care of the arriving refugees could not exist without funding from you.

See here at the rally’s facebook page this morning, that only 907 people (out of tens of thousands of supporters of the nine contractors) have signed up to participate.

But, watch for it on the mainstream media where we will be led to believe the rally was huge even though we can see there isn’t much support for #NoMuslimBanEver!

Screenshot (991) — If you live in DC or nearby, go check it out and let us know!

*** Nine federal resettlement contractors largely funded by you are Leftwing community organizers. At least 5 of the nine would fold immediately if they had no taxpayer funding: