Approximately 6,000 refugees came to Texas in 2015 and 2016, but Texas never knew the extent of the program. (Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton)
Who is he trying to fool!
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Fox & Friends yesterday that the state never knew the extent of the refugee program in the state. OMG! The State had been paying a refugee coordinator for years and years and no one apparently at the governor’s level ever asked? What incompetence! Or was it? Texas AG Ken Paxton. The real test for Texas comes after January. Will they then sue the feds with a Wilson-Fish states’ rights suit? Or, are they all talk and no action! If we knew that Texas was the number one state in the nation for refugee resettlement (it gained that distinction in 2011), why didn’t Texas leaders know?
By the way, the Texas governor pulled the state outof the program (officially in January the state will be out), but what did they expect was going to happen, that the refugee flow would be cut off? Did no one investigate the Wilson-Fish program and how the feds will step in and simply appoint a non-profit contractor to run the program in the state? This strikes me as sheer incompetence!
They still have a way out, or a possible way out! Once they are designated a Wilson-Fish state we will see if the governor and this Attorney General have the guts to sue the feds as Tennesseeis doing!
From Newsmax:
Texans are “stuck with no control” over the refugees coming into their state, and Attorney General Ken Paxton said Thursday state leaders are concerned the same situation going on in Europe will happen in the United States.
[….]
Texas has sued the federal government to try to stop refugees from being placed in the state, but federal law controls the issue, Paxton said. [Yes, but it was a dumb lawsuit!—ed]
[….]
Earlier this fall, Paxton warned Texas will pull out of the federal refugee-resettlement program in January unless major changes were made. Approximately 6,000 refugees*** came to Texas in 2015 and 2016, but Texas never knew the extent of the program.
Hey, Mr. Paxton, do you need a phone number for the Thomas Moore Law Center, or can you handle finding that yourself?
Paxton also told Fox that they were counting on Donald Trump to save their bacon.
See our complete Texas archive here, and don’t miss Austin mayor working against the state here two days ago. ***He doesn’t even have the numbers correct. Checking Wrapsnet.org we learned that for calendar years 2015 and 2016 (until December 20th), the state of Texas admitted 15,681 refugees.
When governors withdraw their state from the Refugee Admissions Program, that is not the end of it!
When governors withdraw their state from the Refugee Admissions Program, that is not the end of it!
When governors withdraw their state from the Refugee Admissions Program, that is not the end of it!
When governors withdraw their state from the Refugee Admissions Program, that is not the end of it!
When governors withdraw their state from the Refugee Admissions Program, that is not the end of it!
When governors withdraw their state from the Refugee Admissions Program, that is not the end of it!
When governors withdraw their state from the Refugee Admissions Program, that is not the end of it!
What am I doing you ask? An expert on communication once told me that people have to hear the same message seven times before they get it. I want readers to get this point!
Come on Governor LePage—do it! Sue!
Once a governor withdraws his/her state from the UN/US Refugee Admissions Program (RAP), a Constitutionally unsupportable program created out of whole cloth known as the Wilson-Fish program gives the director of the ORR the (supposed) authority to designate a NON-GOVERNMENTAL organization to run the program in the state.
Please visit the Office of Refugee Resettlement website, here, to learn more about it (see a list of all states that are W-F now).
Knowledge is power:
Then, see Michael Patrick Leahy’s (Breitbart) clear description of the history of the law/regulation known as the Wilson-Fish Alternative program by clicking here. (That article, written almost a year ago, is available by googling. Are lawyers for governors withdrawing from the program so incompetent that they can’t find that information?)
As governors withdraw there may be a brief period of disruption to the flow of refugees to the state (the new withdrawals are New Jersey, Kansas, Texas and now Maine), but the resettlement proceeds and services are supplied when a federally-funded non-profit resettlement contractor takes over. Think about it! The federal government and an unelected, unaccountable to any voters, non-profit group will be deciding how to spend local and state taxpayer dollars in this case, Maine! Texas Governor Greg Abbott—do it! Once Texas is designated a W-F state, file the Tenth Amendment case!
