They are changing America by changing the people
We’ve written about this before, but it’s been a few years ago.
Any lawyers out there, or anyone interested in going deeper about how the Refugee resettlement program works—maybe some Wyomingites who would like to see that the state does have responsibility for refugee social services—go here (scroll back to page one for table of contents).
Also, see our fact sheet on the program here.
This post and others like it are archived in our ‘where to find information’ category.
Just now, when I checked data for how many refugees we resettled from Afghanistan, I came across this data for which states took which refugees in fiscal year 2012. Although fiscal year 2013 ended on September 30th, 2013, I am not seeing the latest data.
I urge you to visit these Office of Refugee Resettlement state statistics to see from which countries refugees arrived in your state.
The top receiving states were:
Texas: 5,923
California: 5,173
Michigan: 3,594
New York: 3,528
Pennsylvania: 2,809
The states which received the least number of refugees were:
Of course Wyoming with zero and not even on the list (they have wisely stayed out of the program, so far!)
And, this is so interesting Delaware is not on the list either. Isn’t that funny! Senator Joe Biden was one of the chief sponsors of the Refugee Act of 1980 along with Ted (don’t-bring-them-to-Hyannis) Kennedy and yet Delaware took no refugees.
Hawaii: 1
Montana: 1
Mississippi: 8
Arkansas: 10
District of Columbia: 14
Photo is here.
Your tax dollars!
Note especially to our Wyoming and Toledo, Ohio readers!
When your “welcoming” community is preparing to open its arms to refugees for the first time, remember it is required by federal law that your local government is responsible for the cost of educating the kids (don’t forget the ESL budget), and for providing interpreters for medical services (refugees come with HIV/AIDS and TB, need costly meds) and for any court proceedings (how much did that recent refugee murder trial cost Utah or the Colorado rape trial cost?).
One huge problem that happened near where I live is that fire and rescue had an emergency involving a refugee they were not aware of, and due to a language barrier an unnecessarily expensive and frightening ‘rescue’ occurred because they thought the woman had Ebola (a disease first discovered in the Congo)!
Here is some useful data for your consideration. Local governments! Better get your translators lined up!
Top ten languages spoken by recent refugees! (from WRAPSnet) Note Arabic is number one!
| Rank | Language | FY 2008 | FY 2009 | FY 2010 | FY 2011 | FY 2012 | FY 2013 | Total |
| 1 | Arabic | 9,767 | 13,675 | 15,199 | 7,372 | 9,938 | 17,233 | 73,184 |
| 2 | Nepali | 5,302 | 13,450 | 12,355 | 14,993 | 15,114 | 9,164 | 70,378 |
| 3 | Sgaw Karen | 7,460 | 3,331 | 5,833 | 6,521 | 4,148 | 5,011 | 32,304 |
| 4 | Somali | 2,403 | 3,879 | 4,787 | 3,057 | 4,763 | 7,295 | 26,184 |
| 5 | Spanish | 4,243 | 4,831 | 4,951 | 2,976 | 2,075 | 4,429 | 23,505 |
| 6 | Chaldean | 2,897 | 3,783 | 2,550 | 1,392 | 1,790 | 1,954 | 14,366 |
| 7 | Burmese | 3,769 | 2,040 | 1,414 | 1,290 | 1,146 | 1,523 | 11,182 |
| 8 | Armenian | 3,625 | 3,444 | 1,798 | 747 | 387 | 875 | 10,876 |
| 9 | Kayah | 0 | 5,267 | 1,922 | 1,179 | 595 | 784 | 9,747 |
| 10 | Other Minor Languages | 1,787 | 1,913 | 1,667 | 673 | 1,005 | 1,277 | 8,322 |
| Report Total | 41,253 | 55,613 | 52,476 | 40,200 | 40,961 | 49,545 | 280,048 |
Update February 8th: Prosecutors seek the death penalty for Abou-Arab, here, (hat tip: Diane).
Update: Bond set at $5 million for Abou-Arab, here. Judge must be afraid he will skip the country.
Let me start by telling you about the tragic tale involving the alleged murder of two fire fighters in Toledo a week ago.
Ray Abou-Arab, an immigrant ‘businessman,’ has been arrested and charged with intentionally starting a fire which took the lives of two young firefighters. The gist of the story is here at The Blade (hat tip: ‘pungentpeppers’)
Less than a week after two Toledo firefighters died battling a North Toledo apartment fire, the property’s owner was charged with and arrested on two counts each of aggravated murder and aggravated arson.
Ray Abou-Arab, 61, of 1311 Sierra Dr., Oregon was held in the Lucas County jail Friday night pending arraignment Monday morning in Toledo Municipal Court.
