Tag: US State Department

Comment on FY2015 refugee program to US State Department from Illinois reader

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We assume regular readers have been following our news from the US State Department about how first they cancelled this year’s public opportunity to give testimony (in person) on the “size and scope” of refugee admissions for FY2015, and then they have foolishly kept all written testimony secret by refusing to release it to the public.

Rep Trey Gowdy is a busy guy, but we feel sure he can do more than one thing at a time!

If you sent testimony to the State Department * for the May 29th deadline, please be sure, in addition to sending a copy to your elected representatives, to send it on paper to:

Rep Trey Gowdy, Chairman

House Judiciary Committee

Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security

2138 Rayburn House Office Bldg.

Washington, DC 20515

Tell the Chairman what happened and that you have not been allowed to see the testimony, especially the testimony of the refugee contractors which are almost completely funded with federal tax dollars, and ask him to investigate.

We offered to publish your comments, since the State Department won’t.

Here is John’s excellent testimony from Illinois:

Dear Ms. Spruell,

I am sending this email so that Anne C. Richard, Asst. Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration, US State Department, Washington, DC can read my comment regarding the admission of more refugees. I will be sending the same to some members of the US Senate Judiciary Committee and also to House of Representative Judiciary Committee who are part of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.

First and foremost I am against that more refugees should be admitted. I am speaking from personal experience and will recount what I have personally experienced. I have met many of these so called refugees and they all come here based on some silly reason that they are being persecuted, and they get admitted to the US. We must put an end to this because most of them use the refugees program as a ticket to gaining permanent residency here in the US. Most of them come from cultures that are totally alien to the United States and do not assimilate at all. Their children too do not assimilate and even if they do, they end up assimilating into the gang culture by getting into black or Hispanic gangs. Most of them still keep the ways of their so called oppressive homelands and have no intention of becoming American.

I am not saying that all refugees are bad or that they are all falsely trying to get into the United States. I have met people from European countries that came here as refugees and they are happy to be here and bless this country and its people for welcoming them with open arms. That is because they have values common with America. I have met refugees from African, Asian and Hispanic countries and they do not have any gratitude to America. They are mostly on welfare and curse America especially white Americans. Why does America have to put up with this sort of ingratitude? I think it would be better if countries that are similar in culture to the homeland of these refugees, should take them. For example, if a group of refugees come from Asia, then find an Asian country that has a similar culture as this group. There they will be happy and content in a culture they miss so much and familiar to them. India and Pakistan can take in refugees from Nepal, Burma and Bangladesh. Muslim refugees can go to Saudi Arabia or Kuwait or some other rich Muslim country. Same for a group of Africans and Hispanics, find a country that has similar African or Hispanic culture as these groups. It is simple as that. No matter where people go, they still have their hearts in their homelands and culture. American culture is alien to these people.

I know of one African person in particular who came here on a student visa and then immediately after coming here applied for refugee status. He was very nice and worried that he would not get his refugee application approved. He even claimed that he was in a so called concentration camp where he was made to do forced labor. Now he had not one scar on his body or a healed broken bone to show that he had been forced to do any work and he was healthy as any person I know. He even took that story to his immigration interview and magically he got his application approved in 6 days. After that he started condemning America and Americans especially white Americans claiming that their generosity is all a sham. Really!!! If Americans were all just doing it for a sham, why would we even bother to bring so many of them? Now why do we need these ingrates?

Therefore we need to be careful about who we let into the country. Another good example is the case of the Somalis that come here and then go back to Somalia to be trained as terrorists to destroy Americans and other westerners. We have seen the same case with the Boston Bombers last year. This is clearly a case of biting the hand that feeds them. If we do not learn from these lessons, I am afraid that we are only destroying ourselves. We have no one to blame but ourselves. Blood of innocent Americans killed by refugees will be on the hands of people like you and other politicians that allow these future terrorists to enter the US. We also need to stop the importation of the Hmong, Laotian, Cambodian and Vietnamese refugees into the US. The war ended a long time ago and we need not keep our promise to the Hmong people that if they helped us in the Vietnam War, they could immigrate to the US. That promise expired a long time ago. Those that came when the war ended have somewhat assimilated, but those that are coming in now are not doing so and are joining gangs.

If churches want to bring in people, then they should not be funded by us taxpayer money nor should they be diverting the money taken from the collection plate for refugee programs. They need to come up with their own money and fund and also support these refugees and not allow them to become public charges. The religious organizations and churches should be ashamed that they are misusing Christ’s teachings of charity to bring in people who are not compatible with American society. Moreover, they bring in these refugees to fill in the pews which are unfortunately being abandoned by the Americans.

