Tag: USCRI

Akron, Ohio developer wants tax credits to build apartment building for refugees

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

What!  Has Akron run out of American needy people?

This is a story from last week (thanks to ‘Pungentpeppers’) that I am just getting around to posting.

Money! Money! Your money!  Everyone is getting in on the taxpayer-funded action!

From Ohio.com:

Local developer Joel Testa, whose company recently opened an apartment building catering to the homeless and veterans, hopes to serve another population in Akron’s North Hill: refugees.

Testa is proposing a 50-unit townhouse development that would be built across from Summa St. Thomas Hospital, which has been providing primary health care since the hospital’s emergency room closed, including to the refugees in the area.

Akron Councilman Hurley apparently approves—says refugees won’t have to walk far (for their medical care?). Photo: http://www.akroncitycouncil.org/Find_your_Councilperson/entry/James_Hurley/

[….]

Councilman Jim Hurley, who represents Ward 2 that includes North Hill, said the location of the housing is ideal to cater to the refugees in the area, many who walk wherever they need to go.

“They would not have to walk far,” he said.

Testa said the development will be aimed at low-to moderate-income people, with the aim of partnering with local agencies that can help acclimate them to the community so they “earn enough so that they have to move out.” He said the rent for the townhouses would range from $590 to $775 a month.

The developer wants to tap into the International Institute’s ‘resources’ which is also mostly money from taxpayers (I presume they would pay rent to use the community space for classes etc.):

Testa said he also is seeking support for the project from the International Institute, which is located in North Hill and provides many services to refugees. The institute’s board will vote on his request this month.

“Our goal is to have the International Institute provide classes and training out of our community space,” Testa said.

Very long-time readers may remember that Akron’s International Institute got into some trouble way back in 2008 for placing refugees in slum apartments (a common practice, btw, and one of the first things we noticed where I live in 2007).   Here is our post on the slum apartment issue in Akron.

The International Institute of Akron (which brings 500 refugees a year to Akron, a preferred community) is an “affiliate” of the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (one of the big nine contractors funded by the federal government to resettle refugees***).  USCRI is 99% funded by you.

See the International Institute of Akron’s most recent Form 990.  On page 9 we learn that they took in $2.5 million (I am rounding the numbers) in that most recent year.  $1.7 million is from government grants, another almost $500,000 was income from translation services and immigrant counseling (probably paid by other government agencies to the II).  What is that, roughly 88% funded with tax dollars?  On page 10 we learned that they paid out more than a $1 million in salaries/benefits/payroll etc.

So if Akron doesn’t have enough housing for all of its poor people and refugees, maybe a plan could be to reduce the number of refugees being resettled there?  Just saying!

*** For all of our new readers, here are the nine big federal refugee contractors:

 

St. Louis: Bosnian refugees arrested for conspiring to help ISIS

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

So it isn’t just our Somali refugees thumbing their noses at the country that gave them a home, now it’s Bosnians in Missouri, Illinois and New York.

Before we report the news, just a reminder that it was the Clinton Administration that admitted tens of thousands of Bosnian Muslims to the US in the wake of his phony-baloney war.   Many initially went to Iowa to work for Clinton’s pals in the meat packing industry including Tyson Foods!   We learned about the Clinton gift of cheap labor to BIG MEAT here (in an agricultural publication) in 2008.

As Clinton’s Bosnians make the news…refugee contractor Lavinia Limon as she appeared in 1996 when she oversaw the resettlement of tens of thousands of Bosnian Muslims to the US.

Here is the Washington Times on the news that broke yesterday (hat tip: ‘Pungentpeppers’):

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Six Bosnian immigrants have been accused of sending money and equipment to terrorists oversees, including fighters with the Islamic State group and al-Qaida in Iraq, the U.S. attorney’s office announced Friday.

An indictment unsealed Friday in St. Louis said the defendants donated money themselves and in some cases collected funds from others in the U.S. and sent the donations overseas. It says two of the defendants used some of the money to buy U.S. military uniforms, firearms accessories, tactical gear and other equipment, which was shipped to people in Turkey and Saudi Arabia who forwarded the supplies to terrorists.

