It is my duty to report on this bill being championed by Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) and Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, but sorry I can’t get too excited about it. And, although he is apparently a co-sponsor, why isn’t Subcommittee Chairman Trey Gowdy (bff Open borders Marco) leading this effort? Hmmm…..
Here is the press release from the House Judiciary Committee announcing the mark-up of a bill that will likely go nowhere. I could be wrong, but at this late stage in the legislative calendar and with an election coming up in November, call me a cynic!
Does the Committee want to make sure that the earlier Babin bill (which would temporarily halt the program altogether) is squashed?
Are they trying to calm down citizens in their districts who are clamoring for governors (mostly Republican governors) to do something? In other words, is this a pat on your heads with a ‘don’t worry, go about your business, we will take care of you?’
And, let me ask you, do we really want this particular pro-donor class (big business establishment/Chamber of Commerce) Republican leadership making the determination about how many refugees are admitted anymore than say a Trump White House? Do you trust Rep. Paul Ryan and Senator Mitch (bring’em to Kentucky) McConnell to set levels?
By offering fig leaves, are they attempting to save the whole program which in my view (after 8 years of following this) needs to be completely trashed!
And, does this bill do anything to disrupt the flow of billions of taxpayer dollars to unaccountable ‘religious’ non-profits who really call the shots on who is resettled where in America? Someone correct me, does it do anything to give them all the heave-ho?
Again, sorry to sound so cynical. I am open to someone convincing me that this is going to do anything (other than attempt to quiet the angry masses).
Oops! There is one thing it does for sure. It causes the Open borders left and the Refugee Contractors (organized by their lobbying arm, Refugee Council USA) to go to their grassroots and fire them up once again, see here. I enjoy seeing them aggravated, but does stirring them up in this critical election year with a bill going nowhere really help us?
Go here to see the press release (thanks to all who sent it!).
That said, by all means though follow the lead of groups like NumbersUSA pushing for you to contact your members of Congress. You do want them to know that the issue is one that motivates and angers you!
Tag: Rep Brian Babin
Babin Bill to suspend Refugee Admissions Program has 74 co-sponsors as they get on board after Paris
Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) first proposed his bill, here, last summer. Events in Paris over the weekend on top of news accounts generally of the European invasion by Middle Eastern and African migrants have resulted in increased attention to the measure.
Go here for a list of co-sponsors of HR 3314.
Is your member on the bill yet?
***Update***
Time is of the essence as the Federation for American Immigration Reform tells us this (click here):
Even though the Babin approach is the only way to ensure that our refugee program will not be exploited, House GOP leadership appears to be taking a different approach. Instead, they have scheduled a vote TOMORROW on a flawed bill that will do absolutely nothing to stop or defund refugee resettlement. Authored by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), the bill merely calls for the administration to certify that any refugees brought here from Iraq and Syria are not terrorists.
Guest post: Disillusioned Refugee Resettlement Worker Unloads
Editor: For new readers, from time to time we post guest columns and comments from readers. All of those are posted in our category entitled, ‘Comments worth noting/guest posts.’ This (below) is very important information from someone who has worked for a refugee resettlement agency and seen firsthand the fraud being perpetrated on American taxpayers. It should serve as further confirmation that the US Refugee Admissions Program has gone seriously astray.
From Disillusioned (why I support Rep. Brian Babin’s bill). Prepare to be shocked:
Ann, I started to work five years ago in the refugee resettlement field to serve as a Christian witness through service and assistance. However, I quickly became dismayed as I saw the rampant, but undocumentable, fraud committed by Muslim Iraqi (and Cuban) refugees. While I am sure there must be fraud among other ethnic/religious people groups, Iraqi Muslims are the largest group resettled in my area. The amount of fraudulent income reporting (and non-reporting) by refugee clients is disturbing and fiscally unsustainable.
As your readers (should) know, the Resettlement Accountability National Security Act (H.R. 3314) places an immediate suspension on allowing immigrants into the United States under the refugee resettlement program, until the Government Accountability Office (GAO) completes a thorough examination of its costs on federal, state and local governments.
The following are some of the reasons I support this bill.
