It has been 13 days since the Trump Administration said it would begin a 120-day moratorium on admissions through an Executive Order blocked by two rogue judges. Is it Tillerson or Trump leaving the door open a crack?
Instead of doing what the Trump Department of State is legally permitted to do, without an EO, and pause the program, we have admitted 587 additional refugees since I checked the data on the morning of March 16th (moratorium was to begin that day).
Topping the list are 116 Syrians and not far behind 107 Somalis.
Other countries sending us their supposed refugees in the last 13 days include Sudan (22), Iraq (50), Iran (36), Burma (44), DR Congo (23) and one of the most maddening is El Salvador (35). There is no question that the El Salvadorans are NOT refugees. Many other countries are represented by smaller numbers. Each one of these ‘refugees’ will cost US taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars over the next 5 years.
Yesterday we learned that federal contractors are hopeful that Trump will actually aim for Obama’s dream number of 110,000 refugees for FY2017 (which ends on September 30th). As of this morning, according to Wrapsnet, we are at 38,693!
Trump needs to get a pep talk from the Visegard 4!
By the way, as far as I know, the bureaucrats in the Dept. of State are still running the program. I haven’t seen any news about Trump and Tillerson picking an Asst. Sec. of State for Population, Refugees and Migration. Have you?
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turbull’s government has prioritized persecuted Syrian Christian refugees over their Muslim counterparts in a program that provides homes to 10,000 asylum seekers who have passed a stringent screening process.
So Prime Minister Turnbull is going to prioritize Christian refugees and hand off THEIR rejected Muslims to us? Come on Donald get back to why we elected you!
The Australian government has now issued the 12,000 visas previously promised to Syrian refugees and is set to resettle the asylum seekers mostly in New South Wales. Although it seems Prime Minister Turnbull has not yet revealed the religious composition of the resettled refugees, the Daily Telegraph has learned that around three quarters of the migrants who were processed were persecuted Christians.
The refugees in the resettlement program had to go through a strict security screening process to make sure that no radicalized foreign fighters make their way into Australia. The program, which was first announced by former prime minister Tony Abbott, was previously met with opposition by those who are against prioritizing refugees of any religion.
[….]
In December, The Australian columnist Angela Shanahan called on the Australian government to take in more Christian refugees fleeing persecution in the Middle East. She said many refugees who are merely fleeing war have the chance to return to their homeland, but these Christians can never return.
Shanahan also highlighted the potential eradication of Christianity in the faith’s cradle in the Middle East. For her, not taking into account a refugee’s religion is “blind” obedience to Australia’s immigration policy, and added that their country cannot ignore religion when processing resettlement of asylum seekers because these people fled their country because of religious persecution.
This post is filed in our Australia category, here. And, Trump Watch! here.
You know there has to be anxiety in the Jewish community about whether Jews should, without reservation, promote the resettlement of Muslims from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan in the ME or Somali Muslims from Africa.
Here at the The Jewish Chronicle we see at least the beginning of some honesty about the friction.
Longtime readers know that we have extensively chronicled the activities of the only Jewish federal resettlement contractor HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) on these pages. When you read about local Jewish resettlement groups know that most are subcontractors of HIAS (see their subcontractors here). Here is the story:
By and large, Pittsburgh’s Jewish community — in line with the American Jewish community in general — has rallied behind efforts to bring Syrian refugees to the United States. Formal statements in support of immigration have been issued by area institutions, winter coats for newly arrived families have been collected, and outraged discourse on social media protesting the Trump administration’s attempts to thwart immigration from Syria and other Muslim-majority nations is common.
But despite the outcry from so many in Jewish Pittsburgh that it is imperative to “welcome the stranger,” others argue that Jewish funds and resources should not be going to help bring Syrians here.
Syrian refugees arrive in Pittsburgh in February. http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2017/02/07/Syrian-refugees-Pittsburgh-International-Airport-Donald-Trump-immigration-ban/stories/201702070214?pgpageversion=pgevoke
“How can Jews be so smart and yet so stupid at the same time?” said Lou Weiss of Squirrel Hill. “Everyone loves the immigration of people to our country to become Americans. But who’s in favor of bringing in immigrants from a country where they hate gays, where women are subjected to female circumcision and honor killings, and they hate Jews?”
While Weiss may hold the minority opinion on this issue, he certainly is not alone.
“From our perspective, 99 percent of the responses we’ve gotten have been positive,” said Jordan Golin, president and CEO of the Jewish Family & Children’s Service, which so far has resettled 51 Syrian families in Pittsburgh and is scheduled to bring in additional families. “We are aware, though, that there are other members of the Jewish community that have different feelings about this issue.”
