Syrian refugee numbers expanding, but hard to pin down why

08/25/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

It is easy enough to follow the US State Department data reported at the Refugee Processing Center that keeps the numbers on resettled refugees and tells us where they have gone. (It doesn’t archive successful asylum seekers or any other legal program.)
So, people are looking around and saying there sure are more than 10,000 Syrians here already. One immigration researcher thinks Obama is using ‘Humanitarian parole’ on the sly, others disagree. But, they all agree that other methods are being used to bring Syrians to our shores (or letting them stay) in ever larger numbers.
Here is some useful information at LifeZette:

A discrepancy in statistics provided by the Department of Homeland Security has led an attorney for a Washington-based legal group to question whether administration officials are waiving Syrians into the United States by other means.

ferrise_portrait_400x400 — Beth Ferris a Georgetown professor has said they will use additional methods to get Syrians planted in your towns. No surprise, see her bio. She once worked for one of the nine major federal resettlement contractors. https://www.brookings.edu/experts/elizabeth-ferris/

Ian Smith, of the Immigration Reform Law Institute, obtained the data through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. It shows that U.S. officials as of Jan. 25 had interviewed 9,800 refugee applicants since fiscal year 2014. That is nearly twice as many people as the combined number of approvals (4,774) and denials (417) during that time.

“The discrepancy is very, very large, and they go back quite a ways.”

Smith speculated that the Obama administration is using “humanitarian parole” to admit Syrians who do not meet the eligibility requirements for refugees. That is the same method by which the Obama administration has allowed entry to the unaccompanied minors who have arrived en masse at the U.S.-Mexican border over the past few years.

“I really think that’s the case, because that’s what we’ve been seeing with the Central American Minors programs,” Smith said.

Some think that they don’t need parole as they are finding other creative ways to bring in thousands and thousands more.

[Nayla] Rush [Center for Immigration Studies] said she believes some Syrians will end up coming through other ways, however. She pointed to a conference in February in which Beth Ferris, a Georgetown University professor and humanitarian refugee policy adviser to the United Nations secretary-general, said there are “alternative safe pathways” that could inflate the number of fleeing Syrians entering America to 200,000. Possibilities include giving scholarships and extending the ability of Syrian-Americans to sponsor relatives beyond their immediate family members to include aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

In addition, some 8,000 non-refugees from Syria who are already in the United States — both legally and illegally — have been allowed to remain under a program called Temporary Protected Status. The Department of Homeland Security recently renewed that status for another year.

More here.
Temporary Protected Status is a one (of several!) legal immigration programs that need to go! There is nothing temporary about it. Click here for our archive on TPS.
I haven’t said this in awhile, but the next time you hear someone (a politician maybe) say that LEGAL immigration is good but illegal isn’t. Tell them they don’t know what they are talking about because we have some egregious LEGAL programs that need to be scrapped!
BTW, I have just added a new tag that I think will come in handy from now on: ‘where is Congress.’

Obama extends Temporary Protected Status for Somalis, confusion evident in media reports

07/30/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is one more of those LEGAL immigration programs that needs to be completely reformed or dumped altogether. It might sound good on the surface. Of course we can’t send nationals of certain countries home to a devastated country, they should get to stay for 18 months until their country improves is how the logic goes.
However, here is the rub—they never go home! Every 18 months the federal government gives them another extension! Look at wikipedia here where we learn that a 2001 earthquake in El Salvador is responsible for permission for over 100,000 Salvadorans already (illegally? on tourist or student visas?) in the US to file for TPS. Honduras is even worse, ‘temporary’ status has been regularly extended since 1998! Somalia longer still!
Can’t just blame Obama!
Some years ago when Bush did one of those Central American TPS extensions he literally said we need to keep them here so they could prop up their home country’s economy by sending remittance money back home! That means taking money out of the US economy! Right! The Bush Administration surely extended Somali TPS several times.
When Obama extended TPS status for Somalis that is only for a relatively small number who have been here for a very long time. Al Jazeera tells us this:

Some 355,000 people total hold temporary protected status, with El Salvadorians making up more than half of those. The government regularly extends TPS for some nationalities, sometimes for decades. An estimated 270 Somalis have held their TPS designation continuously since 1991.