Average duration for which refugees receive benefits. – The refugees for whom I apply for state benefits (food stamps, temporary cash assistance, Medicaid) reapply for benefits every six months. The resettlement agency (VOLAG) can assist them with benefit renewal applications for up to five years! Many of these refugees, particularly from Iraq and Afghanistan, come into this country with cash, as evidenced by their purchase of new furniture, clothing, cars, and even homes, within a very short time of their arrival. This could not be done on strictly temporary cash assistance and usually, minimum wage jobs.
It is well known in the resettlement community and by the State of Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) Refugee Services that many recipients work for cash, receiving payment “under the table” and never report their actual income to the DCF when reapplying for government benefits. Many of these clients continue to receive food stamps even after they have been here up to and over five years!
The percentage of aliens who receive benefits is 100 percent for resettled refugees. In my job at the VOLAG, I apply for food stamps, temporary aid to needy families (families with children) or refugee cash assistance (singles or couples with no children), and Medicaid. These applications are automatic and are part of the required resettlement core services.
Every refugee who is aged 65 or older automatically receives assistance in applying for SSI benefits! This is automatic, whether the refugee has any presenting issues, other than age, or not! Some refugees under age 65 are turned down after medical reviews do not reveal mental or medical issues. However, refugees aged 65+ are automatically approved for SSI benefits. Social Security Spotlight on SSI Benefits for Aliens – 2015.
It is common knowledge among VOLAG coworkers and employees of the DCF that many refugees commit fraud regularly in their (lack of) income reporting. We are aware of this fraud but have no paper documentation or proof. Certain local small grocery stores, convenience stores, ethnic restaurants, Halal meat markets, bakeries, and imported foods stores hire these refugees, pay them under the table, and the refugees continue to receive benefits for which you and I pay.
Here are a couple of other abuses I have personally seen:
A Liberian refugee entered the country legally but managed to get his adult son brought over as a refugee minor to serve as his caretaker. The son has verbally admitted to me that he was over 21 years of age when he arrived in this country but his fraudulent documents showed him to be under 18!
A Cuban couple entered this country with documents which show them as married, however, they verbally stated to their caseworker that they are not married and the “wife” plans to move in with friends. She will continue to receive benefits while her friends support her as she has “no income.”
A Muslim Ethiopian-Somali refugee abruptly quit his job when he found he cannot stop work to pray five times a day!
An Arabic speaking “friend” “translates” the driver’s license test for Arabic speakers in northeast Florida. His “friends” pay over $250 for a driver’s license as he gives the correct answers to them and for them.
RRW readers simply must find the refugee resettlement and immigration events in your city and state and SHOW UP! You need to know what is going on in your area. You need to “push back” and demand answers about the impact this is having on your neighborhoods, local schools, HUD housing, slum lorded apartment complexes, and your local, state and federal government expenses.
Yes, I know and love many good hearted, honest, hardworking immigrants and refugees. From my experiences, most of these come from the persecuted Christian Burmese, Bhutanese, Congolese and Sudanese populations. I have “gone to bat” for them as I’ve tutored in English, taken children to school, doctor appointments, church activities.
I encourage you to volunteer at your local VOLAG and, if you are a Christian, share the love of God in Jesus Christ with them. Whether you are a Christian or not, volunteer to help them assimilate into a free nation built upon Judeo-Christian worldview and values for the sake of your own children and grandchildren!
Ann Corcoran has done an Herculean job of researching and documenting information for you. Burn up her website finding out what is happening in your area. Use these links to do some research on your own:
Catholic Legal Immigration Network – https://cliniclegal.org/affiliates/directory
Immigration Advocates (Resources for nonprofit advocates, organizers and service providers.) http://www.immigrationadvocates.org/nonprofit/
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service – http://lirs.org/
US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants – http://www.refugees.org/
US State Dept. Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration – http://www.state.gov/j/prm/
WORLD RELIEF – https://worldrelief.org/us-offices
YOUR STATE – Refugee Task Force
Endnote: Besides support for Rep. Brian Babin’s bill (which I am told now has 50 co-sponsors), everyone must begin, starting today, to call your Member of Congress, your US Senators and the leadership and demand that they stop the funding for the Refugee Admissions Program for FY2016 as Congress will be debating funding for the entire government in advance of a December 11th deadline. See my post here for more information.
