Ignoring the governor, New Jersey refugee contractors vow to place them as fast as Obama admits them!

11/15/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

In my previous post I said I had two stories today (so far) about reactions from within the refugee resettlement industry about the future of the program in a Trump administration. The second story comes from NJ.com which begins with the usual heart string-tugging story that has to be the first lesson of Journalism 101 classes at our colleges and universities. However this story has a little smell to it! (Emphasis below is mine)

chrischristie — Governor Chris Christie withdrew New Jersey from the Refugee Admissions Program, but it is meaningless if he doesn’t follow-up with a state’s rights lawsuit. Contractors admit at NJ.com that Syrians can’t be properly screened!

The woman, a Syrian refugee recently resettled in Middlesex County, had one question the morning after the election of Donald Trump:

“What does this mean for my sons?”

What kind of visa allowed the Syrian couple admission to the US, and it is certainly a red flag that their TEENAGE BOYS were not admitted!
Also, since the pair have not yet been approved for asylum, they are NOT REFUGEES (not until their asylum applications have been approved are they eligible for all the goodies refugees receive from taxpayers!).
NJ.com continues:

Her concern was recounted by the Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale, whose New Brunswick congregation has sponsored the resettlement of several refugee families. The woman and her husband had come to the United States on visas, and are seeking asylum***, but her teenage boys were denied visas and are waiting in a third country.

“I told her it doesn’t mean anything for her boys,” Kaper-Dale said. “I do not expect Donald Trump will be nearly as aggressive with his actions as he was with his mouth.” [Rather optimistic isn’t it?—ed]

Admitting it again! Trump does not need Congress to cut off the flow!

Trump campaigned on a promise to stop the flow of refugees from the Middle East, vowing to hit the pause button on the current administration’s acceptance of refugees from the brutal civil war in Syria. Since the refugee resettlement program is administered by the U.S. State Department, a president does not need congressional approval to make the change.

And, just as we predicted! Obama may be trying to front-end the resettlement of his 110,000 refugee plan for FY2017. However, contractors beware because if you get out ahead of your federal funding, you may actually have to find private money later in the year (or go belly-up!).

The New Jersey-based agencies that have federal contracts to help refugees find housing and jobs all vow to continue to welcome people who have come to New Jersey from at least 18 countries. [Progress when mainstream media mentions that the ‘religious’ groups have federal contracts!—ed]

If anything, some expect the pace of resettlement may pick up as the Obama administration tries to bring over as many families as possible before Trump takes office in January, one volunteer said.

[….]

Concerned about the impact the Trump election might have on the organization’s refugee resettlement program, Bertrand made inquiries a few days after the election and said he was told refugees would continue to arrive until the change of administration takes place in Washington.

“And after that, they have no idea what will happen,” he said.

Gov. Christie’s withdrawal of the state from the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program only means a non-profit federal contractor like Church World Service in this story will call the shots for NJ (maybe it already has become a Wilson-Fish state). If he was serious he would file a lawsuit as Tennessee is doing here.

Although Gov. Chris Christie came out against the state accepting any Syrian refugees – saying he would be opposed to accepting even orphans under the age of five – states cannot ban refugees from resettlement in their borders.

Will wonders never cease! Here they actually admit what we have been saying all along about screening Syrians!

Agencies that help with refugee settlement say the people arriving today have been in the vetting pipeline for years. But they concede that the chaotic conditions that triggered a mass exodus from Syria in 2015 makes it very difficult for refugees to prove anything about their backgrounds, as employers, relatives and even records are now scattered, unavailable, or destroyed.

Continue reading here.
***As I warned in my earlier post this morning, watch out for more extensive use of the asylum process if the refugee resettlement program is curtailed.
Go here for more on New Jersey.

Charleston, WV rally Tuesday: We want Syrian Muslims in our city!

11/14/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

You know what strikes me as different about this pro-refugee rally scheduled for tomorrow evening (Nov. 15th) at 5 p.m. is that it is specifically a rally to welcome Syrians (99% of the Syrians the Obama Administration is admitting to the US are Muslims even as we see Christian genocide in the Middle East).
In most locations where an ‘Interfaith’ group advocates for refugee resettlement they don’t pick a specific nationality/religion. Indeed, a new agency like the one proposed for Charleston won’t get to choose its favorite nationalities either—they will take a mix of people from different regions of the world.

rabbi-victor-urecki — Rabbi Victor Urkecki suggests we must atone for mistakes in WWII when the US turned away Jews, by inviting tens of thousands of Syrian Muslims to the US. I do not get this logic!