You have to go to the end of a longish storyto hear more from Weiss:
But for Weiss, the issue of whether Jews should be supporting the effort to bring Syrians to this country is pretty cut and dried.
“Take a look at what’s going on in Europe; that’s what will happen here,” Weiss said, noting the mass migration of Jews from European countries who feel threatened by Islamic immigrants there. “Jewish people are people of immigration. But we have to see who it is we’re welcoming into the United Sates. Syrians are taught Holocaust denial. They are taught that Jews are the sons of apes and pigs. There are blood libel books written by their leaders. Only the Jews would pay to bring them to this country.
“You have to think about this rationally,” he continued. “Who are the immigrants? They hate gays, and they subject women to horrible second-class treatment — not every single person, but as a group. And if you bring them here, ultimately, they will vote. If you think they’ll vote to support Israeli interests, you’re sadly mistaken.”
While Weiss is not one of the individuals who has complained to the Federation or to JF&CS, he nonetheless feels strongly about the issue.
“The anti-Semitism of Syrian Muslims is not a quirk,” he said. “It’s a feature of their culture. I love immigrants. But I don’t love the immigration of people that are anti-gay, anti-women, and anti-Semitic.”
I feel like every day I have to swat the same flies! It is maddening. Yesterday it was the c*** once again about the 110,000 PROPOSED refugee admissions ceiling for FY2017. City councilwoman Jennifer Metzger does NOT have the facts! https://www.facebook.com/electjenmetzger
And, today I see that the big lie—that refugees are vetted for 18-24 months—is being perpetuated by ignorant town leaders! It might take that long for the bureaucracy to move papers around, but refugees are not security-screened for 2 years.
IN FACT, in April 2016, the Obama State Department, desperate to get its promised 10,000 Syrians placed across America, REDUCED THE PROCESS TO 3 MONTHS! He sent a team of interviewers to places like Jordan to push their papers through faster.
What got my attention this morning was a short news story from Rosendale, NY where the Town Board voted to declare their support for refugees so that they could educate the public—what with a big fat lie!
Here is the Daily Freeman:
ROSENDALE, N.Y. >> The Town Board members has declared its support of having refugees resettled in Rosendale and is asking the federal government to continue participating in a program that provides safety to people fleeing armed conflicts and human rights abuses.
A resolution adopted by the board at its most recent meeting was “partly motivated by the need to get the facts out there about the refugee crisis and the U.S. resettlement process,” Councilwoman Jennifer Metzger said.
The resolution notes, among other things, that every refugee seeking to enter the United States undergoes a vetting process that takes 18 to 24 months to complete.
NO! Not “every” refugee is vetted for 18-24 months!
Gina Kassem oversees the State Department’s refugee resettlement program in North Africa and the Middle East admits the process was shortened to THREE months. Here at APin April of last year, we learned that Obama accelerated the time required to process in refugees from Syria.
Obama REDUCED THE ‘VETTING’ TO THREE MONTHS!
Associated Press (emphasis is mine):
Gina Kassem, the regional refugee coordinator at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, said that while the target of 10,000 applies to Syrian refugees living around the world, most will be resettled from Jordan.
“The 10,000 (figure) is a floor and not a ceiling, and it is possible to increase the number,” Kassem told reporters.
While the resettlement process usually takes 18 to 24 months, the surge operation will reduce the time to three months, Kassem said.
Continue here for more of the AP story. My report on it is here.
What the Trump Administration says they want to do during their proposed ‘pause’ in resettlement is review the ‘vetting’ process to make sure it is the strongest security screening possible.
The refugee contractors*** behind efforts like this propaganda campaign in Rosendale, NY, never mention that the FBI Director Comey has repeatedly said, refugees from Syria (a failed state) cannot be thoroughly screened because there are no records on them or even any way to verify who they are! (Same applies to Somalis! Rohingya! Others wandering around the globe!)
***Federal refugee resettlement contractors which are paid by the head to place refugees in most US states:
“[W]hat happened here in Rutland….should be used as a template for the rest of country!”
Don Cioffi (Rutland First!)
It wasn’t only the plan—there are lots of mayors pushing for refugees to be placed in their towns—but it was the way he went about it that riled citizens there in VERMONT, of all places!