Somali TPS holders though are a drop in the bucket compared to the nearly 10,000 Somalis entering the US annually through the permanent Refugee Resettlement Program.

By the way, Al Jazerra also tells us that there are 10,000 Syrians in the US eligible for TPS and they are not rushing to make themselves known to the government.
TPS is really an excuse to give work permits and legal permission to stay in the US forever (waiting for amnesty of course!), but it is not supposed to be a path to citizenship (you can bet many TPS holders are voting anyway!). Refugees, on the other hand, who are here to stay no matter what, are given permanent resident status and ultimately citizenship.
See Katie Pavlich writing at Townhall yesterday. She blurs the lines between the two LEGAL immigration programs, but who can blame her, our LEGAL immigration system is a chaotic mess.

Outside of the investor visas, student visas, and worker visas, the three big LEGAL programs that admit (or permit legal presence) are the Refugee Resettlement/Asylum Program, the Diversity Visa Lottery and Temporary Protected Status—all must be reformed or abolished!

So, the next time some candidate for office (or some other know-it-all) says that “illegal immigration is bad, but legal is good,” tell them they don’t know what the hell they are talking about!

Aljazeera article about Temporary Protected Status for Syrians tips us off—thousands of Syrians in US illegally

07/09/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

…..and more appear to be coming!
For new readers, Temporary Protected Status, is basically a sham LEGAL immigration program that is anything but temporary.
The idea behind it is that we would give temporary refugee status to people already in the US for some other reason (tourist or student visa for example) when a calamity befalls their home country. The thinking is that it wouldn’t be humane of us to send them home to a country in chaos either from war or natural disaster. It is supposed to last for 18 months and allows the temporary ‘refugees’ to work, but not collect welfare.
Sounds fine and dandy except there are those with TPS status who are here for decades as the federal government just continues to extend the deadline, and you know darn well many are now collecting welfare and voting! See our post last week about the newest TPS designated country—Nepal.
Syrians were granted TPS status in 2012, but I have laugh when I see they have a rolling deadline of sorts!
Here is Aljazeera on the news that not very many Syrians want to identify themselves to the US government by signing up for TPS.

Some, Aljazeera says, are applying for asylum, but thousands are simply moving around America to avoid detection! Emphasis below is mine:

Nahla11 — Nahla Kayali, who runs Access California Services: They keep a low profile, traveling from city to city and changing their phones. Photo and bio here: http://www.accesscal.org/about-us/founder-executive-director/

The window for Syrians in the United States to apply for a special temporary legal designation closes July 6, but less than half of the estimated 10,000 who qualify have applied so far. Advocates say that disparity reflects fear of the U.S. immigration system and may indicate that more Syrians in the U.S. are applying for asylum instead as the war drags into its fifth year.

[….]

Under the program, Shaguj [star of the story, Osama Shaguj, a 28-year-old data analyst—ed] gets authorization to work and the right to live in the United States, but only for 18 months at a time.

The Department of Homeland Security first ordered that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) be given to Syrian nationals already in the United States in March 2012, and has twice extended the designation for 18 months. To qualify, Syrians must demonstrate they were in the country before the cutoff date — originally March 2012 and now, Jan. 5, 2015.

Anyone who arrived even a day later cannot apply.

Under the latest extension, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, which administers TPS applications, reports that 3,124 Syrians have re-registered and another 1,835 have signed up for the first time. That is fewer than half of the number of Syrians the office estimated (PDF) would qualify.

But many of those people who could have been eligible are now applying for asylum. [This number should be available through the asylum system—ed]

[….]

Undocumented people and TPS holders are not eligible for public benefits, but Kayali [See photo and caption—ed] raises funds from her community specifically for Syrians who may not have connections on which to rely. But, she says many would rather keep a very low profile, changing their phone numbers frequently and traveling to different cities.

[….]

In practice, Syrians are finding ways to relocate outside of the refugee system, though they can still apply for asylum if they qualify when they reach a new country. This can mean flying to Europe, crossing the Mediterranean, or settling for temporary solutions like those who hold TPS in the United States.

Read it all by clicking here.
So it sounds like that of an estimated 10,000 Syrians in America now, as many as 5,000 could be under the radar somewhere in America.