Therefore I humbly ask that we limit the refugees that come in. We cannot be the welfare state that takes anyone in that claims to be in trouble. There is a shortage of jobs in the United States and Americans are out of work. The refugees together with legal immigrants, work visa workers, and illegals fighting for jobs, Americans who are legally entitled to have a job are being short changed. We need to learn from Australia. Put AMERICANS FIRST! I repeat, it would be good for America and for the refugees to put the refugees in a country that has a similar culture as them, and only let into America people whose culture is similar to ours and who can assimilate. Therefore I say that we almost completely scrap off this program and let in only very limited people who really are being persecuted and who can assimilate and contribute to American society. Not destroy it.

Sincerely,
John

* Even if you didn’t send testimony, tell Rep. Gowdy what you think of the refugee program and ask him to hold hearings!  And, by the way, I learned recently that sending a letter the old fashioned way, on paper, is more attention-getting than sending it electronically.

Springfield, MA: State/city agencies stepping in to help impoverished Somali refugee family

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

How many more like this family across America?

 

The family of twelve was recently removed from their roach infested rental property where the electric bill had gone unpaid as well. MassLive File photo / John Suchocki

 

We recently learned that 63% of Minnesota’s Somalis live below the poverty line and in Oregon the estimate is higher than that (67% ).  I wonder what it is in every state where Somalis have been located?

Come and get it!

Massachusetts (home state of the ‘brains’ behind the refugee program—the now deceased Ted Kennedy) has been a “welcoming” state for refugees, as was the city of Springfield (originally!), so I guess they knew what they were getting in to, but I’m not so sure the taxpayers there were fully aware (until now!).   See Springfield mayor wants moratorium.

From MassLive (emphasis mine):

SPRINGFIELD – A lawyer for the city’s Housing office said Friday that the city remains committed to helping two refugee families that were left homeless two weeks ago when their Union Street apartment was condemned.

The two families, originally from Somalia and consisting of three adults and 12 children, have spent the last two weeks in a Greenfield hotel. Some assistance has been provided to the families by local and state agencies, officials said.

“The city remains committed to assuring that the families are afforded safe and sanitary housing,” said Lisa C. DeSousa, associate city solicitor. “We are looking forward to working with social service agencies that are charged with assisting refugee families in these types of situations.”

[…..]

The school-aged children have been transported daily from the Greenfield hotel to their Springfield schools.

The state Department of Children and Families and state Department of Transitional Assistance are believed to be helping the families.

Maybe it’s time for the cost of saving these impoverished families to fall on the US State Department and the Office of Refugee Resettlement (in Health and Human Services).  Maybe if the cost came out of their federal budget hides, instead of state and local taxpayers’ piggy banks, Congress would begin to pay attention.

I know, I know, it still comes from the taxpayers ultimately, but it’s about sending a message to the one government body that could stop the insanity.

 

US State Department to keep testimony secret! No public record available of recent hearing

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

It is just as we predicted!

Anne C. Richard, Asst. Secretary of State (running scared?): The public will not be permitted to know what refugee contractors recommended for FY2015.

Your testimony went into a black hole at the US State Department which makes it even more important that you get your statement to your US Representatives and US Senators.   Also, complain to your elected officials about the State Department keeping the comments secret.

It really is outrageous that in past years the statements were available to the public if one attended the hearing, but with no public opportunity to comment in person this year, we are not permitted to see what the contractors asked for in their statements!

We just received this e-mail from the State Department:

The Department of State values the input you have provided to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. We also received your request to have access to comments made by other members of the public. We regret that we are unable to fulfill this request, due to privacy considerations. The Federal Register notice did not indicate that comments submitted would be made public.

I guess it is Freedom of Information Act time.

If you would like to see your testimony in print, send it to us.

 

VDARE writer shares testimony on FY2015 refugee admissions

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Editors note:  Daily readers know that the US State Department asks for testimony every year on the “size and scope” of the Refugee Admissions program for the upcoming fiscal year.

In past years in addition to mailing in testimony, the State Department invited members of the public to appear and comment in person.  This year that did not happen and we can only assume the long-established procedure was abandoned as members of the public who had concerns about the program came to outnumber the contractors and their supporters (I joked with one of our friends there two years ago that I bet everyone in the room was there on salary except us!)

This year only mailed-in testimony was accepted.  If you sent testimony and would like it published, please send it to us for our consideration.  And, don’t forget to send it to all of your elected officials!

So that testimony doesn’t disappear into a black hole, write to Delicia Spruell (spruellda@state.gov) and ask for the entire public record of the consultation/hearing.

Burmese Muslim Esar Met convicted of raping and murdering child in first month in America. Walker: …stupid-generous America offered the problematic, unemployable young man a new home in the First World.

Below is longtime VDARE writer Brenda Walker’s excellent statement.