I continue to be stunned by how little lawyers for these governors know about the RAP and are apparently in the dark about what they are doing….. Unless of course they do know and by withdrawing they are getting the monkey (you) off their backs, fooling those of you who want it stopped, and thus allowing the program to proceed claiming they can do nothing.
However, they can do something…..
If a governor withdraws, he must follow-up with a state’s rights lawsuit!
The state of Tennessee is proceeding to challenge the Constitutionality of the Wilson-Fish program, see here. The real test for the governors who withdraw is if they will join the lawsuit!
Under present administration of the program, Maine resettlement will continue as the federal government will (illegally we believe) assign a replacement agency to administer it!
Now, here is the AP storyabout what the Governor of Maine has just done and what the feds will do in response (I bet Catholic Charities is chuckling behind closed doors!). Will Governor LePage sue? Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has a mixed record on refugees. Test: Will he join the Tennessee lawsuit?
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) – Refugees will continue entering Maine despite Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s announcement that the state will no longer participate in a federally funded resettlement program.
So far this year, about 607 refugees were resettled in Maine, and more will arrive next year. Over the past decade, the state has worked with Catholic Charities of Maine to settle more than 3,400 refugees.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said its Office of Refugee Resettlement is working to appoint an interim agency that will administer earmarked federal funds, though a timeline is still uncertain.
That agency will likely be Catholic Charities. The federal government will later accept competitive bids for an agency that will take federal funds directly for refugee resettlement. [This whole process is built on no legal authority!—ed]
[….]
LePage wrote a Nov. 4 letter to Democratic President Barack Obama saying he no longer wants Maine associated with the federal refugee resettlement program, and he has also opposed the settlement of Syrian refugees in Maine “until adequate vetting procedures can be established.”
[….]
The governor said Maine communities are being burdened by this “unchecked influx of refugees” and “especially prevalent” welfare fraud within the refugee community. He did not provide data for such assertions.
[….]
Maine joins three other states – New Jersey, Kansas and Texas – that have recently opted out the federally funded refugee assistance program.
If you live in one of the so-called Wilson-Fish states you should be urging your governors to join the Tennessee case!
Endnote: I saw Kansas Governor Brownback’s name on a list of people Trump is interviewing. I sure hope it isn’t for any position relating to immigration/refugees.See here in 2014 we reported that he signed on to a letter with Grover Norquist and other RINOs, including Jeb Bush, which urged the Republican Party to embrace more refugee resettlement. Human Rights First loved it!
For everyone getting excited about governors withdrawing from the Refugee Admissions Program, please take a breath.
The feds will simply pick a non-profit refugee contractor to run the program unless the governor takes the second step and that is, after being declared a Wilson-Fish state, he or she joins the Tennessee Tenth Amendment caseprepared by the Thomas More Law Center. Former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband is CEO of the International Rescue Committee which looks like it is angling to be in charge of refugee resettlement in Texas now that the state government has pulled out. Here he is his pal George Soros. See our extensive archive on how this British subject is calling the shots about who will be resettled in many states in America. https://refugeeresettlementwatch.org/?s=David+Miliband (He is also best pals of Hillary Clinton. He must have had a great shock yesterday.)
Not too long about Kansas and New Jersey withdrew, but I haven’t heard a peep out of Governors Brownback (KS) or Christie (NJ) that they would now seek to defend their state’s rights.
Here is a portion of the story about Texas from Vicemagazine (emphasis is mine):
…Texas has resorted to withdrawal from the federal resettlement program—but the same number of refugees will continue to be resettled in Texas, according to Victoria Palmer, public affairs specialist for the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families. The difference is in the distribution of funds and services for those individuals and families. Currently, the State of Texas receives the funds to distribute to nonprofits, which distribute money to the refugees and offer support services. Now, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) will instead choose one or a few nonprofits to receive and distribute those funds.
“While we of course regret Texas’s decision, ORR is working to appoint designees to administer services to refugees in Texas,” Palmer told me. “ORR is working to prevent a disruption in the delivery of services and benefits to refugees and entrants in Texas.”
And the US Department of State, which screens refugees and works with ORR to distribute them, said Texas would continue to receive all groups of refugees, including Syrians.