Think Progress has Rep. Brian Babin in its crosshairs….
…..not happy that Rep. Babin (R-TX) told Laura Ingraham we should only take Syrian Christian refugees.
No surprise that Think Progress should faint at the thought that someone might actually say ‘let’s prioritize persecuted Christians’ in our Syrian refugee stream.
Think Progress is the media arm of John Podesta’s Center for America Progress, one of Washington’s hardest left (if not THE hardest left agitation groups) and a great friend of both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Here is one post we wrote on Podesta in 2009.
The article is a bit muddled indicating that the writer doesn’t understand the Refugee Admissions Program, but I’m posting this to show that the Left hates this argument—if we are going to bring in Syrians, why not Syrian Christians who we know are being persecuted and whose screening would be much simpler since they don’t have a reputation for terrorism.
Here is Think Progress writer, Emily Atkin, apparently gasping in outrage that someone should say such a discriminatory thing—America should prioritize Middle East Christians.
A Texas Congressman is calling for an immediate halt to the Obama administration’s plan to take in 10,000 Syrian refugees, saying the plan is a threat to national security and that more should be done to ensure Christian refugees are getting help.
Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) appeared on the Laura Ingraham show on Monday to tout his latest bill, which calls for an immediate suspension of the Refugee Resettlement Program pending a “thorough examination” of the program’s costs and national security risks. The program allows the U.S. government to admit refugees when it is justified by humanitarian concerns.
But according to Babin, the program is a conduit for terrorist groups like ISIS to “set up bases of operations” in the United States, and should be suspended. At the same time, though, he said the U.S. should be doing more to accept Christian refugees.
[….]
….the vast majority of refugees to Europe are coming from Syria — and among those, the vast majority are Sunni Muslims, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. And advocates say biases about which religious groups should be prioritized for resettlement could leave many affected Muslims in the dust.
By the way, one of the top posts of all time here at RRW is this one—Laura Ingraham calls for a moratorium on Muslim immigration to America.
See posts on Rep. Babin, here.
Just a reminder readers, that the number of refugees matters too—the US cannot take in the whole world or our economy will surely collapse.
Be sure to see Leo Hohmann’s latest at WND (from last night) on how the Left is reacting to the resettlement pushback going on in many states, here.
Group to rally against refugee resettlement in Twin Falls, ID today
Here is a short announcement from MagicValley.com:
TWIN FALLS • The III Percent of Idaho is holding a march Sunday to call for an end to the refugee program, which is run locally by the College of Southern Idaho.
[….]
Refugee resettlement has been an issue worldwide this year due to the refugee crisis triggered by the civil war in Syria, and there is a movement in Twin Falls to shut down the refugee center here, with opponents citing security and cost concerns.
“The ramifications of ignoring Idaho veterans, homeless, and students will continue to yield tragic consequences if Idaho tax dollars are shifted into a broken refugee system,” the III percenters said in the statement. “Until refugees can be thoroughly filtered, and a more reliable, systematic method of accepting refuges is implemented, we must stand in opposition.”
The article goes on to say that the group supports the bill introduced in Congress by Rep. Brian Babin of Texas that seeks to put the program on hold until the cost to the taxpayers is fully determined. One of our many posts on the Babin bill is here.
Rep. Raul Labrador…..
Idahoans should be urging Rep. Raul Labrador to co-sponsor the Babin bill AND urge him to push for hearings on it—he sits on the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.
In fact he is the vice-chairman of the subcommittee responsible for the refugee program!
Although Twin Falls is not in Rep. Labrador’s district, he should be encouraged to take a lead on this issue from his all important committee leadership position. He needs to tell Trey Gowdy (the chairman!) to hold hearings on the Babin bill.
Learn more about the III of Idaho, here.
We have an extensive archive on Twin Falls, Idaho. Go here to learn more.
Labrador’s district has dodged a bullet (so far) as we learned here.
And, one more bit of news: we’ve learned that a new ‘Pocket of Resistance’ is forming in Boise!