Tag: Wilson-Fish

Big news! Kansas watching Tennessee on refugee lawsuit, but bigger still, so is Texas!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Big news! That’s for sure!  Texas? Maybe Maine and Florida?
From Michael Patrick Leahy writing at Breitbart a few hours ago!

Gov. Sam Brownback’s recent decision to withdraw the state of Kansas from the federal refugee resettlement program may be just the first step in a full-fledged battle with the Obama administration over state sovereignty issues.

Obama depressed
If more governors opt out, thus throwing the program into bureaucratic chaos, Obama might not get his Syrian Muslim quota. Boo hoo!

“We are aware of the legal argument and watching for developments,” Gov. Brownback’s spokesperson Eileen Hawley tells Breitbart News about the lawsuit the Tennessee General Assembly has declared it will file on Tenth Amendment grounds against the federal refugee resettlement program.

Hawley’s comment is just the latest indication of growing state resistance to the Obama administration’s efforts to increase the resettlement of Syrian refugees, even in states that have made clear they do not want them.

[….]

Several states currently participating in the program may be considering withdrawing as well.

“Our contract is up in one month and we are currently evaluating our options,” a spokesperson for Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas tells Breitbart News.

The spokesperson was referring to the contracts*** between the State of Texas and local resettlement agencies, or VOLAGs, for the operation of the federal refugee resettlement program in the state.

“The Governor in conjunction with the refugee coordinator ” were identified by the spokesperson as the responsible parties evaluating current options. [One option is to opt-out!—ed]

[….]

Sources tell Breitbart News that Maine and Florida are two additional states that may be considering withdrawal from the federal refugee resettlement program.

Remember readers, the feds argue that if states opt-out as provided for in the original 1980 Act, the feds can simply assign a non-profit group to run the program in the state.  The Thomas More Law Center claims that such action is not constitutional according to the Tenth Amendment.  Additionally, it appears to critics that the Wilson-Fish* amendments do not contain the authority for the federal government to pass on to an unelected, non-governmental entity the right to make decisions which expend state and local tax dollars.
This is a two step process and in order to possibly succeed, the state must withdraw, become a so-called Wilson-Fish state, and then file a lawsuit described in the Breitbart story, continue reading here.
Maybe if the whole system is thrown into legal chaos, Obama won’t get all of his Syrians in by September 30th.
Our coverage of Kansas and New Jersey is here.  And, the most recent post on Tennessee is here.

*Is yours a Wilson Fish state: Alaska, Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, South Dakota, North Dakota, Tennessee and Vermont.

*** This makes me laugh, I’m told that Anne Richard, the Asst. Sec. of State for Population, Refugees and Migration claims they don’t have contracts with the non-profit groups.

Texas should withdraw from UN/US State Dept. Refugee Admissions Program

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Just as Governor Sam Brownback did in Kansas this week, Texas should “opt-out” of the UN/US State Department Refugee Admissions Program and then when the feds put a ‘non-profit’ group in charge of making decisions that expend taxpayer dollars in the state—sue the feds on Tenth Amendment grounds.  It is that simple (well sort of!).

Abbott tx
If Texas has no say over refugee seeding now, then the state should simply withdraw from the program and then sue the feds.

Any governor in America who talks big about wanting to get the RAP under control in their state, isn’t doing anything (other than trying to appease voters) until he or she takes dramatic action—like withdrawing from the program altogether.
(For readers who don’t want to kill the program outright, dramatic action is the only thing that will bring enough controversy to even begin to see the smallest effort toward reform.)
This Breitbart headline (Texas Has No Authority Over Agencies That Resettle Refugees in State) and story caught my eye.
Texas is the top resettlement state in the nation and has a governor who has been attempting to protect the state, so why not go for the whole enchilada. (Congress should be protecting you, but it isn’t!)
Read the story here.
texas-ranking
Since 2011, Texas has ‘welcomed’ approximately 7,000 refugees a year so that it continues its distinction as the #1 refugee state in the nation. Looks to me like Gov. Rick Perry closed a blind eye to the expansion.

For new readers, know that these states (below) already withdrew (or never had a program) at one point in the past and are now so-called Wilson-Fish states whose refugee programs are run illegally and unconstitutionally by ‘non-profit’ groups hired by Washington.

By the way, experts tell me that the Wilson-Fish amendment to the Refugee Act of 1980 made no provision in the law for the federal agencies to pass the program off to unelected non-profit contractors of the federal government—one of many many cases where a federal agency (the Office of Refugee Resettlement in this case) simply made its own ‘law’ through regulations.
If you are in one of these states you must urge your governor/legislature to sue with a states’ rights claim.
I know you won’t get states like Vermont to demand their state’s rights, but heck then if they are that ‘welcoming,’ let the feds just send them all there.
(I saw news last night and tweeted it that the Rutland, VT mayor is welcoming 100 Syrians soon. Follow me on twitter for more news.)
 

