Tag: Syrian refugees

Syrians by the “hundreds” arriving in North Jersey, thousands more expected in 2015 and 2016

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

“Hundreds?” Well, how could that be I wondered, since we are constantly reminded that the unwelcoming US has only admitted a hundred or so Syrian refugees.  It turns out that “hundreds” of those being granted ‘temporary protected status‘ are choosing to go to established Syrian communities, like those in North Jersey, to be with their people.

I continually find it amusing that no one ever questions the desire of ‘immigrants’ to congregate with their ethnic and religious groups in certain sections of cities or states, yet if any people of European background (you or me) would say I want to live with my kind of people we would be excoriated by the diversity-is-beautiful crowd as racist, rednecked boobs!  But, I digress.

Mahmoud Alzouabi, one of the stars of this story, traveled to Jordan with his wife and 8 kids and got a visa to the US. How did he pull that off when several hundred thousand others couldn’t? CARMINE GALASSO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Back to North Jersey and the Syrians.  Emphasis below is mine.  From North Jersey.com:

Syrians fleeing war and devastation in their homeland have settled in North Jersey by the hundreds since turmoil broke out three years ago. While family members, houses of worship and a social services agency offer support, many struggle to find work, afford housing and deal with grief amid harrowing experiences in war.

Then we hear about the first star of the story (there are always the sad tales in these articles designed to pull the heartstrings of your unwelcoming racist heart!):

Mahmoud Alzouabi, a 42-year-old Syrian refugee now living in Paterson, fled to a refugee camp in Jordan before getting a U.S. visa. Alzouabi saw a close friend shot to death at a demonstration.  [So how did this man with his family, of all the “refugees” arriving in Jordan get a visa to America?—ed]

They want to be with Syrians:

Drawn to North Jersey by long-established Syrian-American communities, many arrive with little more than the clothing they are wearing and with bitter memories of the life-threatening conditions that drove them from their homes.

[…..]

The Syrians who have come to North Jersey are largely unrecognized as they blend into Arab-American neighborhoods in a diverse state that is home to more than 9,000 Syrian-Americans, according to the Census Bureau.

Thousands being approved to stay in US under ‘Temporary Protected Status’ but as we have reported here at RRW over the years—no one ever goes home!  Just ask the over 100,000 Salvadorans here “temporarily!”  It is a joke.  However, unless they can figure out some fraudulent way to do it, those on TPS are not allowed to dip into welfare (maybe in Maine!) while refugee status confers on those lucky people a whole array of social services.

The United States offers financial aid and transitional help to Syrians who are accepted into its refugee resettlement program, but only 108 Syrians have been officially designated as refugees. Many others are stymied by stringent U.S. security concerns over people arriving with no identification papers. Others face a high legal barrier in the requirement that they prove they are victims of persecution and not merely people displaced by war.

Many of the Syrian refugees have arrived with visitor’s visas and extended their stays, legally, through what is known as temporary protective status, which allows them to get Social Security numbers and authorizes them to find employment.

No work!  (Someone please tell Grover that there are LEGAL Syrians over here looking for work!):

With temporary protected status, he has work authorization and a Social Security number, but he cannot find work. He [another star of the story—ed] applied for health care coverage but did not understand the responses he got. His wife is eight months pregnant.

“Everything is difficult here. Everything is complicated. There’s no help,” said Askar, who has applied for refugee status, fearing religious persecution back home.

They want refugee status so they can get taxpayer-support!

Syrians who are granted asylum are eligible for help from programs funded by the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, including cash and medical assistance, job preparation and placement and English-language training. But only 108 Syrians have been granted official refugee status by the U.S.

TPS numbers:

Most have come to this country as visitors and stayed. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has accepted 5,261 applications for temporary protected status from Syrians already in the U.S., approving 2,038 of those and denying 59; the rest are pending. Of those, 335 applications came from Syrians in New Jersey; 150 were approved, three denied and the rest are pending.

Big rush of Syrians expected in US in 2015 and 2016.  Will Mr. Open Borders himself, Chris Christie, be welcoming them on the tarmac at Newark’s Liberty International airport?

With no end in sight to  the war, more Syrians can be expected to arrive in North Jersey. The U.S. government expects to receive thousands of referrals for resettlement from the United Nations’ refugee agency in 2014, with arrivals expected in 2015 and 2016, according to the State Department. It is not known how many will be accepted.

Some elected officials and human rights groups have called for the U.S. to do more and take in 15,000 Syrians refugees. According to news reports, the Obama administration expects to take in only as many as 2,000.

