Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio planning for large refugee influx this year; ID cards for illegals

01/14/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

They believe that Obama’s last proposal, sent to Congress in September 2016, will continue to be operative and that his huge ‘recommendation’ for 110,000 refugees to be admitted this year will be honored by the incoming Trump administration.
Curious to see the last time we admitted more than the astronomical number of 110,000 refugees in one year, I went back to the Office of Refugee Resettlement annual reports and found that we must go back to 1995 (Bill Clinton) to find a year when we brought that many refugees. It was a year that we admitted over 30,000 Cubans, 30,000 Russians and 30,000 Vietnamese.
Just a few days ago I posted a widely read post about this week as National Migration Week at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and how much of your money is going to the USCCB.

The USCCB’s migration fund is 97% funded by you! Their ‘work’ is not funded by Catholic parishioners giving their own private money!

Here is a report from Cincinnati, Ohio about one Migration week, ‘welcoming the stranger,’ event. This is how the progressives do it, they declare a special day or week, hold a public relations event and the press shows up to write glowingly. They are masters at media manipulation (propaganda)! (Emphasis below is mine):

Despite uncertainty and concerns about policies of the incoming Trump administration, programs and agencies helping immigrants and refugees in Greater Cincinnati anticipate more growth in 2017.

The Refugee Resettlement Program of Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio, which helped bring in 330 refugees in 2016, will help 450 this year, said Alisa Berry, the agency’s chief operating officer who oversees the program. It resettled 260 refugees in 2015.

alisa-berry — Wishful thinking on Alisa Berry’s part—Obama’s 110,000 refugee plan for FY17 will continue?

“The federal government keeps asking us to help more people,” Berry said. “Demand for services increases every year.”

She was one of five panelists to participate Thursday in an interfaith immigration insights event at Hebrew Union College. About 150 people attended to listen to updates on programs and perspective on a contentious national issue.

The opposition to legal immigration and assistance for undocumented immigrants and refugees helped Donald Trump defeat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race.

The Thursday event was part of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ National Migration Week and in conjunction with Pope Francis’ World Migrant and Refugee Day, which will be Tuesday.

The United States will accept 110,000 refugees in 2017, a number established by President Barack Obama. Trump has the authority to change the number for 2018. [Trump can change the number in 2017, on day one, will he?—ed]

Refugees arriving in Greater Cincinnati through Catholic Charities are coming from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Bhutan, Syria, Iraq and Myanmar.

Check out what else they are doing through CLINIC (the Catholic Legal Immigration Network), a non-profit organization that depends on millions of your tax dollars too! They are giving ID cards out to those who have no legal identity in the US. Who is paying for this? You?

In January 2015, immigration attorney Allison Herre started as the local Catholic Charities’ agency director of Legal Immigration Services.

[….]

The event also provided an update on the MARCC ID card, issued by the Metropolitan Area Religious Coalition of Cincinnati and manufactured and distributed by Catholic Charities. It is recognized as legal identification by all city departments, including the police.

[….]

Card supporters say the card will improve public safety by providing people who otherwise do not have an ID card – people returning from prison, the homeless, immigrants, especially those living here without legal documentation.

Herre said her agency continues to advise clients to apply for the MARCC card and file for extensions of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Known as DACA, it was created by an Obama executive order in 2012 to provide status to children brought illegally into the country and who have grown up in the United States. It allows them to apply for driver’s licenses and work permits.

See all of the CLINIC offices operating in your communities, here.
Below is a screenshot of one portion of the government grants received by Catholic Charities of Southwestern Ohio (USASpending.gov).

screenshot-141

If all of these Catholic organizations (USCCB, Catholic Charities and CLINIC) operated on truly private charitable giving, then we would have nothing to say about their activities, but it is the fact that they use our money (never report that fact to the public), so they can brag about their Christian charity, that is so offensive to me.

Utah embraces refugees, will LDS church become a federal refugee contractor?

01/13/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

“Even people that live here, they don’t even know they have that many refugees in the state.”

