Unaccompanied Alien Children eating up Health and Human Service's agency budgets

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

You’ve probably all seen this news about the Dept. of Health and Services scrambling to re-direct money from other areas of the agency budget to take care of the largest number of ‘children’ (ever!) entering the US illegally.

train-map — Seems like the Trump Admin. might be able to figure out exactly where the wall needs to be!

I’m posting this so that as we move ahead in the coming days with news on the budget for FY17 and the Continuing Resolution, you have some background understanding of the dilemma the refugee program is in during the waning days of the Obama Administration. The ‘kids’ (who are NOT refugees) are gobbling up limited funds putting their needs in direct competition with the refugees entering the US from all over the world. (In addition to depriving US citizens of other needed programs.)
For new readers, the Office of Refugee Resettlement is an agency at HHS which has been given the duty of taking care of the illegal alien kids.
Here is Jessica Vaughan at the Center for Immigration Studies:

An average of 255 illegal alien youths were taken into the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) every day this month, according to the latest figures the agency provided to Congress. This is the largest number of illegal alien children ever in the care of the federal government. To pay for it, the agency says it will need an additional one or two billion dollars for the next year – above and beyond the $1.2 billion spent in 2016 and proposed for 2017 – depending on how many more arrive. For now, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where ORR resides, is diverting $167 million from other programs to cover the cost of services for these new illegal arrivals through December 9, when the current continuing resolution expires.

An email to congressional staff from Barbara Clark of the HHS legislative liaison office, dated November 28, 2016, stated:

Daily referrals of unaccompanied children averaged 247 over the last seven days, and 255 so far in November. For comparison, referrals averaged 185 per day in November of FY 2016 and 64 per day in November of FY 2015. As of November 27, 2016, the number of children in ORR care is approximately 11,200.

A separate email informed congressional offices of HHS Secretary Burwell’s intent to transfer money from other programs to ORR to pay for shelters, health care, schooling, recreation, and other services for the new illegal arrivals, who typically were brought to the border by smugglers paid by their parents, who often are living in the United States illegally.

Continue reading here and see which programs are being robbed to pay for the ‘kids.’
About the map: I was searching for a graph to show how many ‘kids’ (mostly Central American teenage boys, see here) had come in to the US in the most recent years, but every graph I found only went to 2014. So what is up with that! I figured the map would be a nice addition to the post instead.
By the way, this post is tagged ‘Unaccompanied minors’ because many years ago they were called that and that is how I first tagged the topic.

How many more Ohio States before House Republicans move Rep. Babin's bill?

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

Yesterday, Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) went on Laura Ingraham’s radio program, and Julia Hahn at Breitbart tells us what happened.

Regular readers here know that a freshman representative was the only Member of Congress in 2015 with the foresight and the nerve to introduce legislation to pause the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program when he introduced his bill HR 3314—Resettlement Accountability National Security Act of 2015. (Click here to learn more and see the bill’s 86 co-sponsors)
Is your member of Congress one of the 86 (!) co-sponsors who signed on in 2015. If so, make sure you thank him or her and insist they do more!
Before I get to the interview with Ingraham, know this:
A bill proceeds in Congress with a first step—a committee of jurisdiction holds a hearing. Why did HR 3314 NEVER get a hearing? Because House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte and Immigration subcommittee Chairman Trey Gowdy never gave it one.
Why did they not give it a hearing? Because Speaker Paul Ryan didn’t want a hearing on it! Then he blocked it by pushing a mealy-mouthed bill later.
And, now, as we have had one more terrorist incident involving a refugee, the bill will die with this Congress.
***Update*** More: Ryan silent on latest terror attack, here.

anne-richard-640x480 — Trump test! How soon will Anne Richard go?

Trump’s big test is coming soon, he has the legal authority to pause the program without Congress, so what will Ryan do then (what is he already doing behind the scenes?). So much depends on who Trump puts in place at Health and Human Services (his pick Rep. Tom Price is not a cosponsor of HR 3314, why?). Who will be Secretary of State?
And, then readers, the biggest test of all will be how quickly he and his cabinet heads replace Anne Richard at the Dept. of State (Asst. Sec. of State for Population, Refugees and Migration) and Bob Carey at the Office of Refugee Resettlement (HHS), and with whom they are replaced! We will be watching!
Here is Hahn at Breitbart:

Congressman Brian Babin (R-TX) is calling for a total suspension of the controversial refugee resettlement program following the attack of young Americans at Ohio State University carried out by a Somali refugee.

