Dear Trudy, Why are We Obligated to Take One More Iraqi or Afghan Refugee?

09/29/2019 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ 1 Comment

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s esteemed foreign affairs columnist Trudy Rubin has penned an opinion piece dripping with venom and bias against the President (and White House aide Stephen Miller) claiming we still owe US citizenship to thousands more Iraqi and Afghan “translators” who supposedly all helped the US military.

Trudy Rubin says we must admit thousands more Afghan and Iraqi ‘interpreters’ to America! I want to know when is enough enough?

The war in Iraq ended in 2011, so first let me ask why after 8 years we still must be giving anyone from Iraq (maybe with an exception for truly persecuted Christians) a taxpayer-funded new life in America?

We spent enormous blood and treasure giving Iraqis new leadership and a fresh chance at governing themselves, why must we move tens of thousands of the newly freed Iraqis (mostly Muslims) to a town near you?

Just a reminder here, dear readers, that when we go to war in a Middle Eastern country the Leftists will claim, now and forevermore, that we are morally bankrupt if we don’t bring that country’s nationals to America!

To hear Ms. Rubin you would not know that since the fall of 2006 through last week we admitted the following astronomical numbers from these two countries.

Afghanistan:

11,142 refugees and 59,104 SIVs (those that supposedly helped us)

Iraq:

143,135 refugees and 18,530 SIVs

All of the SIVs are not so brave and helpful. Maybe Ms. Rubin doesn’t know about Jasim Mohammed Hasin Ramadon. https://denver.cbslocal.com/2014/04/18/iraqi-called-war-hero-sentenced-in-colorado-rape/

(Below I’m going to show you all where Ms. Rubin can find accurate numbers so that maybe next time she won’t get all her facts from refugee contractors who make fat salaries off the US taxpayer and thus have a pecuniary interest in ever-growing refugee numbers.***)

So I guess Trudy Rubin doesn’t think we have already done enough!

Here is the Philadelphia Inquirer piece that got my blood boiling.

And, by the way, by highlighting a sympathetic case she deploys the sob story method to play on her readers’ emotions. I can do that too….learn more about the convicted rapist Jasim.

For extra added measure she throws in the canard that our population is declining in America so we need all these new people to pay taxes.

Another Trump scandal: Blocking visas for Iraqis who saved American lives

Apart from Ukraine-gate, another White House scandal revved up recently, almost unnoticed.

The White House effort to block legal immigration shifted into overdrive. The State Department announced last week it would slash the already shrunken U.S. refugee program almost in half, to 18,000 admissions over the next 12 months, nearly eliminating America’s historic role as a safe haven. [I’m questioning why America always has to be a safe haven!—ed]

And the Trump team is trying to limit the impact of a recent D.C. District Court ruling that it end years-long delays in granting special immigrant visas (SIV) for thousands of Afghans and Iraqis who helped the U.S. military – as mandated by Congress.

The SIV mandate is a joke. Then Sen. Ted Kennedy added the provision for SIVs to a defense authorization bill and so there was never a Congressional debate on Iraq and Afghanistan SIVs.

What kind of moral bankrupts try to shut our doors to those who saved American lives?

Cry me a river!

Look who is talking!

“With one final blow, the Trump administration has snuffed out Lady Liberty’s torch and ended our nation’s legacy of compassion and welcome,” says the Rev. John L. McCullough, president of Church World Service, a cooperative ministry of 37 Christian denominations.

Just a cooperative ministry of 37 Christian denominations?

John McCullough pulls down a salary of over $300,000 a year as President and CEO of Church World Service, a federal refugee contractor that got over $40 million in federal tax dollars in a recent year to place refugees throughout America while acting as a leading far left Open Borders political agitation group!

(Ms. Rubin might want to have a look at CWS’s Form 990 here.)

Even more shocking is the White House willingness to betray Iraqis and Afghans who are at risk because they helped the U.S. military.