Aden Batar, Catholic Community Services

Right now, most refugees resettled in ‘welcoming’ Utah are placed there through Catholic organizations under the umbrella of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, but the Mormon church is jumping on the bandwagon. So far they haven’t applied to become a refugee contractor (to get direct grants from the federal government), but I have been speculating about the possibility that they are in the learning stage right now working along with Catholic agencies.

Esar Met, listens to proceedings in Judge Judith Atherton's court room, at the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City, Thursday, January 9, 2014. Esar Met is accused of killing 7-year-old Hser Ner Moo, who disappeared on March 31, 2008. — Poster boy for refugee program in Utah! They will never mention the sensational trial of Burmese Muslim refugee, Esar Met, sentenced to life in prison in Salt Lake City in 2014. He brutally raped and murdered a 9-year-old Christian Burmese girl. Met was likely placed in a housing complex with Burmese Christians by one of the Utah’s resettlement agencies. Was it the Catholic agency? National media never reported the story! I’m not going to let it die! https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2014/05/15/utah-burmese-muslim-refugee-sentenced-in-brutal-rapemurder-of-little-girl/

If you missed it yesterday, you might want to read my post about the millions of tax dollars the US Conference of Catholic Bishops receives every year for their charitable (Ha! Ha!) work here.
It doesn’t surprise me that other ‘religious charities’ might want to get on the gravy train! See recent posts on the Mormon church and refugees here.
Here is a the fluffy puffy news from The National Catholic Reporter (the star of the story is a Somali refugee) about how wonderful the refugee program is in Utah.

Aden Batar’s first taste of Utah came more than 20 years ago as a high school student in his native Somalia. An agriculture team from Utah State University had traveled there to work with Somali farmers on their farming techniques. Batar was a promising student then, learning about the snow in Salt Lake City from the ag workers, studying English and planning for law school.

[….]

Now 48, Batar was the first Somali refugee resettled by Catholic Community Services (CCS) of Utah in 1994. The agency has helped to resettle close to 7,000 men, women and children in the state, the majority since 1996. That same year, Batar got a job as a case manager with CCS in part because he could speak Somali.

“Utah is home to more than 60,000 refugees,” said Batar, now the immigration and refugee resettlement director at CCS, which is affiliated with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He credits a partnership between the Catholic church and the Church of Latter Day Saints for much of the immigration work done in the state. “Even people that live here, they don’t even know they have that many refugees in the state.”

[….]

hser-ner-moo-esar-met-facebook — Hser Ner Moo: The medical examiner testified that she died in “excruciating pain” and her mother wonders if coming to America was the right thing to do.

Concerns about terrorism and the prospect of harsher immigration laws under the incoming Donald Trump administration aren’t making the work of CCS and Holy Cross Ministries any easier, but they’ve frankly got too much on their plates right now to worry much about what might happen in the future.

If it’s still a surprise that so many refugees end up in Utah, it may be even more so to learn that they are often the “most difficult to serve,” Batar said. The refugees are usually part of large families, people with medical issues or disabilities, or women who have suffered trauma and are the head of household. Utah is popular not just because housing is inexpensive there, although it is, Batar said.

We can only assume that Utah has run out of American poor people for the LDS church to serve, so they have moved on to importing poverty to the state.
Near the end we hear from Rick Scott, manager of North American humanitarian operations for the LDS Church in America and Canada:

The LDS Church had explored becoming a resettlement agency itself, Scott said, but it currently provides cash, commodities (mattresses, food, hygiene products, etc.), resources, and volunteer assistance to CCS.

Frankly, I think they still are exploring it! But, to break into the monopoly the nine volags (federal contractors) have, an organization wishing to become a direct resettlement agency must prove they have experience with refugees. What better way to get it than to partner with the largest contractor—the US Conference of Catholic Bishops—to learn the ropes.
There is a lot more that might be of interest to Utah residents, go here to read the glowing report about Utah wrapping its arms around refugees.

And we almost missed it! US Conference of Catholic Bishops celebrates its National Migration week

01/11/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update January 12th: Don’t miss Leo Hohmann’s expanded news on the Bishop’s Migration Week, here.
Just now when I was writing about Catholic Charities crowing about the Somali Muslims they are placing in Minnesota, I came across this news. Sheesh! And, I almost missed it. If you are a Catholic you are likely being bombarded this week (January 8th -14th) with propaganda about welcoming the stranger.