“Our refugee program has basically become a Trojan Horse,” Babin said in a Thursday radio interview with nationally-syndicated host Laura Ingraham.

“We have to take a step back and reevaluate our asylum policies that are absolutely getting Americans killed for politically correct reasons,” Babin explained, adding that the Ohio State University refugee attack “comes on the heels of another Somali refugee stabbing in Minnesota” that took place in September.

“The threat is growing. It’s time for us to wake up,” Babin added. “We’ve got to look no further than Western Europe to see the results of what happens when you have… unchecked and completely overwhelming refugee numbers.”

Continue reading and be reminded of how the House leadership has thwarted Babin’s efforts.
Trip down memory lane! Laura Ingraham called for a MORATORIUM ON MUSLIM IMMIGRATION years ago, see here.

Grassley and Goodlatte blast Obama Admin on secret Australian 'refugee' deal

11/23/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Got guts! This is a good sign from Congress (a sign perhaps that Trump’s victory is providing some backbone!).

Senator Chuck Grassley and Rep. Bob Goodlatte chairmen of their respective Judiciary Committees have sent a strongly worded letter to the Obama Administration telling them to release to the public information on a secret deal to admit to the US rejected asylum seekers held in Australian offshore detention centers.
We reported the news here and here last week.
Remember readers, these are mostly Muslims (who attempted to break into Australia by boat) who have had their asylum claims rejected—Australia does not want them!

Here is the letter dated yesterday (hat tip: Richard at Blue Ridge Forum):

screenshot-67

Setting precedents!

There are many important concerns in this letter, but one issue in particular caught my eye—the idea of setting a precedent which is something I’ve been hammering for years.
Deals like this are going on elsewhere in the refugee program and it is wrong.
I’ll direct you to the issue of Malta and the FACT that we have been admitting aliens who arrived on the EUROPEAN island of Malta from Libya and other African hellholes (surely undocumented with only their personal stories to rely on!) by transforming them into refugees and placing them in your American towns ever since the Bush Administration.
These are Europe’s illegal aliens and not our concern! (just as this new batch is Australia’s problem).

Congress and the new President can quickly plug this hole (See our 8-year-old Malta archive here), and we must stop these foolish “deals” wherever they are occurring.

Of course, deal implies we get something in exchange, but what we get is never clear!
For new readers, this was point #7 in my ‘Ten Reasons there must be a MORATORIUM’ on refugee resettlement (first published in 2012!).
Our Australia category is here.

Budget battles begin (or maybe not so much), you must still demand DEFUND of RAP

11/14/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

They are back, or just getting back as Congress is in full swing at least for a few days starting tomorrow! See a schedule here for the next few days.
BTW, I see no mention of the legally required hearing that Rep. Trey Gowdy (Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Immigration) is supposed to have had in advance of the fiscal year (before October 1st!) on the US Refugee Admissions Program (RAP) for FY2017.

First, listen to Rep. Brian Babin speaking on a FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform) podcast. (Hat tip: Richard at Blue Ridge Forum)
It is almost 13 minutes long and well worth listening to, but be sure to listen starting around the 1:50 mark where the Congressman says he plans to work hard and diligently to attach his DEFUND the RAP measure on the Continuing Resolution (or final budget plan) which ever they address in the lame duck session.
Readers will remember that he sought to attach language to the CR that is operative at the moment and had 37 members of Congress, including himself, behind the effort. Letter here.

So what is happening now that Donald Trump has shocked the country with his victory and the House and Senate remain in Republican hands?

The Hill is reporting that there may be another CR that would continue funding the government at FY2016 levels into February of next year. This would give the incoming Trump team an opportunity to shape the budget for the remaining months of the year to their liking.
It would also have the benefit of cutting out Obama and the likes of Harry Reid from presiding over a contentious December budget fight.
Unless the Department of State, the Office of Refugee Resettlement, or the VOLAGs have money left over from last year, I am making the assumption that the FY2016 level is not adequate to get Obama’s 110,000 refugees in to the US by September 30th. They could try to do a rush job and bring them in at high levels now, but they will be gambling on whether they will have money in the second half of the year.
[An aside: I hope this is the last year of this shameful inattention to the federal budget and that Congress gets on the stick and completes the Appropriations bills BEFORE the fiscal year begins on October 1. Not finishing the bills is a sign of shoddy leadership in my opinion! See here.]
See the story in The Hill here (note some Republicans are on Obama’s team and want the budget finished in December):

GOP groups are seizing on Donald Trump’s victory in an attempt to avert the long-dreaded spending deal with President Obama in the upcoming lame-duck session of Congress.