“Applicants to the US Refugee Admissions Program are currently subject to the highest level of security checks of any category of traveler to the United States,” a State Department official told me in an emailed statement. “Syrian refugees are screened to an even higher level.”
Since Texas’s withdrawal can’t block resettlement, immigration experts told me the move was purely for show.
[….]
Lin and Palmer both told me that Texas would eventually operate resettlement through a model that 12 states already use, called the Wilson-Fish Program. Under that program, the federal government picks one or a few organizations to serve as long-term partners, distributing funds and services to nonprofits and to refugees throughout the state.
Palmer said ORR would soon make a request for “competitive bids” to serve as the distributors.
“The organizations chosen to be the main agency for the state will be more burdened, but these agencies have been doing this for a very long time,” Lin said.
Texas will be the largest state to use the alternative program—which Aaron Rippenkroeger, the CEO and president of Refugee Services Texas, said was cause for concern.
[….]
But Rubin of the IRC assured me that Texas’s withdrawal may even open the door to a better resettlement process.
More here.
Texas grassroots citizens concerned about refugee resettlement in the state must pressure the governor to take step #2 and sue! But, if you do this, you MUST make sure your Washington reps know what you are doing and how you feel—see calling on Texas (your members of Congress are in key positions to do something!). As I said yesterday, I think you would be stunned to find out how isolated your Washington reps are in their little Capitol Hill bubble. Click here to learn more about Wilson-Fish states.
The other day we reported that the Texas governor withdrew the state from the FEDERAL Refugee Admissions Program (RAP) and some of you gave a sigh of relief (prematurely).
The federal government’s Office of Refugee Resettlement wasted no time in informing Texas that you will be a so-called ‘Wilson-Fish’ state. I suspect other states that ‘withdrew’ recently including Kansas and New Jersey are probably already W-F states and experienced maybe a few months of bureaucratic chaos, but that resettlements there are probably moving right ahead. (Disgusted, I have not followed the Kansas, New Jersey saga since the governors made their announcements there back in the spring.) One of those members of the Texas delegation in Washington who has enormous power is the 4th in seniority on the House Appropriations Committee. Find her on the campaign trail. Call her local office(s). Tell her politely what you think about the RAP and tell her to work to DEFUND it in November.
We contend that the entire Wilson-Fish program, which is one where the state government has given up any role and a NON-PROFIT group is now running the show, is unconstitutional. Think about it, in these states*** decisions about spending state taxpayer money is being made between the federal government and an unaccountable NON-PROFIT group. (If you want to know more about Wilson-Fish, click here for our extensive archive).
Frankly Governor Abbott’s action of last week will only matter if he now sues the federal government on Tenth Amendment grounds.
Tennessee, also a Wilson-Fish state, has a lawsuit ready to go, but who knows when they will pull the trigger.
Here is the latest from KXXV.TV:
WACO, TX (KXXV) –The State of Texas has withdrawn from the federal refugee resettlement program after the governor stated it did not receive assurances it asked from the federal government. However, the federal agency who oversees the program stated this will not stop current services provided to refugees or future resettlement.
[….]
The Office of Refugee Resettlement said in a statement that it will continue to help current refugees and accept more into Texas.
“While we, of course, regret Texas’s decision, ORR is working to appoint designees to administer services to refugees in Texas until a later time when competitive bids will be accepted for a Wilson-Fish alternative program,” ORR said in a statement.
The Wilson-Fish programs serve as a replacement for a state when a state government doesn’t participate in the refugee assistance program, according to ORR.
It is the Republican Congress that has the power over the program right now because it is Congress that holds the purse strings. And, it is Congress that could reform or abolish the Refugee Act of 1980 (and the later unconstitutional Wilson-Fish provisions). If Hillary doesn’t get to the White House!
However, Governor Abbott’s actions and any other state and local efforts to begin to control the monster are important actions so that the public becomes increasingly informed about what is happening to their communities. Every time you make the news or hold public meetings or write letters to the editor, you are waking up more people where you live, but then the next step is focusing like a laser on your Washington representatives.
(Every time you hold a public meeting be sure those in attendance know who your Congressman and Senators are and give them calling instructions before they leave the meeting!)