Special Event: on “Common ground for the common good” (to mark the concluding day of the World Interfaith Harmony Week (1–7 February 2012), as proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 65/5 (A/RES/65/5)) (organized by the Office of the President of the General Assembly, in cooperation with the NGO Community at the United Nations Bill Canny - Catholic RElief Services — William Canny at the United Nations. Time to tell Catholics you are mostly funded by American taxpayers.

Longtime readers know that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops is one of the nine major federally employed refugee resettlement agencies in the US. Here the Crux tells us the Bishops are the largest of the nine:

Migration and Refugee Services of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is the largest private refugee resettlement agency in the United States and has helped to resettle more than one million refugees since 1975.

Nearly 80 Catholic Charities agencies across the country are involved in refugee resettlement work, helping refugees with housing, legal services, language proficiency, trauma counseling and employment training. [Implying that this is all done with Christian charity!—ed]

If you want to, you can read the rest of the Crux’s glowing report on what the good Bishops are doing on immigration, here.

What is missing from this long story is any mention of the MILLIONS OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS the Bishops receive to do their work!

And, guess what I learned! The Bishops don’t file an IRS Form 990 (no wonder we haven’t been able to find one). That is the tax form that non-profit organizations must file every year which is of vital importance for citizens to understand how their money is used and what salaries are paid.
The Bishops say they are a PRIVATE refugee agency (I say they are a quasi-government agency), but then use the religious exemption to avoid reporting to the IRS!

screenshot-134 — Why do you think their office is in Washington? Maybe they need to stay close to keep the pressure on Congress to keep their funds flowing!

Because we can’t get a Form 990, we have had to rely on the USCCB Migration and Refugee Service’s annual report, but unfortunately the most recent one available (that I can find) is for 2014. But, you get the gist of it—they get millions from you. And, frankly, if they would be honest with the public and their parishioners about these vast amounts of government funding, I will shut up about it.
Here is the breakdown of their income for 2014:

screenshot-136 — Federal grants is your money. But, so is the ‘travel loan.’ Makes them 97% funded by you!

Now just to impress upon you how much money the Bishops are getting from the US treasury, here (below) is a screenshot of one small portion of the list of grants and contracts they have gotten in recent years at USASpending.gov.
In the last few years the total is over $200 MILLION in grants, subgrants and contracts. And, that is just what went directly to the Bishops (when doing your own search, spell out United States Conference of Catholic Bishops).
It doesn’t include government grants and contracts for individual dioceses. You will have to look those up separately and find more pots of money.

screenshot-137 — This is just a section of one page at USASpending.gov!

So come on Bishops! Fess-up! Tell your loyal Catholic flock that this Migration and Refugee Services isn’t being funded by them, through their Christian charitable giving, but by the taxpayers of America!
And, it begs the question, when it comes down to taking moral stands on controversial social issues, will the USCCB choose government funding if it comes down to a choice between a moral stand or millions of free bucks?

Unaccompanied refugee minors program, small but could grow

12/20/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Two days ago we reported that Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) had introduced a bill in the waning days of the Congress to admit 25,000 Syrian ‘orphans’ to the US.
So I found this story interesting and something you should know about. We do have a program for ‘unaccompanied refugee minors’ not to be confused with the ‘unaccompanied alien children’ flooding across our southern border at the moment (and for the last few years). The refugee minors program is for children who are deemed refugees (not the phony asylum seekers from Central America). Although I think the reporter in the story at US News has the efforts confused.
Or, is it possible that the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement really has no authority to pay out over a billion dollars a year for those illegal alien children and is doing it under this one?

unaccompanied-minors-graphic — I don’t know if these formal refugee minors programs are also taking care of the tens of thousands of unaccompanied alien children (who are not legitimate refugees!). If your state has a program, you might add this to your investigative work. How many of the refugee ‘children’ are being cared for in your state? Are they all legitimate refugees? Does the program cost state and local taxpayers anything? When they become 18, what happens to them?