Add one more to the list of countries whose nationals can stay in the US forever—Nepal

07/03/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The Temporary Protected Status (TPS) category, a legal immigration program, is anything but temporary. The Obama Administration has just added Nepal to its list of countries whose citizens can stay as temporary refugees, work (and probably vote!) here forever because the temporary designation is simply extended every time it expires.

I say this repeatedly, but when your friends (or your Member of Congress) says legal immigration is good, remember TPS and know that they don’t know what they are talking about.

“Temporary” refugees from Nepal will send US dollars back to rebuild the country after the April earthquake. Photo: http://time.com/3928685/nepal-earthquake-recovery-donors-food-rice/

The gist of it is that we would be considered bad people if we sent nationals back to their home country in the middle of a crisis, but the problem is that ten years or more after the crisis is long over, we simply extend their stay as they wait for the Obama/Republican amnesty. The temporary designation is a sham!
From NBC News:

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has granted Nepal Temporary Protected Status (TPS) under the Immigration and Nationality Act following the devastation of the massive 7.8-magnitude earthquake of April 25 and subsequent earthquakes and aftershocks which are estimated to have killed over 5,200 people, injured more than 12,500 people, and displaced approximately 2.8 million people.

This designation will allow approximately 10,000 to 25,000 Nepali nationals currently in the United States to stay and to work until December 2016, even if their visas expire, without threat of being detained or deported.

They will be permitted to send money out of the country (called remittances) which is a drain on OUR economy! In 2012, $123,273,000,000 left the US via remittances to the third world. The next time you see one of those studies being promoted by the likes of ‘Welcoming America’ about how immigrants boost the local economy, ask if they included remittances leaving America in their study!

In addition to safety concerns, being authorized to work in the United States will allow Nepali nationals to work and send money back to Nepal to help the country rebuild.

Other countries which have been granted TPS in the past due to ongoing armed conflict, environmental disasters, and other extraordinary conditions include Haiti, Honduras, El Salvador, and Syria.

More at NBC here.
By the way, I heard recently that there are up to 25,000 Syrians in the US eligible to stay under TPS.

For a laugh, check this out: Hondurans were given TPS in 1999! Salvadorans in 2001 and Haitians in 2011. So much for TEMPORARY!

There is an application in for Yemen too!

‘Arab’ human rights group wants Yemen to be designated a Temporary Protected Status country

03/06/2015 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Our many new readers might not know about another LEGAL immigration program that is a sham.

Called Temporary Protected Status, it is anything but temporary. The program basically works like this: big event, like a natural disaster or war, happens in a country, US then says anyone already in the US from that country doesn’t have to go home. They can be here on a Visa or for some other reason (illegally?) and they then can apply for TPS and virtually never go home!

They can work, get drivers licenses, do anything a legal citizen can do except vote (and they are probably doing that too!).

LOL! And, right now all of those holders of TPS status are waiting for the Obama amnesty!

The group should more accurately be called: Arab Human Rights Council

So is it any surprise that a newly-formed Arab group—that calls itself AHRC (American Human Rights Council***), where surely the ‘A’ in reality stands for Arab—has asked the Obama Administration to designate Yemen as a TPS country!

Check out the list of TPS countries right now. The designation usually lasts for 18 months and then is just simply renewed, time and time again! Honduras has been on there since 1999, El Salvador 2001, and one of the most recent additions is Syria!

From the Arab Daily News:

(Dearborn, MI) March 4, 2015 – The American Human Rights Council (AHRC) urges the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), namely DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, to designate Yemen for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). In accordance with 8 U.S.C. § 1254a, the Secretary of Homeland Security may designate a foreign country for TPS due to conditions in the country that temporarily prevent the country’s nationals from returning safely, such as an ongoing armed conflict.

[….]

“The reality in Yemen is truly tragic and our Yemeni brothers sisters deserve better. Given the dire situation in Yemen, and generosity of this country with foreigners from countries facing turmoil, it would be inhumane to remove Yemeni nationals from the US to Yemen. We urge Secretary Johnson to designate Yemen for TPS and urge our fellow human rights organizations to advocate for the designation as well,” said Imad Hamad, AHRC executive director.

There is more gobbledegook, here.

*** Be sure to click on that link and you will see exactly who these ‘American’ human rights advocates are!

To learn more about Temporary Protected Status, click here and see our many previous posts on the topic.