So here is the latest from Charleston. Longtime readers know that West Virginia has taken very small numbers of refugees over the years and those that have been resettled were placed by Catholic Charities. Now, Episcopal Migration Ministries wants in on the action.
From The Charleston Gazette-Mail:

Volunteers are planning a rally for Tuesday in Charleston to send a welcoming message to Syrian refugees fleeing their war-torn country.

The second-annual West Virginia Welcomes Refugees rally will be held at 5 p.m. in the mini-pavillion at Court Street and Kanawha Boulevard East.

Episcopal Migration Ministries, one of nine national refugee resettlement agencies that works with the U.S. government and local groups to place refugees, and the West Virginia Interfaith Refugee Ministry have been working together in hopes of making Charleston a safe haven for refugees.

Last month, the ministries submitted an application to the U.S. Department of State to turn Charleston into one of its “resettlement communities” and place 100 refugees in the first year in Charleston. The State Department has not yet made a decision.

Then below we hear the story about how some Jews were turned away from America in WWII (yes, it was an awful mistake). But, I fail to see how throwing America’s gates open to large numbers of Muslims (Sunnis in the case of Syrians who form the basis of ISIS and Al Qaeda) is equivalent in any way.
Please someone explain to me why an error of 75 years ago somehow requires us to invite to America tens of thousands of participants of a religious civil war in the Middle East!
Update: And tell me why this isn’t a rally for the Christians facing genocide in the Middle East which would be the real equivalency argument to what happened to the Jews in WWII.
But here we go again with the guilt trip:

“These are people that are escaping the same forces of evil that we are opposed to,” said Rabbi Victor Urecki, one of the organizers.

“There is a sense that America is not welcoming to the other — to the refugee, to the immigrant,” he said. “And this is our response, to say ‘We are together. We stand in solidarity and hospitality to all who come to our state. We are a city of tolerance and love.’”

Urecki noted that at one point in America’s history, America’s border was closed to the Jewish community.

“The best way I can show that I’ve learned the lesson of what it’s like to be an outsider is by embracing the outsider and the other,” he said.

How many Syrian Muslims will Rabbi Urecki take home with him? How many would even want to go home with him?
Is the huge cost of resettling large numbers of refugees of any concern to the Rabbi and the local ‘Interfaith’ activists?
Learn about Charleston’s ‘Interfaith’ group here, and go here for more posts on the Charleston refugee controversy.
For West Virginians who are not happy with what you are learning, you must contact your two US Senators and Congressman Alex Mooney who represents Charleston and let them know what you think!
Endnote! I don’t want to hear from any readers who think this is a Jewish plot. This is about political ideology. Remember that most resettlement in America is being done by Leftist Christian organizations. There are many people of the Jewish faith who disagree vehemently with our policy of admitting large numbers of Muslim refugees, not to mention those who have serious concerns about the economic impact on local communities and state governments and are working hard to bring attention to the enormous cost to taxpayers.

Three Arkansas members of Congress question new resettlement plan for Fayetteville area

11/13/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Fayetteville, Arkansas is one of the newest resettlement sites approved by the US State Department to accommodate the large number of refugees that Barack Obama has proposed for FY2017. We previously learned that there are 47 new sites, most chosen in secrecy. Below is the list of those we have heard about so far.***
From Talk Business & Politics:

Canopy Northwest Arkansas received final approval from the State Department on Sept. 30 and is waiting for the assignment of its first refugee family, which could come as early as mid-November.

steve-womack — Real test for Rep. Steve Womack (R) is whether he will support defunding the Refugee Admissions Program when Congress addresses the FY17 budget starting this week! Womack is on the Appropriations Committee: http://womack.house.gov/biography/committees.htm

Canopy partners with the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), one of nine national resettlement agencies that contract with the State Department to run the refugee resettlement program. LIRS is the agency that will assign refugees to Canopy after the refugees go through an extensive screening process, sometimes lasting more than two years. [Learn more about LIRS, here, 95% taxpayer funded!—ed]

Over the course of the coming year, Emily Crane Linn, resettlement director at Canopy, said they expect to settle 20 to 25 families in Northwest Arkansas. [That would likely be over 100 refugees—ed]

[….]

It is the Syrian refugee possibility that caused U.S. Reps. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro, Bruce Westerman, R-Hot Springs, and Steve Womack, R-Rogers, to send a letter dated Oct. 24 to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to “express our concern” about the resettlement program. (Link here for a PDF of the letter.)

Sending a letter won’t cut it.