Fire Pvts. Stephen Machcinski and James Dickman were pronounced dead Sunday afternoon at Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center after being rescued from inside the two-story apartment building at 528 Magnolia St., where they had become trapped.
Abou-Arab has been around Toledo for awhile and some say he has been involved with questionable arson fires involving property he owned in the past.
When you watch the lengthy TV news account, here, you will see shots of Abou-Arab just hanging around and not looking too troubled. Toward the end there is some mention of an illegal substance being sold from a convenience store in the same building he is accused of igniting that resulted in the deaths of the firefighters.
From ABC13 (be sure to watch the news clip!):
Beginning around the first of the year, Toledo will become an immigrant resettlement city. It’s a story we first told you about back in July but now the pieces are in place to make the program a success.
The United States government is looking for communities that can welcome about 30-Iraqi families. Toledo has a long history of welcoming immigrants [like Ray Abou-Arab?–ed] and now it has a social structure that can help.
These communities like Toledo think they are going to make money off refugee resettlement! The reason that the State Department has ‘chosen’ Toledo is that other cities are full-up with economy-robbing refugees. Don’t you think that if refugees brought economic benefits that the cities that were already (supposedly) ‘booming’ as a result would be begging for more?
“New folks, new friends, new families that added value to our community.”
Lucas County Commissioner. Pete Gerken (D) says other immigrants want to build a future here, as well.
The State Department is looking for communities to welcome new refugees from Iraq, in 2014 and Gerken says they should come to Toledo.
He says, “What we found is they come here from other places, bring talent with them, bring family values with them, bring a work ethic with them.”
And, in some cases, they bring a life savings with them.
The Toledo Lucas County Land Bank is now part of this refugee resettlement program and will link immigrants with properties to help them build a life.
[…..]
….buy abandoned commercial sites, build a business, create jobs and contribute to the community. [Just like Ray Abou-Arab did?—-ed]
What studies??? It’s amazing—they just say this sort of thing and the locals lap it up!
Anneliese Grytafey (Toledo Community Foundation) says studies indicate a financial gain. “For every dollar that was invested to bring refugees into the community they saw a $10 dollar gain to their local economy,” Grytafey told 13abc.
The local economy gains for awhile as federal dollars flow in, but as the refugees don’t find work (Iraqis are not finding employment elsewhere, why would Toledo be any different?) and rely more and more on welfare, the local economy takes the hit.
Update: For all of the new readers coming to this post, please see all of our followups on it, here.
Wyoming, the only state in the nation that has not actively resettled refugees in the over three decades the program has been operating, will soon be getting refugees thanks to Republican Governor Matt Mead and a Congolese refugee ***pitch man.
Will yours be the chosen town or city? It will be if you remain silent!
***Update February 25th: See pack of lies, here.***
From the Gillette News Record (emphasis is mine):
The governor wrote a letter in September to the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement saying Wyoming was interested in establishing a public/private center to help refugees.
The federal agency has responded that it was happy to hear of that wish and the work in progress.
Since then, state officials, University of Wyoming officials and the Lutheran Family Services-Rocky Mountain have been working to put a plan together to make it possible.
“There are some federal requirements and we are addressing those,” said Shawn Reese, the policy director in the governor’s office.
Among the decisions to be made is where that resettlement center will be located in Wyoming. University of Wyoming College of Law students will begin a study to determine the best site for that center with a conference call taking place next week to set a timeline for that work.
“They will be conducting community profiles to determine where it makes the most sense,” said Merit Thomas, who also is working on the project. [Will your town or city be the chosen without your consultation (without your knowledge)?—ed]
They don’t know what they are talking about! They (Lutheran Social Services) will receive some initial funding, but Wyoming will be supplying the welfare for YEARS! Do they have any meat or chicken slaughter plants in Wyoming? Is that what the governor wants—cheap laborers?
The center will receive federal funds.
The program provides refugees with some temporary help in finding a home and a job to get them started, but there isn’t a long period of welfare. In Bertine Bahige’s own case, it was just three months. The state also can determine how many refugees it will accept each year. [NO IT WON’T!!!! just ask NH and TN!—ed]
“The center will happen within the next year,” Reese predicted. “We’re trying to get that hammered out.”
“Bertine (Bahige) is a huge player in this,” Thomas said.
Wyomingites must contact the Governor’s Office and get involved in this NOW! See our fact sheet here for information on what the state is getting itself into!
How do these Republicans not understand that this is part of the Leftist plan to turn RED states BLUE because statistics show that immigrants vote for Democrats who will in turn provide them with more social services!
***Do the people of Wyoming know that the US State Department has announced plans to resettle tens of thousands of Congolese refugees over the next couple of years?