For years we watched the media drumbeat to bring in the Iraqis (and they are coming by the tens of thousands now) and henceforth we will see one story after another, like this one, as the media and the open borders movement builds their Syrian “refugee” PR campaign.  And, just watch, even if their ‘civil war’ ends before 2015, the flood gates to Syrian refugees will be open and they will keep coming (just as the Iraqis are still coming to this day)!

Addendum:  Check out the story we posted recently about one Syrian family getting into the US via Cuba, here.  They too are in North Jersey.

NY Times: Obama security screening fix will first help those aliens already here

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Convicted Iraqi refugee terrorists got through old screening system and yet Obama now makes it even easier to get through!

Everyone is talking about it—the Obama Administration’s relaxation of security screening regulations originally put in place after 9/11.  As we have reported, here***, the “refugee resettlement contractors” were lobbying hard for the rule change because they want to get thousands of Syrians admitted to the US this fiscal year partly because they are embarrassed that the US has not stepped-up to open our “welcoming” doors, and partly because they are paid by the head to bring ’em in. 

Even the New York Times is talking about it (those bad ol’ Republican spoil-sports!):

Republican lawmakers are assailing new exemptions from antiterrorism laws the Obama administration issued this week for war zone refugees seeking to come to the United States, saying the rules are examples of unilateral action by President Obama that weaken immigration security.

The administration, under pressure to respond to the crisis of more than 2.3 million Syrians who have fled the civil war in their country, published two rules on Wednesday that will exempt refugees from provisions banning terrorists. The exemptions apply if the refugees provided only minor material support, such as meals or medical aid, to armed groups that have not been officially designated as terrorist organizations, or if they gave such support under pressure.  [That old sandwich canard!  Can you imagine a prospective refugee admitting that he/she gave a “sandwich to a rebel” at one time?—ed]

[…..]

“We are a nation of laws, and the executive branch should not be allowed to unilaterally suspend our immigration laws to provide benefits to those who have supported terrorists,” said John Cornyn of Texas, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration.

Administration officials and refugee advocates said the rules were a badly needed fix to sweeping antiterrorism laws passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

By the way, even the screening in place before last week didn’t keep those Iraqi refugee terrorists who went to Kentucky out of the US.  Maybe the rules needed strengthening not weakening!

Then get this! The NYT says 3,000 are asylum seekers! 

That means they have already entered the US illegally by coming across one of our borders or over-staying a visa! And, at minimum 70% could be fraudulent!

Officials said the exemptions, which would immediately affect some 3,000 asylum applicants, had been in the works for years.

***Check out the contractor Senate testimony—the Lutherans want 12,000 Syrians this year and the Catholics want 15,000 (no mention of favoring Christians!).  It is always a shock to new readers when they learn that Lutherans and Catholics are resettling Muslims in their towns and cities.

British-Syrian TV pundit causes firestorm, says Syrian refugees should not come to UK

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
If all Syrians coming to America were like the UK’s Halla Diyab, the Leftwingers would be leading the charge to STOP Syrians from coming here.

She suggested they go to neighboring countries where they are among people of their own culture!  And, the horror, she questions who will pay for all the Syrians?  For that, she is labeled ‘Syria’s Sarah Palin.’

One country she lists as a better place to send Syrian refugees is deportation-nation Saudi Arabia!

From Al-Arabiya News (hat tip: ‘pungentpeppers’):

A British-Syrian TV pundit is threatening to sue social media users who slander her or threaten her life after her recent controversial views regarding not allowing Syrian refugees to come to Britain were aired on a BBC program.

Halla Diyab, a writer and producer based in London, told BBC One’s This Week news program that Syrian refugees would be better off seeking asylum in neighboring Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt – rather than coming to England where they will face a cultural barrier such as not being able to speak English.

Syrian refugees shouldn’t be “picky and choosey,” she told the BBC’s Andrew Neil.

She also voiced concerns over how much allowing Syrian refugees into the country would cost British taxpayers.

Many people publicly condemned Diyab’s views referring to her as “Syria’s Sarah Palin”;’ however, the British-Syrian pundit is now concerned the criticism has went too far with some angry viewers saying she is an Assad-loyalist and others making comments about her morality.

There is much wailing and moaning from the ‘humanitarian’ crowd who call her insensitive.  You can read all of that yourself.  I guess she, or they, don’t know that some of their ‘humanitarian’ brethren would agree with Diyab (here).

Then she asked who will pay for all of this?