It is Congress and the President who will make the ultimate decisions about whether we will be flooded with impoverished third worlders many coming from countries that hate us!
If you live in Texas and are praising the Governor, please continue to do so, but you have a very powerful Congressional delegation in the state and one Congressman in particular, Rep. Brian Babin, willing to take on the powerful pro-refugee lobby (including the Chamber of Commerce!).
You need to breathe down the necks of the Texas delegation in Washington. Tell them to defund the Refugee Admissions Program. Click here for the list.
They are all back in Texas campaigning and they will be returning (even the losers) for the Lame Duck session beginning in November. There is one more shot this year to DEFUND the program and it will be in November and December!
Find them as they campaign and tell them what you think of the Refugee Admissions Program in Texas (it receives more refugees than any other state—they are turning red states blue!).
I hear ‘Mom for Trump’ calling…..
Ann, could you tell all your readers on a daily basis to call our useless Congress @ 202 224 3121 and have them say DEFUND REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM. I call daily and if enough of us do so, we can make a difference.
***Wilson-Fish states where the feds and a NON-PROFIT federal contractor call all the shots and your elected government has virtually no role.
Alabama
Alaska
Colorado
Idaho
Kentucky
Louisiana
Massachusetts
Nevada
North Dakota
South Dakota
Tennessee
Vermont
I suspect these two are now officially W-F, but have not followed them recently:
It has been a long time coming, but regular readers know that the Tennessee legislature voted earlier this year to file a lawsuit against the federal government’s refugee resettlement program being operated in the state as a so-called Wilson-Fish program.
I’m not a lawyer and have no time to get into the weeds on the case, but just know that for these 12 states*** this case is the worst nightmare for the refugee industry in America. It seems the case prepared by the Thomas More Law Center will proceed as the last impediment to filing has been removed! Holly Johnson of Catholic Charities (left) calls the shots for TN. On the right is Jan Reeves who has been making decisions on who comes to Idaho for over two decades. Idaho is also a Wilson-Fish state!
Here is a little bit of the Tennessean last night (LOL! trying to downplay the momentous decision):
The lawsuit will move forward because a resolution approved by the legislature earlier this year included a provision that allows the legislature to hire outside counsel to sue the government for noncompliance of the Refugee Act of 1980.
[….]
“This Office shares the General Assembly’s concern about unauthorized federal intrusion in matters that have historically legally resided within the exclusive purview of state and local officials,” Slatery (TN AG) wrote in a letter sent to the clerks of both legislative chambers. “The founders in adopting the United States Constitution created a series of checks and balances to ensure that no one branch of government would have unfettered power.”
The federal government working with Catholic Charities and NOT with the elected officials of the state of Tennessee is basically spending Tennessee taxpayers’ money with no authorization from the legislature!
Proponents of the measure have said the lawsuit is necessary because the federal government has failed to consult with Tennessee on the continued placement of refugees while suggesting that the feds have shifted the cost of administering the program to the state without lawmakers specifically authorizing the appropriation of funds.
This is not the same case that was filed in Texas and Alabama! This is a states’ rights lawsuit!
Texas and Alabama have sued the federal government over refugee resettlement, but Tennessee’s forthcoming lawsuit would be the first based on the 10th Amendment, which states that the federal government possesses only powers delegated to it by the U.S. Constitution and that all other powers are reserved for the states.
Continue reading here.
We will write more later as others weigh in on the exciting news.
For all of you working in ‘pockets of resistance’ this is huge news, but it is not by itself a silver bullet! There is no one silver bullet! Unfortunately we cannot count on Congress to abolish or even reform this program with the present leadership. So we must all continue working on all of the seemingly small things we do every day to bring attention to the refugee resettlement industry in America! I’m confident a tipping point is near!
The New York Daily News had its say about the Tennessee case with a story filed on Saturday. As someone said, it reads like a “novella!” Check it out heresince it discusses yours truly being driven by Islamophobia. I guess what went down in Lake Calhoun, MN last weekcan all be chalked up to Islamophobia too!
***Two other states are effectively Wilson-Fish states now as Kansas and New Jersey withdrew from the program, but it appears governors there are too chicken to make the next move and file a lawsuit just as Tennessee will now do.