Thanks to all who sent me one of the many many stories written in the last 24 hours about his defeat at the ballot box. We mentioned the upcoming election on Sunday, here. Leo Hohmann writing at World Net Dailyquoted that post. Representatives of the federal resettlement contractor, USCRI, field questions from standing room only crowd in Rutland last year. Photo: http://news4security.com/posts/2016/09/rutland-first-vermonts-homegrown-opposition-to-syrian-resettlement/
(Just as I am writing this post this morning, Fox & Friends is reporting on the mayor’s election loss due to his support of the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program.) Update: Michael Patrick Leahy at Breitbart weighs in here.
Mayor Christopher Louras’ defeat should be a wake-up call to mayors around the country that pushing the refugee program in collusion with a paid refugee contractor and the US State Department, while trying to keep the plan secret from the public, is not a good model for success.
Not only did Mayor Louras lose his reelection bid, but the federal resettlement contractor, USCRI in this case opened an office there for 2 families that they will now surely have to close, and their friends in the liberal media—see the New York Timeshyping the Rutland resettlement—who were working to make Donald Trump look bad in advance of his inauguration, show how weak they have become.
For our many posts on Rutland going back to (I think) last May,click here. The Rutland, Vermont model for all of you!
From Leo Hohmann at WND:
The people of Rutland, Vermont, have gained a measure of revenge against former President Obama’s forced influx of Syrian refugees, voting out the five-term mayor who helped negotiate the controversial resettlements with a federal contractor.
Rutland is Vermont’s third-largest city but still very small, with a population of 16,500.
The candidacy of Mayor Christopher Louras went down in flames in Tuesday’s election as he was defeated by the refugee program’s most ardent opponent on the board of aldermen. David Allaire won with 52 percent of the vote to 34 percent for Louras.
“That’s not just a win, that’s a drubbing,” said Don Chioffi, an activist who supported the upstart candidate Allaire.
Louras came out last April and “announced,” much to the surprise of his residents, that the city would be taking in up to 100 Syrian refugees [98.5% of the Syrians entering the US are Muslims—ed] in fiscal 2017 along with others from Iraq.
The announcement divided the city among those who wanted to welcome the refugees – no questions asked – and those who thought the refugee program was being dictated without any local input and with very little information. Protests and counter-protests were organized, attracting national media attention.
Unfazed by the division it caused in Rutland, a State Department contractor opened an office and started placing Syrians into the community.
The Leftist media doesn’t give you a fair shake, so go around them!
Hohmann continued:
Local activist Don Chioffi, an ACT for America chapter leader in Rutland, said Allaire got no help from the local media. But supporters bypassed the newspapers and TV stations by using social media, meetings and a conservative radio host to get their message out.
“The people we talk to always react positively, but you would never know that from the media coverage we get,” Chioffi told WND.
“In their sacrilegious and diabolical effort to squelch the truth, they won’t put it out there, so it’s hard to emphasize how important this victory is because the leftist media just doesn’t give you a fair shake, and we went into it expecting that. We knew we wouldn’t get a fair shake.”
[….]
“What won this race in Rutland is we concentrated on principles of democracies and how far we’ve strayed from those principles when a private, nonprofit agency is taking people’s rights away from them, using secrecy, getting government funding, all of the things about this refugee program that have been taken away from the people.”
Chioffi said his group’s requests for public-record documents were rejected by USCRI, which claimed the information was proprietary, even though it was doing the government’s work as a contractor.
Amila Merdzanovic, Director for USCRI of the Vermont Refugee Program: If we go public too soon “…all sorts of people will come out of the woodwork.”
“We said we have questions and we want answers,” he said.
The group’s big break came when the USCRI director of the state resettlement program stumbled in trying to answer a question about why the refugee plan for Rutland was so secretive.
In an April 14 email to Mayor Louras, USCRI Director Amila Merdzanovic wrote in an email “if we open it up to anybody and everybody, all sorts of people will come out of the woodwork, anti-immigrant … anti-anything.”
“When they came out and said they don’t’ think this should be made public because ‘too many people would come out of the woodwork,’ we just pummeled her and branded her,” Chioffi said.
Chioffi said Rutland is a microcosm for what happened nationally on Nov. 8 with the election of Donald Trump.
“We the people spoke, and we were sick and tired of being dictated to and people making decisions on our behalf. And we’re certainly sick of being dictated to by a private, nonprofit agency,” he said. “Since when do you turn over your local government to a 501c3 private contractor, which then denies you public information? So the lack of transparency was the focus of our campaign against this mayor.”
There is much, much more including quotes from our friend James Simpson, continue reading here. ***Update 2*** See my latest on USCRI here.