And, if peace comes, will they go home or will taxpayers continue to support them?  Yikes! The ultimate sin to ask those questions!

During one part of Diyab’s BBC appearance, now available online, Diyab takes a sip of coffee, and asks: “If Syria returns to peace, will the British government force them to go back to Syria or will they stay here forever?

“As a British taxpayer, will I be requested to subsidize for a new Syrian population in this country?”

“It would be much better for them to stay in neighboring countries that are close to Syria culturally and demographically, like the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon,” she added.

And, the you-know-what hit the fan on social media.  Hang in there Halla!

The answer is yes, of course, these refugee resettlements are always permanent, even when the word ‘temporary’ is bandied about.

Regarding our photo caption.  Consider for a moment what would happen to the immigration issue if a large majority of immigrants arriving in America, or the West generally, said they would vote for conservatives.  In a heartbeat, the political Left would be demanding we halt all immigration!  Heck, they might be at the border with guns!

Center for Immigration Studies challenges legality of Obama Administration’s relaxation of security screening for refugees

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
CIS Director of Policy Studies, Jessica Vaughn: this is how we end up with families like the Tsarnaevs.

Another case where Obama used his pen? (or his minions did!)

We told you yesterday that Obama, bowing to international pressure and lobbying from refugee resettlement contractors anxious to bring in thousands of Syrians this year, has relaxed a security screening law put in place after 9/11, here.

Now, we see, that the Center for Immigration Studies is challenging his legal right to do that.

From Catholic Online:

Former State Department official and current director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies Jessica Vaughan questioned the administration’s right to unilaterally change the law.

“[T]here is a very legitimate question as to whether the administration actually has the authority to change the law in this way,” Vaughan wrote in an email. “It seems to me that they are announcing that they will be disregarding yet another law written by Congress that they don’t like and are replacing it with their own guidelines, which in this case appear to be extremely broad and vague, and which are sure to be exploited by those seeking to game our generous refugee admissions program.”

While Vaughan admitted that there are a number of immigrants seeking protection who have been denied due to unintentional contact with terrorists, she sees the exemptions as likely another opportunity for people to bypass the system.

“If the recent past is any guide, those evaluating these cases will be ordered to ignore red flags in the applications, especially if the applicant is supported by one of the many advocacy groups that have the ear of senior DHS staff,” she explained.

“The administration already approves of the admission of gang members as asylees and criminals in the DACA program and grants of prosecutorial discretion, so I don’t expect them to be troubled by the admission of terrorists and garden variety fraudsters in our refugee program.  This is how we end up with families like the Tsarnaev brothers [the Boston marathon bombers], who were originally admitted for political asylum.”

Just a reminder it was the federal refugee contractors complaining to a Senate hearing in January, here, that refugees were being held up for admission because they gave a “sandwich to a terrorist”  (one of the US’s favored terrorists in Syria), that got this done!  One group testifying was the US Conference of Catholic Bishops which said that it wants 15,000 Syrians admitted ASAP!

Obama eases security screening rules to allow more Syrians to enter US

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson: Let ’em in!

It was just a matter of time before the Obama Administration bowed to international pressure and lobbying from taxpayer-funded resettlement contractors and “human rights” groups to relax security requirements that have here-to-fore made it difficult for them to open our doors to Syrian ‘refugees.’

From Reuters:

(Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s administration announced on Wednesday that it had eased some immigration rules to allow more of the millions of Syrians forced from their homes during the country’s three-year civil war to come to the United States.

Only 31 Syrian refugees – out of an estimated 2.3 million – were admitted in the fiscal year that ended in October, prompting demands for change from rights advocates and many lawmakers.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been taken in by neighboring countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.

The rules changes granted exemptions on a case by case basis to the “material support” bar in U.S. immigration law, according to an announcement in the Federal Register signed by Secretary of State John Kerry and Jeh Johnson, the Secretary of Homeland Security.

That bar had made it impossible for anyone who had provided any support to armed rebel groups to come to the United States, even if the groups themselves receive aid from Washington.

[…..]

“These exemptions will help address the plight of Syrian refugees who are caught up in the worst humanitarian crisis in a generation,” Illinois Senator Richard Durbin, chairman of the U.S. Senate subcommittee on human rights, said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear how many Syrians would be affected by the rules change.

Let me guess!  It will be 2,000 to start with and if the contractors have their way it will be 12,000 or so in this fiscal year!

But, heck they will have some new fresh territory in which to place them—Toledo, OH and Wyoming!