Sending a letter makes constituents feel better, but….
….we know how that turned out when Rep. Trey Gowdy thought that he could slow the flow to then new resettlement site Spartanburg, SC by writing to John Kerry. It did nothing!!!

Defund! Defund! Defund!

Only one thing matters, and if there is a ‘pocket of resistance’ forming in Arkansas you must tell these three members of Congress to work to cut the funding in the upcoming lame duck budget battle!

I see (here) that Arkansas has no members of Congress who have tried to lift a finger to cut the funding so far.
See Conservative Review’s Liberty score card for the Arkansas delegation.
BTW, how many poultry processing plants in Arkansas are hankering for cheap refugee labor?
***Is your city one of the newest targets for resettlement of third worlders?

Asheville, NC

Rutland, VT

Reno, NV

Ithaca, NY

Missoula, MT

Aberdeen, SD (may have been thwarted as a primary resettlement site!)

Charleston, WV

Fayetteville, AR

Blacksburg, VA

Pittsfield, MA

Northhampton, MA

Flint, MI

Bloomington, IN

Traverse City, MI

Poughkeepsie, NY

Wilmington, DE

Watertown, NY (maybe)

Youngstown, OH (maybe)

Charleston, WV 'Interfaith' leader and lawyer setting up new refugee resettlement office, planning rally

11/07/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Funny, it was only yesterday I told you that local ‘Interfaith’ groups were primary promoters of the expansion of refugee resettlement beyond the two hundred or so offices already up and running, here, into dozens of new towns and cities primarily to receive massive new numbers of Syrian Muslim refugees, among others from dozens of countries.
Now we learn from the Charleston Gazette-Mail that Episcopal Migration Ministries is applying to the US State Department to expand resettlement from the small number of refugees placed in the West Virginia capitol now by Catholic Charities (about 25 last year) to add 100 from EMM in the 2017 fiscal year.

lynn-s-clarke-photo-877479 — ‘Interfaith’ leader/lawyer Lynn S. Clark. Photo and bio here: http://www.lawyers.com/charleston/west-virginia/lynn-s-clarke-1783094-a/ Go here to see what she said in 2015 about her WV ‘Interfaith’ group: https://woolfinstitute.wordpress.com/2015/12/16/interfaith-refugee-ministry-in-west-virginia-usa/

A local activist ‘Interfaith’ group is incorporating as a non-profit supposedly for the purpose of being the local resettlement subcontractor.
(If this is your first visit to RRW, be sure to see ‘Ten Things your town needs to know…’ because once opened the office will expand each year even if the city of Charleston begs for a reprieve in the number being placed.)
For background, see this previous post on Charleston, WV and follow links to earlier posts.
There is a ‘pocket of resistance’ getting firmly established there.
Wonder where the phrase ‘pocket of resistance’ came from? That is what I heard officials of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement call any community where citizens were demanding answers about the UN/US State Department Refugee Admissions Program. Go here for that 2013 post! Imagine that! Government bureaucrats referring to citizens who might disagree with their plan for America as being in ‘pockets of resistance.’
From the Charleston Gazette-Mail:

A national refugee resettlement agency has submitted an application to the U.S. Department of State to turn Charleston into one of its “resettlement communities.”

The West Virginia Interfaith Refugee Ministry aims to create greater understanding of the Muslim community [assumption here for this group is that they will get Syrian Muslims–ed] and the plight of refugees, including those fleeing Syria, where millions have been displaced and hundreds of thousands have been killed.

[….]

Episcopal Migration Ministries submitted an application to the State Department last month to resettle 100 refugees in the first year in Charleston. Duvall noted the State Department will determine the number if the application is approved.

[….]

Kendall Martin, spokeswoman for Episcopal Migration Ministries, said that the agency has not recently submitted any applications for resettlement communities anywhere else. She said that if the application is approved, they will hold quarterly meetings with the community.

Asked how often their applications are typically approved, Martin said they had only submitted one other site application, for Wichita, Kansas***, to the State Department in the past five years, and it was approved.

Lynn Clarke and Ibtesam Sue Barazi, two of the local volunteers, said they are working on bylaws for their group and preparing for the possibility of establishing a nonprofit organization if the application is approved.

A pro-Syrian refugee rally is scheduled for 5 p.m. on November 15th.

There is only one reason for such a rally and that is to create the impression that West Virginia is wildly welcoming of refugees from the third world and from countries that hate us! It is about swaying the media and the US State Department.

Barazi, a Syrian immigrant who has lived in West Virginia since 1975, said they also are planning a “West Virginia Welcomes Refugees” rally to be held at 5 p.m. on Nov. 15 at Haddad Riverfront Park, followed by a candlelight vigil. The rally follows a similar event last year that drew hundreds of people. Organizers say they want to “respond to fear with love.”