[….]

Administration callousness beggars belief. Many of these applicants and their families have been hiding for years under death threats.

Meantime, State Department data show that only 1,649 Afghans got SIV visas in 2018, a 60% drop from 2017.

See how she cherry-picks the numbers to put Trump in the worst light! Is it possible that maybe, just maybe, it is time to stop the SIV program? Haven’t we brought enough already? Isn’t 59,104 enough already!

As for Iraqis, the situation is far worse. Those in greatest danger – such as military interpreters and their families – have been tossed into a huge pool of applicants also entitled to visas because they worked for U.S. civilians. That backlog has reached 100,000.

Under Stephen Miller, only 51 Iraqis were admitted in 2018 (as compared with 10,000 in 2016). [LOL! Of course, gotta get their boogey man Miller in here. Don’t they call this dog whistling!—ed]

“They [the SIV applicants] served bravely in support of our missions abroad, and we promised them a pathway to safety in return,” points out Deepa Alagesan, the supervising attorney who brought the successful court case on behalf of the International Refugee Assistance Project.

Under pressure from Congress, 4,000 [more—ed] of the rare refugee slots will supposedly be reserved for Iraqis who worked for the U.S. military. But will they ever receive them?

There is more here.

Haven’t we already done enough for Iraq?

161,665 refugees and SIVs moved to America isn’t enough?

Was our blood and treasure squandered for a country that eight years after the war ended isn’t safe enough according to the refugee industry agitators?

Are we expected to bring Iraqi ‘refugees’ to our American towns for the next ten years and ten after that?

*** For inquisitive readers, lazy reporters and for Ms. Rubin, here is where you can find accurate numbers. This is the State Department’s Refugee Processing Center.

These particular data bases for Iraq and Afghanistan show placement for each state for refugee numbers vs. SIV numbers.

This is a screenshot of the page. Go to the page and click on the link and a large spreadsheet will open. https://www.wrapsnet.org/admissions-and-arrivals/

NBC: Pentagon vs. Stephen Miller on Refugee Admissions for FY2020

09/21/2019 ~ Ann Corcoran

I’ve already reported that our US military wants to give tickets to America to more Iraqi and Afghan ‘refugees’ as rewards for helping us in those long wars—one more reason not to go to war in Islamic terrorist-producing countries.

And, I would like to know for how many years after we’ve ended a war are we responsible for moving their nationals to our towns and cities?

See the staggering numbers of Special Immigrant Visa holders we have admitted from Afghanistan and Iraq already! Over 56,000 from Afghanistan and over 18,000 from Iraq!

Why doesn’t NBC report that information?

Here NBC characterizes this year’s battle over the annual presidential determination as one of Stephen Miller vs. America’s mighty military!

Pentagon is last holdout as Stephen Miller tries to slash number of refugees allowed in U.S.

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is fighting against proposals by White House officials to drastically cut the number of refugees allowed into the U.S., and has called for reserving visas for Iraqis who risked their lives working for U.S. troops, according to five people familiar with the plan.

Miller vs. the military

In internal discussions, the Defense Department has expressed opposition to any further reductions to the current annual ceiling of 30,000 for refugee admissions, which already is at a historic low for the 40-year-old U.S. refugee program, the sources told NBC News.

Defense officials also proposed setting aside about 6,000 slots specifically for Iraqi applicants who worked for U.S. troops as interpreters or in other jobs, according to one current U.S. official, one former U.S. official and three refugee advocates briefed on the deliberations.

The Pentagon has emerged as the lone voice in internal debates defending the traditional role of a refugee program overseen by the State Department, an unusual twist that reflects the administration’s aggressive stance on immigration and refugees.

The Pentagon’s stance is at odds with White House senior adviser Stephen Miller — the architect of the president’s sweeping crackdown on immigration — and his allies at the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, who are all proposing deep cuts or even a halt to refugee admissions for the next fiscal year starting in October.

