We reported this good news here in January, but I see that Minnesota Public Radio has a very good comprehensive piece on the new start-up program here today. And, it kind of fits in with the news about CAIR agitation in Minnesota I reported earlier this a.m.
The MPR article reminds us that the US Supreme Court in 2005 did approve deportations to Somalia even at the time that the country was in total chaos, so now that a new government is in power and al-Shabaab has at least been driven from Mogadishu we can get those jet engines warmed up and load up the planes!
Sasha Aslanian writing at MPR:
ST. PAUL, Minn. — As Somalia begins to stabilize, there is a downside for a small number of Somalis who have run afoul of the U.S. immigration system.
For years, Somali immigrants whose deportations were ordered had nowhere to go. There was no functioning government in Somalia to accept them.
In January, the United States recognized the government in Somalia for the first time in more than 20 years, and the U.S. has quietly resumed deportations to Somalia.
The two countries have not restored full diplomatic relations. But Immigration and Customs Enforcement did get enough cooperation last year to begin returning some detainees who have been convicted of serious crimes while in the United States. ICE officials declined to be interviewed for this story, but a spokesperson confirmed that 24 people have been deported from Minnesota and other states so far.
There was no big announcement of the policy change, said Marc Prokosch, an immigration attorney in Bloomington and chair of the American Immigration Lawyers Association – Minnesota/Dakotas Chapter. Detainees found out when they were taken into custody after showing up for their regular check-in with immigration.
“It seems that the first wave — if you wanted to call it “wave” since there were only a handful — were people who would be seen as an ongoing threat to public safety, because of, for example the criminal sexual conduct convictions,” Prokosch said. “But we’ve been hearing of non-sexual crime convictions being taken into custody, for example, felony assault.”
[….]
ICE has not publicized its recent deportations or the criteria being used, although it is likely to be a topic at the next quarterly roundtable federal officials hold with the Somali community.
Readers! Help ICE spread the news!
If you are on twitter, please tweet this! And, help me get more followers in order to educate more Americans about Refugee Resettlement!
For new readers: We have resettled more than 100,000 Somali refugees to cities large and small in the US over the last 25 years. See one of the most widely read posts here at RRW. Large numbers went to Minneapolis, and now they are spreading out throughout the state. In three years since 9/11 ( Bush years 2004, 2005, 2006) the number of Somalis arriving topped 10,000 per year. Those refugees then began bringing in the family (chain migration!) until 2008 when shock of shocks! the State Department discovered that as many as 30,000 Somalis had lied about their kinship and weren’t related at all. The State Department then closed the “family reunification” program for Somalis. It has recently been re-opened for new and legit family members, but they have no intention of finding and deporting the liars.
In the first 4 months of this fiscal year (Oct. 1 to January 31) we have resettled 2,260 new Somalis which means we are on target to make 2013 a banner year for Somalis entering the US.
Minneapolis Rep. Keith Ellison is all too happy to oblige and get more money for refugee contractors to bring in more Muslim voters.