The supplies and money eventually made their way to fighters in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere, according to the indictment. Money also was sent to support family members of people fighting in Iraq and elsewhere, the indictment says. All of the defendants knew where the money and supplies were going, the indictment says.

The indictment alleges the conspiracy began no later than May 2013 and that the defendants used email, phones and social media websites including Facebook to communicate using coded words, such as “brothers,” ”lions” and “Bosnian brothers.”

All six people who are charged are natives of Bosnia who were living in the U.S. legally. Three are naturalized citizens; the other three had either refugee or legal resident status, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.  [By the way, when I began writing this blog more than 7 years ago, that ‘r’ word would never be mentioned, they would only be immigrants if even that word was used, times are changing!—ed]

The indictment names Ramiz Zijad Hodzic, 40, his wife, Sedina Unkic Hodzic, 35, and Armin Harcevic, 37, all of St. Louis County; Nihad Rosic, 26 of Utica, New York; Mediha Medy Salkicevic, 34, of Schiller Park, Illinois; and Jasminka Ramic, 42 of Rockford, Illinois.  [Utica is the UN-designated Town that Loves Refugees—ed]

All face charges of conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists and with providing material support to terrorists. Rosic and Ramiz Hodzic are also charged with conspiring to kill and maim people in a foreign country.

More on how St. Louis has become the largest Bosnian community outside of Bosnia itself!

The International Institute helped make it happen.  That is the same refugee contractor that recently made a vow to create in St. Louis the largest ethnic diversified city in the nation by 2020.  We told you about that here.

From St. Louis Bosnian:

According to the International Institute of St. Louis, which sponsored the largest early wave of immigrants, about 50,000 people of Bosnian descent – either immigrants or their American-born children – have settled in the St. Louis area.

About the photo and just a little tying-up of loose ends:

The International Institute is a subcontractor of one of the big nine federal refugee contractors—US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI)—which is 99% funded by you, the US taxpayer.  Its CEO is Lavinia Limon who (surprise!) headed up Bill Clinton’s federal Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) during the big Bosnian flow into the US.   Her former VP at USCRI, Eskinder Negash, has, until his recent resignation, headed the ORR!—-a demonstration of the federal contractor revolving door at its finest!

We have a very large archive growing on St. Louis, click here to learn more.

St. Louis refugee contractor wants to help make the area the fastest growing immigrant community in America by 2020

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

To further that goal they recently purchased a closed Catholic School (bye-bye Catholics) and are converting one room into a Muslim prayer room!

Readers, the International Institute of St. Louis is a subcontractor of one of the big nine*** federal refugee contractors—US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI).  USCRI is 99% funded with taxpayer dollars.  More on the International Institute’s finances after this news.

Anna Crosslin, president and CEO of the Institute: Formerly we had no place for all of our clients to pray! Where is the ACLU? http://www.iismo.org/aboutus.html

More cultural clashes coming to Missouri?  Have we so quickly forgotten the recent Bosnian murder? African Americans don’t take kindly to refugees, who are getting a lot of government help, moving in to their communities!

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

In the shuttered St. Elizabeth Academy just east of Tower Grove Park, the tiny room with the small window used to be a bathroom, but it will now serve as a prayer room for Muslims.

The room has been emptied, the only addition a bar along one wall to hang prayer rugs.

It’s one small, but important addition to what is being prepped as the new home for the International Institute of St. Louis, which has helped more than 20,000 refugees legally resettle into the area by offering English classes and assistance in finding housing and jobs.

At its current location on South Grand Boulevard, the Institute has no designated place for Muslims to pray.

“I’d walk out and see men near the elevator or stairwell, in a corner with a piece of cardboard down, praying,” said Anna Crosslin, president and CEO of the Institute, which has been in operation since 1919.

Adding the prayer room points to the ongoing challenges to serve refugees from more than 75 countries, coming to St. Louis with various customs, languages and beliefs. Since moving into its current facility in 1999, the Institute has more than doubled the number of people it serves, to about 7,500 a year.

“We feel we need to be above 12,000, and there is no way we can do that now,” Crosslin said.

The Institute also plans to enhance career development and job training opportunities. The efforts are part of the region’s goal to be the fastest-growing metropolitan area for immigrants by 2020.