This news says they (resettlement agency reps) can find very few truly ‘unaccompanied’ children from Syria (although they are looking!) because most, if separated, quickly find parents or family members who take them in. This makes me wonder why Rep. Honda felt there was a need to bring in 25,000 orphaned Syrian children on a “temporary” basis.
From US News:

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, or LIRS, and eight other refugee resettlement groups have worked with the federal government to resettle roughly 17,000 Syrian refugees, including many children within family units, since the conflict broke out in the country in 2011. But of those, the State Department says only one has been a minor without a parent or guardian to care for him or her. Out of privacy concerns, they could give no details about the minor.

The U.S. has the capacity to accept more orphans from the war-ravaged country, Haynes and other experts say. It’s just that for now – as jarring as it might sound while Aleppo’s trapped children plead for help – there aren’t many Syrian minors who qualify for this particular form of assistance.

The Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Program in the United States is the only formal program in the world that is specifically designed to bring unaccompanied refugee children into a unique domestic foster care system, says Haynes. Since its founding after the Vietnam War, the program has accepted about 13,000 minors. It’s a relatively small program, admitting about 200 children last year.

The system gives refugees access to all the support available in the regular foster care system, but also provides additional assistance for things like language training and mental health services. It’s a federally funded program, and like all refugee resettlement services, can be changed or terminated at the whim of the president.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service monopolize this federal grant program.

Children can come into the program a range of ways. They’re frequently referred by United Nations refugee agency partners based in other countries. In other scenarios, they’ve crossed the southern border and are classified as victims of trafficking or asylum seekers. LIRS works with another group, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, to place the children. The program prioritizes family reunification, meaning officials try to place minors with relatives who are able and willing to care for them before putting them in the foster care system.

Now, pay attention to this! Once the ‘unaccompanied’ refugee reaches the age of 18, he she doesn’t leave, but can apply for family members to come to America!

Ensuring that minors are truly unaccompanied takes time, she says. And once they qualify and arrive in the U.S., they can’t apply for any family member to join them in the U.S. until after they are 18.

Continue reading here.

Fun to watch the Left eat its own: ACLU sues Catholic Charities

12/02/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Why? Because Catholic Charities, which you all know collects millions of taxpayer dollars to resettle refugees and ‘take care of’ the Unaccompanied Alien Children flooding our borders, won’t offer abortion services to the kids.
If I understand this news correctly, the ACLU has claimed they have “standing” because they represent taxpayers! And, this judge has agreed!

Magistrate Judge, Laurel Beeler, Northern District of California Photo by Jason Doiy 5/20/2013 061-2013 — Magistrate Judge, Laurel Beeler, Northern District of California: Taxpayers represented by the ACLU have standing.

The Catholic Bishops and Catholic Charities have been between this rock and a hard place before, but so far their connection to the federal teat has not been severed.
Catholics could face choice: federal bucks or religious principles, hmmmmm!
From Life News:

A California judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit this week that challenges federal funding of Catholic Charities because they refuse to provide young refugees and immigrants with abortions or birth control.

Courthouse News reports the American Civil Liberties Union sued the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) this summer to stop them from giving federal funding to Catholic organizations that do not promote abortions or birth control.

The federal government filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on grounds that the ACLU did not have standing to sue, but U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler denied the government’s motion on Tuesday and allowed the lawsuit to continue, according to the report.

“Congress mandated that the agency provide care to unaccompanied minors, and it authorized disbursements to provide that care,” Beeler wrote. “Because [HHS, through the Office of Refugee Resettlement] makes grants under that statutory mandate, the ACLU – through its taxpayer members – has standing.”

[….]

The ACLU argues that the government should not give money to the Catholic aid programs because the programs do not refer or provide abortions or birth control to young, unaccompanied minor refugees and immigrants like Rosa, the New York Times reports. In the lawsuit, it argues that the agencies are legally required to provide access to contraception and abortion because they receive government funding.

I wonder does the ACLU fully understand how far left the Catholic Church is in America on the issue of immigration and open borders?
Or, does the ACLU figure they can have it all—banking on the Catholic agencies caving in on their religious principles and choosing the federal money as a first priority?
One more thing! Whose money is Catholic Charities using to defend itself?