Wilson-Fish states (Kansas is effectively on the list now too):

Alabama
Alaska
Colorado
Idaho
Kentucky
Louisiana
Massachusetts
Nevada
North Dakota
South Dakota
Tennessee
Vermont

See my three part series on Texas from last summer by clicking here.  Go here for everything we have said about Wilson-Fish.

Kansas governor withdraws state from federal Refugee Admissions Program….

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update April 28th: Kansas resettlement contractors tell governor, s**** you (and Kansas taxpayers), we will bring refugees anyway, click here.
….but, but, but!
But, it simply means that the US State Department/Health and Human Services and their NGO contractors will resettle refugees there anyway as they do in 12 other so-called Wilson Fish States.  See Tennessee lawsuit.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback listens to a reporters question during a news conference in his Statehouse office in Topeka, Kan., Monday, Jan. 9, 2012. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
Hold the applause! The real test for the Governor will be if he brings a states’ rights lawsuit against the feds, which he can do now that he has withdrawn the state from the program.  (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

But, will he explain why he vigorously supported the resettlement of third worlders to the country while he was a US Senator (see 2003 VDARE article), and even as recently as 2014 when he signed a letter with Grover Norquist and others to the GOP to encourage more refugee resettlement for America.
But, here is the true test for the governor—will he take the Thomas More Law Center’s offer of free legal work and file a states’ rights case against the feds once they resettle refugees in the state (expending state money in the process) against the express wishes of the governor.
Kansas citizens need to get to work — no praise for the governor (who helped get America into the fix it is in with refugees) until he takes this final step to redeem himself!  It does not require the state legislature to act as the plaintiff (TN was a special case with a refugee-supporting governor).
Don’t let him get away with saying this withdrawal is all he can do!

Governor Sam Brownback could be the plaintiff in the most important case ever to determine whether the federal government has the right to place a financial burden on state taxpayers by dropping needy third worlders into its towns and cities.

Here is the news from the Kansas City Star from yesterday (hat tip: Joanne):

Gov. Sam Brownback said Tuesday he is withdrawing Kansas from the federal government’s refugee relocation program because of security concerns.

Despite the state’s withdrawal, refugees will continue to be resettled in Kansas, federal officials said.

Brownback had already issued executive orders barring state agencies from assisting in the resettlement of refugees from Syria and other countries that posed a safety risk. The decision announced Tuesday removes the state from the program completely.

Feds to Brownback: we will shove it down your throats anyway (“welcoming” or not)!

But federal officials told Brownback that if the state withdrew, the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement would work directly with local refugee resettlement organizations and refugees would continue to come to the state.

“If the state were to cease participating in the refugee resettlement program, it would have no effect on the placement of refugees by the State Department in Kansas, or the ORR-funded benefits they can receive,” wrote Mark Greenberg with the federal Administration for Children and Families in an April 13 letter to Brownback.

Continue reading here.
Click here for our Kansas archive where we have reported on some big problems in Kansas with refugees, esp. with overload in schools systems.  And, go here to the handy list and see who the feds have hired for the seeding of Kansas.
And one more thing…..

The US State Department is taking testimony right now for the FY2017  RAP program (Obama’s last refugee importation plan) and there is no reason that state officials, including this governor, couldn’t send in testimony as well!

Tennessee legislature moves one step closer to states' right lawsuit on refugee program

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This is a big deal!

Just yesterday we reported that Syrian refugees resettled in Memphis, TN are dumpster diving because they don’t have jobs and apparently their resettlement agency (a contractor of the federal government) doesn’t raise enough private charitable money to help them!
The_Tenth_Amendment
Tennessee legislators have had enough of Washington making decisions for Tennessee taxpayers and are moving a resolution through the legislative process that in the end could result in a states’ rights lawsuit against the UN/US State Department Refugee Admissions Program.
Here is the latest from Michael Patrick Leahy writing for Breitbart:

NASHVILLE, Tennessee–The Tennessee General Assembly is on track to sue the federal government over the refugee resettlement program on Tenth Amendment grounds after Senate Joint Resolution 467 cleared its last substantive hurdle in the Tennessee House Finance Committee.

The resolution sailed through the committee on a voice vote, and is now headed to the Calendar and Rules Committee, which will schedule a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives some time during the next seven days. The resolution is expected to pass in a landslide, as 74 of the House’s 99 members have already signed on as sponsors.

In February, the resolution easily passed the State Senate by a 27 to 5 margin.

“As SJR 467 is moving forward, other states will read our actions. I am pleased that seventy-four of my colleagues believe wholeheartedly that Tennessee is responsible for asserting our state’s sovereignty rights under the Tenth Amendment,” State Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver (R-Lancaster), the sponsor of the resolution in the House, tells Breitbart News.

Terri_Lynn_Weaver_Tennesse_House_Seat_desk
Rep Weaver is the chief sponsor of the resolution and was joined by 74 of her fellow legislators.