[….]

When I arrived in September 1978, we served about 1,200 annually, primarily through our (English as a second language) classes,” Crosslin said. “There was no formal refugee resettlement program in Missouri — that happened in winter 1978-79.”

[….]

With immigration reform efforts nationwide and the St. Louis Mosaic Project initiative locally, Crosslin expects the number of clients served each year to reach 12,500 by November 2019, the Institute’s 100th anniversary.

If she is right, this will be an enormous jump in numbers for St. Louis.  The whole state of Missouri “welcomed” just about 12,000 refugees since 2004.  2,564 of those were Somalis, btw.  Most went to St. Louis and Kansas City, some were spread around the whole state.

So, if you are wondering where all their “refugee” clients will come from, these won’t all be refugees “served” by the Institute helping them find housing and get jobs—all of these contractors are getting geared-up to get federal bucks to “serve” the new Obama amnesty recipients.

There is much more, here at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

When you read the Institute’s about page, note that they brag about doing free job counseling and training.  It isn’t free!  Taxpayers pay for this special help for immigrants and refugees. 

Follow the money!

Here is the Institute’s most recent Form 990.

On page nine, we learn that the Institute that year (2012) took in about $5 million (rounded number) and $3.9 million came from government grants (78%).  Interesting to see that they took in nearly a half a million for translation services.  Remember I have been telling you all about the growing cost to “welcoming” communities for translation services for immigrants who run into any problems in schools, healthcare facilities, housing agencies and the criminal justice system.  Costs of hiring translators falls on the local taxpayer and guess who is supplying the translators—looks like the same agency being paid to bring ’em in!

Crosslin herself isn’t a big dipper—she gets under $150,000 in compensation (nothing like the salaries of some of the biggies), but there is one line that interested me (I wish I had an accountant handy to explain!).  They paid out $2.1 million in compensation to “disqualified persons.” (page 10, line 6). What is that?

Here is our complete archive on St. Louis, note the number of crimes either perpetrated by immigrants, or those (more often) perpetrated against refugees and immigrants.

*** For new readers, these are the big nine federal contractors.  There are 350 subcontractors under them working in 180 cities in the US.

 

Idaho: Magic Valley refugees don’t have Ebola says resettlement contractor

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Snake River Gorge Idaho (http://www.strengthinperspective.com/Pictures-USA/Idaho-23/MagicValley.html)

 

OK? Has there been an Ebola scare in Idaho I missed?

Is the purpose of this news story (based on a press release from a resettlement contractor) the result of a real problem of “hostility” toward refugees in the Twin Falls, Idaho area, or was it meant to head any “hostility” off-at-the-pass before anyone gets an idea to be hostile?

Could there be a ‘pocket of resistance’ forming in Idaho?

Whatever happened to Idaho’s Uzbek refugee alleged terrorist?

The story at KMVT (Fox 14, Sun Valley) caught my attention this morning and led me down a winding trail of trying to figure out exactly why there is a refugee contractor with the name—College of Southern Idaho Refugee Center (CSIRC or P for Program).  Why is a college involved in this?

I haven’t written much about Idaho over the years, but here is our archive of what we have.

I see they did have the arrest of that Uzbek refugee alleged terrorist there in 2013, but whatever happened to the case?

So let’s have a look at CSIRP.  But first here is the news:

Twin Falls, Idaho ( KMVT-TV / KSVT-TV ) – The South Central Public Health District and the College of Southern Idaho Refugee Center Director are speaking out after concerns have been raised over refugees arriving from West Africa.

In a news release, Logan Hudson with the Health District and Ron Black with CSI said, “Refugees come to the Magic Valley area in search of a new life, but right now some are being met with hostility and concern due to stigma from the Ebola outbreaks in West Africa.”

“None of our refugees are from West Africa; they are no more likely to have Ebola than anyone else living in this area. Every refugee goes through several rigorous medical screenings before they can enter into the United States,” said Ron Black, College of Southern Idaho (CSI) Refugee Center Director. “The medical screening and waiting period they go through is longer and more intense than any protocol used for ordinary travelers. Plus, most CSI refugees arrived years before the Ebola outbreak.”