Walker:  It is neither morally right nor Constitutional for the government to harm Americans so that foreigners may be helped, no matter the initial good intentions.

For that reason, the refugee resettlement program should be shut down as an improvement for the American people.

Here is how the California native begins to build her case:

America is in its sixth year of a jobless “recovery,” yet the State Department continues to import tens of thousands of unskilled refugees from the Third World as if the economy were bubbling along with jobs for all who want them. The entire program seems painfully out of touch with the degree of economic suffering in the country and the effect on our poorest citizens of increasing job competition.

Here in California, the unemployment rate has dropped below 8 percent for the first time in six years as of April, indicating the long difficult struggle to climb back from the recession. Child poverty is running around 22 percent this year, another sign of the state’s poor economic performance. But the State Department resettled 5,173 refugees in California in 2012 when the economy was even more dismal.

Also in 2012, it was reported that the government placed hundreds of lead-poisoning-impaired Burmese refugees in Oakland, a chronically depressed city with too much homegrown crime and poverty. The federal program of dumping poor Third World people with learning disabilities has added to an already crushing burden on the city, and seems altogether a cruel use of government power.

Go to VDARE and read it all.

All posts relating to this year’s hearing are archived here:  Testimony for 5/29/2014 State Dept. meeting.

Travel loans for refugees and the audacity of those money-grubbing Lutherans

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I don’t know whether to roll on the floor laughing my head off or scream when I see brazen fundraising appeals like this one from Linda Hartke (who makes over $200,000 a year as CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service).

Linda Hartke, LIRS CEO, already collecting over $1.5 million a year from refugee travel loans, now wants followers to pony-up with more cashola!

Here is what she said in a recent appeal to followers about travel loans:

Today, refugees from Syria, Burma, the Congo, and other conflict-ridden countries are looking to you … will you please provide welcome and support for people in desperate need with your gift today?

All refugees pay their own travel fees to come to the US. If they are unable to pay, they are extended an interest-free loan and brought to the US on the condition that they agree to repay every dollar spent on their transport.   [So you are probably thinking, great! they repay their taxpayer-funded travel loans—ed]

Fortunately, refugees are not alone — not even in this!

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service compassionately manages the loan repayment of the travel expenses for every refugee we help resettle, so they can thrive. [I am speechless, who the h*** wrote this sentence? Compassionate? Manage the loan?—ed]

As Raghu [the poster child for this fundraising appeal—ed] and his family worked to establish themselves in their new community, they also relied on your support to help them manage the repayment of their travel loans.

So what is my problem, you ask?

The majority of refugees arriving in the US receive a TAXPAYER-FUNDED travel loan—none of them have the thousands and thousands needed for airfare if they are truly impoverished “refugees.”

The contractors, including Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, act as the collection agencies to attempt to wring the cash out of newly arrived refugees and then THEY POCKET 25% OF WHAT THEY COLLECT   (Judy says that using caps means someone is shouting—I am, and in red type too!).   That 25% does not return to the US Treasury! 

So Linda Hartke is trying to raise even more money from supporters claiming they need it to “manage” the loans!  Don’t get me wrong, I am all for private people paying for this, but the over $1.5 million they get of your taxpayer dollars a year is not enough to “manage the loans?”

Don’t believe me, go to this audited financial statement (p.12) for LIRS for 2012 and 2013 and check this out!

LIRS earned $1.7 million in 2013 and $1.6 million in 2012 as “service fees” for collecting those travel loans of your money!  I bet this little “service fee” deal they have with the State Department isn’t even legal!

Page 12 (emphasis is mine):

LIRS acts as an agent for the collection of transportation loans for refugee resettlement through the International Organization for Migration (“IOM”). Collections are remitted to IOM net of servicing fees earned which are 25% of loan collections. Included in servicing fees, LIRS earned fees of $1,763,296 and $1,630,183 as of December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively.

IOM is another federal contractor!

And, by the way, the figures I have been using for LIRS income need to be updated—they have risen significantly according to this same financial audit.

Are you sitting down?

I gave you figures for their finances in 2011, here, and reported that they received $30 million from US and state taxpayers.  Now get this.  This audited financial report tells us the following information for years 2012 and 2013:  In 2012 they got $40.4 million from government grants and in 2013 it jumped to $46.4 million!

Page 6 (be sure to check out the less than $1 million they received from parishes).

2012 income from government: $40,417,752  and total income was $41,757,818 making it 97% that you supplied them via your tax dollars.

2013 income from government: $46,414,735 and total income was $48,393,131 making it 96% from you!

Endnote:  I am not saying that all Lutherans are money-grubbers but these ones sure are!  And, on the travel loans they are not alone.  I haven’t the time to check the numbers, but last I looked the US Conference of Catholic Bishops was raking in over $3 million in this same travel loan kickback scheme.