Memory lane: Yes, Virginia, US refugees commit crimes

05/22/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

“They went through terror themselves, so I couldn’t imagine them inflicting that on anyone else.”

(Barbara Smith, former Catholic Refugee Agency employee, told the court)

Again and again, I hear from citizen activists who tell me that their local refugee advocates/contractors or interfaith groups are spreading the tall tale that refugees admitted to the US have no record of committing crimes. I know it is preposterous, but they continue to spread the lie.
To give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe they really don’t know the truth because in fact the mainstream media has gone out of its way to not report refugee crimes on a national level. Yes, local TV and print media do report the crimes, but rarely have these stories made it to even the cable networks.
So, because there is no central clearing house of refugee crimes/terror arrests etc., I’ll try to re-cap some cases every few days. You might also want to visit my ‘Crimes’ category to do some research yourselves, but I warn you it is huge!

Today, let’s go over the story of the 2009 Roanoke kidnapping plot thwarted by the quick-thinking would-be victim.

I’m especially interested in this story today because the perps should have finished their prison sentences some time ago and I wonder if they have been deported as was originally announced they would be. (See my previous post on deportations to Africa)
Thank goodness I snipped a lot of the 2009 story about the Roanoke kidnapping because the original link is now dead. For details on what the Roanoke REFUGEES plotted to do, see the FBI press release here (May 8, 2009).
My post from November 3, 2009:

Yesterday a judge in Roanoke, Virginia sentenced four former refugees to short prison sentences and deportation when they are released from prison in the attempted kidnapping case that shocked rural Virginia.

From the Roanoke Times (link is now dead):

The plot was bizarre, carefully planned and amateurishly executed: To make money in America, three young men from refugee families set out to find a wealthy woman, abduct her from her home and hold her for ransom.

Now an Obama-appointed District Judge, Judge Michael Urbanski, noting their refugee status, called the case “sad” here: https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/2009/05/18/refugees-arrested-in-roanoke-va-for-plot-to-kidnap-women-for-ransom/

It all unraveled as soon as Audrey Levicki answered the door to her Southwest Roanoke County home.

Suspicious that the two men were not the Red Cross volunteers they claimed to be, Levicki braced the door with her foot and then slammed it shut on the arm of the one who tried to reach inside.

The two men ran off, despite months of planning and a getaway car waiting at the end of the driveway with rope, handcuffs and other tools of a kidnapping. The duo was quickly arrested along with two accomplices, setting in motion a series of unintended consequences that culminated Monday at a sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court in Roanoke.

Levicki, whose intended fate was to be held in a rundown camper until her captors could collect up to $1 million from her corporate executive husband, said that she is now a prisoner in her own home.

“My life went to hell on April 6,” Levicki said in a statement to Judge James Turk, recounting how the incident led to fearful days, sleepless nights and a loss of security so profound that she no longer ventures outside to feed the dog unless armed with a baseball bat.

For the three African natives who tried to kidnap Levicki — Luke Musa Elbino, 20; Mohammed Hussein Guhad, 20; and Joshua Kasongo, 19 — the consequences went beyond the five-and-a-half-year prison terms they received at the end of a daylong hearing.

Once they are released from prison, the three face almost certain deportation back to Somalia, Sudan and Rwanda — countries their families fled when they were boys to escape civil war and genocide.

Then here is the ultimate in liberal do-gooder hubris:

“They went through terror themselves, so I couldn’t imagine them inflicting that on anyone else,” Barbara Smith, the retired head of the nonprofit Refugee and Immigration Services* office in Roanoke, said while testifying for the defendants.

People like Smith assume that when the US shows kindness, the kindness will be returned. She can’t believe that young men plucked from the hell hole of Africa could bite the hand that feeds them.

Go here for more of that November 2009 post.
So there we go, refugee criminals (it is a good thing they were really dumb!). Where are they today? Back in Africa or walking the streets of Anytown, USA?
Recommendation for citizens in ‘pockets of resistance:’ consider, as one of our readers did, making a poster or handout with refugee crime/terrorist cases. Pick maybe the top ten you find on these pages or elsewhere and have it handy to distribute.

Iraqi refugees arrested in Virginia for lying on their refugee admission applications

03/30/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

They lied more than once!

The first whopper was a lie of omission. They failed to mention that their brother was a terrorist. And, at least one of them made up his “persecution” story to justify his admission to the US as a refugee.

Hasan admitted to making false statements and creating his persecution story.