Ron Black, Director of resettlement in Twin Falls: Some refugees are being met with hostility.

Stigma is happening in the Magic Valley due to several factors including myths and fears of the disease, gossip that helps spread the fear, and a lack of knowledge about how Ebola is actually spread.

[….]

This is a daunting time for everyone, especially our refugees. We ask that the community show empathy and most importantly remember that no one in this area, let alone the state of Idaho, has been diagnosed with Ebola.” said Ron Black, CSI Refugee Center Director.

Idaho is a Wilson-Fish state.

That means that the refugee program there is being run jointly between the feds and their quasi-government contractors with little state government control or oversight.  Learn more about Wilson-Fish here.

The College of Southern Idaho Refugee Center is a subcontractor of the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants  (one of the big nine) and apparently doesn’t have a separate tax Form 990 (that I can find), so it’s hard to figure out exactly how big they are and how much of your tax dollars are flowing through it.   See their history here.

The CSIRP has brought 2,500 refugees to Magic Valley providing workers to local businesses and bringing your federal tax dollars for their social services (aka welfare):

Since it’s inception, the CSIRP has resettled more than 2500 refugees from a variety of different continents; providing local businesses with a steady source of entry level workers. The Program has also brought more than $3 million of federal money and benefits back to the Magic Valley that have been used to purchase goods and services from local merchants.

Check out all the nationalities of refugees resettled in Southern Idaho in the last 20 years:

1993 to 2011

Kosovar
Bosnian
Croat
Serbian
Iranian
Iraqi
Burmese
Russian
Vietnamese
Burundi
Mesketian Turks
Eritreans
Bhutanese

2012 to Current

Afghani
Congolese
Sudanese
Iranian
Iraqi
Bhutanese
Burmese
Eritreans

 

I recommend if you are a reader from Idaho that you explore their website and also the Idaho Office for Refugees (NOT a state agency) which along with the federal government calls the shots in Idaho.

P.S. If anyone sees news stories about real hostility to refugees over Ebola, please send links to this blog post!

Taxpayers fund savings accounts for refugees

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

How do refugees get money for cars, houses, education, businesses?

The program is known as Individual Development Accounts through the Office of Refugee Resettlement (HHS).

Albert Mbanfu, Director of the International Center in Bowling Green, Kentucky. http://www.bgdailynews.com/new-international-center-director/image_02fb9de4-89e7-5d6d-97e8-6cf648b73901.html?mode=jqm

This is one of the many ways your local refugee resettlement contractor is able to hand out government (your) cash to refugees and surely get a little cash for themselves for administering the program.  (There are also micro-enterprise loan programs especially for refugees as well).

The local contractor gets a grant from ORR and then refugees may sign up for the savings plan.

For every dollar they save toward certain savings goals, they are matched with a dollar from the US Treasury.  Frankly the complete unfairness of the program to American low income people is often responsible for the hard feelings toward some refugees in certain areas.

We have heard disgruntled citizens ask, for example:  how are they getting cars?

We have reported on this program often but the story we mentioned from Kentucky (yesterday) contained a reference to the program that you may not have noticed, so I thought some clarification was needed.

Here is the section of the ‘Refugees get new homes’ Bowling Green article (hat tip: Robin) that I want you to see:

When Me Meh and her family escaped Burma for a refugee camp in Thailand, they lived in a bamboo house without electricity or other amenities.

The family of 10 resettled in Bowling Green in 2009, bringing with them only some clothes and important papers, Meh said. She was 17. Meh’s two older brothers and her father started work while she went to school and her mother took care of their home.

After a couple of years, the three had saved $4,000. She said the International Center gave them a grant that matched their savings, and they were able to put a downpayment on a house.

The reader is left with the impression that this very nice resettlement contractor—the International Center—was being generous, but this is taxpayer money that was only passed-through the contractor’s coffers!

Go here for a recent list of grantees for the multi-million dollar program.  And, for more information you might want to look at page 38-40 of the FY2012 Annual Report to Congress.   While you are visiting the Annual Report, check out all of the other grant programs that refugee contractors can apply for.  You will be amazed!

Addendum:  I was once told by an official involved with the refugee program in Washington that there is no financial audit done of these resettlement contractors.