Visit the Charleston Gazette-Mail for more information and to see the cool graphic showing the other locations around the country where EMM has offices.
One more thing! If Clark and her cohorts succeed and get an office open, they won’t be choosing the refugees, but will be required to take what Washington sends them. Ultimately, refugees will come from dozens of countries, thus, in some ways, making it harder and more expensive for the city and county to deal with the myriad languages. Remember local and state taxpayers are responsible for providing interpreters for medical care, schools, and the criminal justice system!
P.S. If you are a West Virginian reading this and getting angry, there are 3 people to complain to: Rep. Alex Mooney (R) who represents Charleston in the House of Representatives and the two US Senators: Shelley Moore Capito (R) and Joe Manchin(D). By the way, if anyone talks to Mooney, tell him to get his history straight about that damn plaque on the Statue of Liberty. It was added later, the original statue had nothing to do with immigration.
***Wichita, Kansas is a prime example of refugee overload as the school system is swamped with refugee kids speaking many languages and it is subsequently BROKE, see here. Do you want this problem in Charleston?

Angry, unhappy, disillusioned Syrians want to go home (from all over the world!)

10/31/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I want you to see three stories this morning!
Everyone take note (especially paternalistic do-gooders)!
I predict there will be more news like this as massive numbers of Syrians are moving around the world and many are finding that home is better than St. Louis, Missouri, the United Kingdom or Greece.

United States

From St. Louis via KMOX (hat tip: Joanne):

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – After escaping war in their homeland, some Syrian refugees are afraid of getting shot in their new home – in north St. Louis.

syrian-refugees-more-police-please — Oh the irony, Syrians in St. Louis want more police protection (in the land of Black Lives Matter)!

Syrians living at an apartment complex near Page and Hodiamont met with their neighborhood Alderman, and with a representative of the agency that placed them here, the International Institute.***

The hour-long meeting dealt with complaints of gunfire in the night, roaches, mice, and rats.

One Syrian woman, speaking through a translator, says it’s so bad she phoned friends at a refugee camp in Jordan to warn them not to come to St. Louis.

Continue here.
This is not an unusual story, we have heard it very often over the years. Refugee contractors place refugees in dreadful neighborhoods—ha! diversity does not bring strength!

United Kingdom

Then how about this story from the UK: Do not come to the UK says Syrian ‘refugee.’

A 28-year-old Syrian migrant who has been in Britain just 11 days says he is “miserable” and wants to go back to his life in his war-torn country saying it “is better than it is here.”

Abdul Kader al-Zuebi, who was once a military doctor in the Syrian army, says he fled the war in his homeland because he did not want to have to kill.

He now says he has grown frustrated with being unable to rent a home or seek work as a doctor in the UK, complaining that officials do not know where his passport is and are refusing to let him leave.

Kader al-Zuebi has a British fiancee and three relatives living in the UK.

The authorities have been putting him up in hostels in Dulwich and Cardiff, which he describes as “miserable.”

[….]

He added: “It is a big lie to be in the UK, we think the UK is something from the heavens.”

[….]

“I would rather be in Aleppo than stay here. I want to deport myself,” he said, adding “I would tell those arriving from Calais to go back. It is better than it is here,” according to the Express.

Greece

And then this is from Greece. Syrians have started the long trip home!

Didymoteicho (Greece) (AFP) – “I want to go back to Syria. There is war in my country, but we’ve been living for seven months in Greece like prisoners.”

Adan, from Aleppo, has abandoned his dream of building a new life in Europe, like thousands of other Syrians trapped in Greece.

He’s just arrived at the station in Didymoteicho, a village near the Greece-Turkey border, with his wife, three children and five other relatives, and is preparing to go through a police checkpoint before trying to get into Turkey, the start of a long journey home.

More here.

There should be an ad campaign highlighting these stories and broadcast around the world!

angelina-and-limon
***The International Institute of St. Louis responsible for placing the Syrians in a bad neighborhood is a subcontractor of the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) (97% funded by you, the taxpayer.)
USCRI is the federal contractor responsible for Twin Falls, Idaho, Reno, Nevada and Rutland, VT to name a few and its CEO is Lavinia Limon, pals with Angelina Jolie.
The Dept. of State has previously shuttered subcontractors of USCRI for problems such as the one described here. The most memorable case was in Waterbury, CT back in May 2008. Maybe Angelina needs to have a word with Ms. Limon.