“We have seen unprecedented federal overreach during the Obama administration. We need clarity and definition concerning the relationship between the federal government and our state when it comes to appropriations to pay for the federal Refugee Resettlement Program,” Weaver adds.

It is now a virtual certainty that the Tennessee General Assembly will file the lawsuit in federal court, as the Thomas More Law Center, a well-respected conservative public interest law firm, has said it will represent the state of Tennessee at no cost, even if Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery chooses not to litigate the case.

Continue reading here.

You can do this too!

Readers, this is not a lawsuit only for Tennessee.  If you live in one of these so-called ‘Wilson-Fish’ states, your state too could be a plaintiff (because of the way the program has been structured in these states)…..

…..if your governor had guts!

Wilson Fish states: Alaska, Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, South Dakota, North Dakota, Tennessee and Vermont.

Go here for our complete archive on the Wilson-Fish program.

Tenth Amendment poster above right can be ordered by going here:  http://www.zazzle.com/tenth_amendment_poster-228447030250525985

Tennessee's giant step forward in defending states' rights in refugee resettlement issue

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday, Michael Patrick Leahy of Breitbart reported the incredible news that the Tennessee Senate passed a resolution that advances the Tenth Amendment concerns of many as it relates to the federal government (and its non-profit contractors) dropping off refugees in states where the state taxpayer then must pony-up and pay for some of their welfare, education and healthcare (without any say through an elected body).  Our earlier post on the Tennessee legislature is here.

mark-tv-interview
Majority Leader Sen. Mark Norris (R-Collierville): “a declaration of our rights as a sovereign state…”

And, interestingly, in my previous post I mentioned an article in The Nation in which the author says that those states that have filed lawsuits against the federal program (Texas and Alabama for example) haven’t a legal leg to stand on.  However, they never mentioned the possible bombshell that could be coming from Tennessee.
Here is the news:

The Tennessee State Senate overwhelmingly passed a resolution by a 27 to 5 margin requiring a state lawsuit against the federal government program that is dumping refugees into the Volunteer State.

Senate Joint Resolution 467 now goes to the Tennessee House of Representatives, where sources tell Breitbart News it is expected to pass some time in the next three weeks.

Passage of the resolution by the State Senate means that it is certain a lawsuit will be filed against the federal government’s Refugee Resettlement Program on Tenth Amendment grounds, something that no other state has yet done.

Both Texas and Alabama have filed federal lawsuits claiming that the federal government has failed to comply with the “consultation clause” of the Refugee Act of 1980. That argument, however, is considered to be on very thin legal grounds because the standard required to establish “consultation” is very low.

The State Senate is expected to wait on filing the lawsuit until it is joined by the House of Representatives, so the entire Tennessee General Assembly will be the plaintiff.

“This Resolution strikes a blow for liberty,” Majority Leader Sen. Mark Norris (R-Collierville), the co-sponsor of the bill who carefully guided it through the upper chamber tells Breitbart News in an exclusive statement.

Norris calls the resolution, “a declaration of our rights as a sovereign state which upholds the principles by which we foster freedom.”

Continue reading!  This is very important!
Leahy tells us that the lawsuit would apply first to the so-called Wilson Fish states*** and other 11 states could join Tennessee or file their own lawsuit.  In some states it requires the governor to be the plaintiff, but in Tennessee (others?) the legislature can do it.
And, for those of you in 36 other states here is what a serious state government (Texas! for example) could do:

Other states who are seeking a way to stop the unhindered flow of refugees will see in the Tennessee State senate’s action a legal path to successfully resist the continued operation of the U.S. Refugee Resettlement program in their states.

The other 11 “Wilson-Fish alternative program” states can join the Tennessee lawsuit, or they can file their own Tenth amendment challenges to the U.S. Refugee Resettlement program.

The remaining states that are currently participating in the program can withdraw from it, thereby becoming “Wilson-Fish alternative program” states, and also file Tenth amendment challenges to the U.S. Refugee Resettlement program.

***Wilson Fish states: Alaska, Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, South Dakota, North Dakota, Tennessee and Vermont.

Looking for the ‘silver bullet?’

I often tell people there is no one “silver bullet” to end the Refugee Admissions Program as constructed by the original Kennedy/Biden Refugee Act of 1980, but the Constitutional States’ Rights issue comes mighty close.
However! Do not expect your Republican governors and Republican legislatures to see the light shining in Tennessee and just jump on the bandwagon.
Most will be too chicken and some will see the refugee program as the source of cheap labor for their campaign donors, so it’s up to you to keep the pressure on through various means—resolutions, protests, letters to the editor, community meetings, agitation and pressure on elected officials at all levels of government, and Election 2016 campaigning are all examples of what you can do (and are doing!).
All of that political activity is vitally important. You can make it possible for elected officials to take action by creating the political climate they need.
In short, it is your job to agitate and create controversy just as the No Borders Left does all the time!