It is not likely to be zero as the White House floated here in July sending the refugee industrial complex into panic.

The White House, however, is weighing one option that would reduce overall refugee admissions — possibly lowering the cap to 15,000 or lower — while setting aside a certain number of openings for Iraqi applicants, similar to what the Pentagon has proposed, the sources said. [Someone must be blabbing to the media!—ed]

Keep reading and then see this:

Evangelical activist Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council and a strong supporter of President Trump, said earlier this month he was “alarmed” that the administration was considering more dramatic reductions in refugee admissions.

In a letter in July, nine evangelical leaders appealed to the administration to back up its frequent public statements on religious freedom and helping persecuted Christians abroad by raising the cap on refugee admissions.

Of course, Perkins wants more Christians, but those the military wants are mostly Muslims!

Then here, without mentioning that World Relief is one of nine federally-funded (and UN approved) refugee contractors that can’t survive without a steady flow of your tax dollars to their coffers, NBC quotes them as a representative of concerned evangelicals in America.

“The drastic decline in the number of refugees we are resettling in the U.S. is really troubling and it goes against everything that we believe about what our faith teaches us,” said Jenny Yang, vice president for advocacy and policy at World Relief, an evangelical organization that helps resettle refugees in the United States.

“It’s extremely concerning that the administration is not heeding the views of a lot of evangelicals.”

More here.

Just a reminder, FY2020 begins in ten days, on October first.

Regular refugee numbers don’t tell the whole story; thousands of Afghans getting in to US each year in separate program

09/03/2018 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

They are called Special Immigrant Visa holders (SIVs for short) and they supposedly helped the US in some way (or they could have helped an NGO!), sometimes as interpreters. They and their immediate family members are welcomed to the US and treated with the same package of goodies refugees receive.

Also, we are told that the resettlement contractors are paid (by you) to place them as well, and those funds we’ve heard are helping to keep the contractors from completely going belly-up!

(See my post yesterday about the number of regular refugees admitted this fiscal year, the number is relatively low, but the SIV number is not! 2,196 Muslims were admitted as regular refugees, but add to that 9,166 Afghan Muslims in the last 11 months!)

Nato commander — Yesterday US General Austin Miller took over NATO command in Afghanistan. We have been there for 17 years. Here is what I want to know? If we continue to bring to America the tens of thousands of Afghans who willingly helped us, won’t only the worst of the worst be left in the country? http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/09/02/us-general-assumes-nato-command-in-afghanistan.html

Continue reading “Regular refugee numbers don’t tell the whole story; thousands of Afghans getting in to US each year in separate program” →

Refugee processing slowdown blamed on FBI’s new vetting procedures

08/27/2018 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

If you didn’t see my first post this morning go here.

Then FBI Director Comey told the Senate last year that 300 refugees (about 200 of them Iraqis) were being investigated for possible connections to terrorists.

This is number two in a three part series today on how the Trump Administration has been beefing up vetting and thus slowing the flow of refugees in to the US.

From Reuters (remember I told you yesterday that the Pentagon is the new ally of the Open Borders Left):

Exclusive: Pentagon raises alarm about sharp drop in Iraqi refugees coming to U.S.

After a lead-in about Pentagon concerns, we learn this:

Continue reading “Refugee processing slowdown blamed on FBI’s new vetting procedures” →

Refugee activists pouncing on supposed Pentagon concern for drop in refugee numbers

08/26/2018 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

They say that the Pentagon (although I have yet to see a single name from the Pentagon say this) is concerned that especially Iraqis who help the military won’t want to help if they don’t get assurances of a ticket to America.

Frankly, I’m not so sure I like the idea of offering tickets to your town or mine, as carrots for working for the US in Iraq. Isn’t it time (past time!) we let Iraq take care of itself!

Continue reading “Refugee activists pouncing on supposed Pentagon concern for drop in refugee numbers” →