Members of the Republican Study Committee are renewing their calls for leadership to hold off on negotiating this year’s spending bill process until after Obama leaves office.

bill-flores-getty-640x480 — RSC chairman Rep Bill Flores of Texas says extending the Continuing Budget Resolution in to February will give the Trump team time to put a mark on the federal budget for the remainder of the 2017 fiscal year.

RSC Chairman Bill Flores of Texas said in an interview that his members are backing a short-term spending bill that goes through Feb. 28. That would give the next Congress and the incoming president about five weeks to approve the budget for 2017, which was initially due in September.

It’s an idea that conservatives, led by groups such as Heritage Action and FreedomWorks, had first floated this summer, long before Trump’s surprise victory on Tuesday.

Calls to kick the appropriations process into next year received a lukewarm reception on Capitol Hill earlier this year, with the prospect of a Democratic-controlled White House and Senate looming.

That calculation has now drastically changed.

[….]

Much of the outcome will depend on Trump, who must quickly decide whether GOP leaders should clear the decks or let him get involved during the precious first 100 days of his presidency.

Your job remains, no matter when they finish the budget, to demand DEFUNDING of the RAP.

Appropriations are policy!

Tell them to defund it until Congress can seriously look at either reforming it or trashing it altogether! See my thoughts on what Trump should do on January 21st.
For all of our many posts on Congress and the budget process see our tag ‘Where is Congress.’

Three Arkansas members of Congress question new resettlement plan for Fayetteville area

11/13/2016 ~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Fayetteville, Arkansas is one of the newest resettlement sites approved by the US State Department to accommodate the large number of refugees that Barack Obama has proposed for FY2017. We previously learned that there are 47 new sites, most chosen in secrecy. Below is the list of those we have heard about so far.***
From Talk Business & Politics:

Canopy Northwest Arkansas received final approval from the State Department on Sept. 30 and is waiting for the assignment of its first refugee family, which could come as early as mid-November.

steve-womack — Real test for Rep. Steve Womack (R) is whether he will support defunding the Refugee Admissions Program when Congress addresses the FY17 budget starting this week! Womack is on the Appropriations Committee: http://womack.house.gov/biography/committees.htm

Canopy partners with the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), one of nine national resettlement agencies that contract with the State Department to run the refugee resettlement program. LIRS is the agency that will assign refugees to Canopy after the refugees go through an extensive screening process, sometimes lasting more than two years. [Learn more about LIRS, here, 95% taxpayer funded!—ed]

Over the course of the coming year, Emily Crane Linn, resettlement director at Canopy, said they expect to settle 20 to 25 families in Northwest Arkansas. [That would likely be over 100 refugees—ed]

[….]

It is the Syrian refugee possibility that caused U.S. Reps. Rick Crawford, R-Jonesboro, Bruce Westerman, R-Hot Springs, and Steve Womack, R-Rogers, to send a letter dated Oct. 24 to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to “express our concern” about the resettlement program. (Link here for a PDF of the letter.)

Sending a letter won’t cut it.

Sending a letter makes constituents feel better, but….
….we know how that turned out when Rep. Trey Gowdy thought that he could slow the flow to then new resettlement site Spartanburg, SC by writing to John Kerry. It did nothing!!!

Defund! Defund! Defund!

Only one thing matters, and if there is a ‘pocket of resistance’ forming in Arkansas you must tell these three members of Congress to work to cut the funding in the upcoming lame duck budget battle!

I see (here) that Arkansas has no members of Congress who have tried to lift a finger to cut the funding so far.
See Conservative Review’s Liberty score card for the Arkansas delegation.
BTW, how many poultry processing plants in Arkansas are hankering for cheap refugee labor?
***Is your city one of the newest targets for resettlement of third worlders?

Asheville, NC

Rutland, VT

Reno, NV

Ithaca, NY

Missoula, MT

Aberdeen, SD (may have been thwarted as a primary resettlement site!)

Charleston, WV

Fayetteville, AR

Blacksburg, VA

Pittsfield, MA

Northhampton, MA

Flint, MI