If the story sounds familiar, lying on ones refugee application is what caught the two Iraqi refugee terrorists in Kentucky now doing life in prison at taxpayers’ expense.
There were a couple of brief stories about this Virginia case in the news over the last few days which I never could find time to get to, but this morning I’m seeing the full Dept. of Justice press release and posting it below in its shocking entirety! (emphasis is mine)

Iraqi Refugees Arrested and Charged With Immigration Fraud

Yousif Al Mashhandani (“Yousif”), 35, of Vienna, Virginia, and Adil Hasan, 38, of Burke, Virginia, who are full biological brothers, were arrested this morning. The third individual charged is Enas Ibrahim, 32, also of Burke, who is the wife of Hasan. Each are charged with attempting to obtain naturalization contrary to law. The defendants will have their initial appearance today in front of Magistrate Judge Ivan D. Davis at 2 p.m. at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia.

Acting Deputy Attorney General and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Dana J. Boente, Assistant Director in Charge Andrew W. Vale of the FBI’s Washington Field and Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Lechleitner of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C., made the announcement.

According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, on Nov. 1, 2004, a U.S. citizen, identified as R.H., was kidnapped and held with other hostages for months in horrible conditions in an underground bunker. After a raid in 2005 freed the hostages, Majid Al Mashhadani (“Majid”), who is a full biological brother of Yousif and Hasan, was detained and admitted his complicity in the kidnapping of R.H.

According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Yousif was admitted into the U.S. as a refugee in 2008.

In May 2013, Yousif resided in Vienna and applied for naturalization as a U.S. citizen. In connection with Yousif’s applications for citizenship, his fingerprints were taken. According to an FBI fingerprint specialist, analysis conducted in November 2013 determined that Yousif’s fingerprints match those found on a document at the underground bunker where forces rescued R.H. and others in Iraq in 2005.

According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Yousif, Hasan and Ibrahim are lawful permanent residents and have applied to naturalize and become U.S. citizens. On various applications and forms throughout their respective immigration processes, each has provided an extensive list of family members and information of their respective family trees; however, none listed any reference to Majid.

According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, on March 4, 2016, FBI agents interviewed Yousif, Hasan and Ibrahim. When FBI agents asked Yousif why he failed to include reference to Majid on the family tree form, Yousif said he omitted reference to Majid because, when he was a refugee, he was told by others applying for refugee status that he would not be allowed into the U.S. if any immediate family members had a criminal background. Hasan admitted to FBI agents that Majid was his brother. Hasan and Ibrahim each admitted they discussed not including Majid’s name on their applications for refugee status because their connection to Majid might delay their ability to gain such status.

According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, to justify his application for refugee status, Yousif reported that in 2006, while working as an anti-corruption investigator for the Iraqi Commission on Public Integrity in Iraq, he started receiving threats from a Shiite militia known as the “Al Mahdi Militia,” in order to coerce Yousif to drop a particular corruption investigation. Yousif said that in May 2006, Hasan was kidnapped by the Al Mahdi Militia, and was released only after Yousif arranged to drop the investigation in question and helped pay a large ransom. Yousif said that after Hasan was released, he reopened the corruption investigation, only to flee to Jordon in October 2006 after his parents’ house was burned down.

According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, to justify his application for refugee status, Hasan provided sworn testimony that, in 2006, he had been kidnapped and tortured by members of the Al Mahdi Army and held for nearly a month. Hasan said he was released upon the payment of a ransom of $20,000. In an interview by FBI agents in April 2016, Hasan said he was threatened in Iraq on two occasions, but made no mention of being kidnapped, held hostage and tortured for nearly a month. In a subsequent interview in October 2016, FBI agents confronted Hasan about the discrepancy in his stories and Hasan admitted to making false statements and creating his persecution story.

A criminal complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court. Each defendant faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison if convicted. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes. If convicted of any offense, the sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes ICE/HSI and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gordon Kromberg and Collen Garcia for the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case.

No mention of deportation???

And, the big question is, how many more refugees (who don’t have a high profile terrorist brother!) have lied on their refugee applications to America?

BTW, Virginia ranks #7 in the nation for the number of Iraqis placed in the state by the US Dept. of State and its contractors. See my next post.

Hillary pal, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, vetoes refugee reporting bill

02/25/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Bills like these are really innocuous. They don’t stop any refugee placement in the state, they simply tell state officials and the public who is in the state. The information would aide local officials in determining school capacity, housing availability and other welfare services that would need to be provided to these legal immigrants.
From CBS:

RICHMOND, Va. (NEWSPLEX) — A bill requiring an annual report on refugees resettled in Virginia has been vetoed.

terry-and-hillary — Governor Terry McAuliffe has a long association with the Clintons. Transparency has never been a top priority for these pols.

Governor Terry McAuliffe vetoed House Bill 2002 on Friday, saying the report would “send a message of exclusion to people looking for the chance to rebuild their lives” and poses a danger to them.

The legislation would have required nonprofit resettlement agencies and local affiliates that provide refugee or other immigrant resettlement services, like the International Rescue Committee, to report information regarding those settled in the Commonwealth.

The state Department of Social Services would then collate and submit a report to the governor’s office and the General Assembly each year.

The report would include information such as the total number of individuals resettled in Virginia by the agency; the locality where the individual was resettled; the individual’s age, gender and nation of origin; and whether the individual was placed through the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program.

More here.
It would be interesting to see if Maryland Republican Governor Larry Hogan would veto a similar bill! Hogan has spoken in favor of more refugees for Maryland.

Virginia does not note refugee status in records on active Tuberculosis cases diagnosed in the state; 44 other states do!

01/06/2017 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

tb-us-surveillance_cases_fb — WTH! Too many people in US STILL have TB! Well, gee, that might be because we keep bringing in new cases!

Michael Patrick Leahy at Breitbart continued his excellent series of investigative reports on the incidence of active TB in the US refugee population with this report from Virginia. Yesterday we told you about two other Leahy articles on TB in refugees earlier this week, see here.
Leahy on this Virginia revelation:

The state of Virginia refuses to track the number of refugees it resettles who are diagnosed with active tuberculosis (TB).

[….]

… the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) does not think it should be a priority to track foreign-born TB cases by category, as do 44 states who have provided the CDC with that data since 2012 (Tennessee became the 45th state to do so in 2014) in its annual Report on Tuberculosis in the United States.

“The Virginia Department of Health does not collect the data you have requested,” a spokesperson for VDH responded when Breitbart asked to know the immigration status upon first entry of the 168 foreign-born residents of Virginia diagnosed with active TB in 2015.

More here.
For more on refugee health see our ‘Health issues’ category by clicking here. And, remember readers, your tax dollars pay for expensive TB medication (if the case is discovered!).
BTW, still have had no one tell me if volunteers, working with resettlement agencies, are trained to spot symptoms or are educated on how to protect themselves and their families from becoming infected with TB when they work with newly arrived refugees.

The kids at William and Mary pushing ahead with refugee resolution

12/04/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

See our earlier post on efforts by students (whose residence is elsewhere) campaigning to get Syrian Muslim (98% of those we are admitting are Muslim) refugees placed in the historic town of Williamsburg, VA.

colonial-williamsburg — Sam and friends: Colonial Williamsburg needs some diversity and Syrian Muslims should do the trick! Got mosque yet?

They held a community forum this past week (30 or so attended according to news reports) and said they planned to push ahead in Williamsburg and around the state with their resolution idea.
This is the latest at The Virginia Gazette (emphasis mine):

There are no Syrian refugees in Williamsburg, but there could be soon. Students at William and Mary want to let refugees know they’re welcome here, if the state sees fit.

Speaking at a forum on Tuesday evening, students said the rationale for passing a resolution through city council is making sure refugees understand that they’ll enter a community that hopes to support them.

A resolution does not guarantee Williamsburg will take in any refugees — the federal government lets non-governmental organizations gauge where refugees might best fit.

Those organizations factor in aspects like the availability of open housing and the presence of an immigrant community. [Remember this last bit, once you have an immigrant seed community started then you are likely to get even more!—ed]

[….]

[Sam] Steed*** said Newport News actually voted to keep its 51 refugees out of the city, but the government placed them there anyway. [Important to note: elected body did not want refugees resettled in Newport News but shoved down their throats anyway!—ed]

“Certainly, a lot of refugees feel unwelcome (in Newport News),” Steed said.

Other places have to make it clear that they will accept Syrian refugees, Steed said. He considers Williamsburg at the start to get similar resolutions passed around the state.

Don’t these young activists read the news?

Yes, we agree that those getting in to the US on student visas do pose a huge security risk, but the Ohio Somali Slasher is a resettled refugee. Even NBC News reported that!

Not only is the process for refugees long, it’s considered one of the most stringent in the world, Vollavanh said. Those coming in on a student visa or work visa have less red tape.

He noted that the Somalian refugee killed at Ohio State on Nov. 28 was in the country on a student visa. [Huh?—ed]

Readers in Virginia who might be concerned that the refugee activists at William and Mary might be checking out your towns in which to push their resolution should see our ‘Tens things your town needs to know before ‘welcoming’ refugees‘ here.
***Learn more about Sam Steed as a lobbyist in Washington for Amnesty International, here.