Some fruits of Samantha Power’s labor in Nebraska

Yesterday, I told you about White House refugee czar Samantha Power and her foreign policy doctrine—Responsibility to Protect—which basically says war is o.k. when you are saving people.   So, the White House and the State Department were overjoyed to help the Islamist revolution in North Africa—in Tunisia, in Egypt and in Libya.

How is that working out now for the Arab Spring cheering squad at the White House?  Yesterday we learned that a leading Presidential candidate in Egypt said Christians must convert to Islam or leave the country (or pay the jizya).

We get them—not just the Christians but the Muslims as well!

We see that if things don’t go according to plan, we get the so-called “refugees” like the three chronicled in this news report from Lincoln, Nebraska.  Is that what Ms. Power means when she says “responsibility to protect?”

From KVNO Public Radio:

Lincoln, NE – The Arab Spring and accompanying violence might seem far away to most Nebraskans, but for some refugees now living in Lincoln, that devastation took place in their backyards.

Now just think about this.  The Tunisian featured in this article tells the reporter that he was already living in the US but went back for the revolution.   He says for their labors the revolution produced less freedom (we could have told him that is what happens when Islamic totalitarians take over).   So, oh well, he returned to his good life in Nebraska as a “refugee” from the Arab Spring.

“Everything we had before that could be considered the little freedom – we lost it,” Zahrouni said. “We wanted freedom, but we didn’t have freedom. We had less freedom than before So, it was really frightening. It was a long, long nightmare.”

Instead of fleeing the conflict in his country, Zahrouni chose to experience it head-on. He’d originally left Tunisia in December of 2007 when his wife was accepted into one of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s doctorate programs. But when news of the revolution first broke, he decided to return to his family in his home country, and witnessed a new beginning. Zahrouni would ultimately stay in Tunisia until the small country settled down before returning to Lincoln with his family.

[....]

“I suffered what they suffered, I’ve seen what they have seen, and I say, Guess what, they can survive it,’” he said. “If I didn’t go there (during the revolution), I would feel really bad to stay here. But now I feel comfortable and confident that Tunisia has a chance to survive, and probably, it already did.”  [But, I'll stay here as a refugee in comfy America just in case---ed]

There should be a law!  If  someone is here in the US on some other VISA, or are a “refugee,” we should forbid that person from returning to his or her “home” country to participate in revolutions by forbidding their return to the US.  And, while we are at it, anyone here formally as a refugee or asylee should be banned from returning (unless it’s a permanent return!) to the country from which he or she supposedly escaped—like Somalia or Bosnia—for visits and vacations!

White House’s Power: “doing rinkey-dink do-gooder stuff”

But, would rather be making war!

Have any of you read the New York Times bestseller on President Obama by Edward Klein entitled, The Amateur?   I haven’t finished it yet but I almost fell out of bed recently when I read the chapter on White House Iraqi Refugee Czar Samantha Power.   Longtime readers may recall that I noted that Ms. Power (Mrs. Cass Sunstein), Susan Rice at the UN, and Hillary* were largely responsible for our engagement in the Arab Spring excellent-extended-adventure in Libya.  I called them Macbeth’s weird sisters in that post.

Klein confirms the role of the three in helping advance the further Islamification of Libya and quotes a White House source who calls the three the “humanitarian Vulcans.”

The gist of Power’s foreign policy (when to make war) theory is that war is o.k. for America when it is conducted to “protect” people.   She calls it the “Responsibility to Protect” described here by Stanley Kurtz; and the warmongers on the Left even have a shorthand way of referring to her doctrine as R2P.  Of course the situation in Syria and Obama’s lack of enthusiasm to protect Syrians comes immediately to mind, but that is a story for another day.

Back to Power, when European countries decided to jump into the Libyan civil war on the side of the rebels apparently Obama was reluctant to get involved, but, according to Klein, Power was itching for a fight and wanted to put her R2P to a test.   Readers here at RRW know how that turned out—tens of thousand of new refugees fled Libya into neighboring countries or tried to cross the Mediterranean resulting in even more people to protect (or is that the plan?).

As you read what Klein says be sure to remember that Power is the so-called Iraqi Refugee Czar in the White House National Security Council and that she was given the job of reforming the refugee program (which we hear nothing about these days).  Too “rinkey-dink” for Mrs. Cass Sunstein?   (Emphasis below is mine).

Klein:

Among Obama’s foreign policy advisers, Samantha Power, the far-out leftist firebrand, complained that the administration’s cautious, first-dono-harm, approach to the Arab Spring had effectively sidelined her in White House Councils.  She said she’d been relegated to “doing rinky-dink do-gooder stuff,” such as advocating on behalf of beleaguered Christians in Iraq, and no longer had as much access to the President.  She was itching to get back in the fray, and she saw an opportunity in Libya.

Let me repeat that!

She said she’d been relegated to “doing rinky-dink do-gooder stuff,” such as advocating on behalf of beleaguered Christians in Iraq.

In fact she would like to do more big stuff, nothing “rinky-dink,” like maybe invade Israel as some believe she is advocating in this clip.

* Power called Hillary a “monster” during the 2008 Presidential campaign and resigned from the Obama team (for awhile).

Ho hum! Danes arrest Somalis for terror plot

Two Somali young men, Danish citizens who had lived in Denmark since they were tiny children have been arrested on terror charges linked to Al-Shabaab.

Here is the story from the Associated Press about the two grateful (not!) young men who were given a chance at a good life by Denmark and said basically “shove-it.”

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Two Danish brothers originally from Somalia were given four weeks of pre-trial detention Tuesday after they were arrested by Denmark’s security service on suspicion of plotting a terror attack.

The older brother, aged 23, was also suspected of having received terror training from the Somali militant group al-Shabab, the PET security service said.

He was arrested late Monday at Copenhagen’s international airport as he arrived by plane from an undisclosed location. At the same time, his 18-year-old brother was arrested in the city of Aarhus, in western Denmark, PET said.

[....]

U.S. and European officials fear that young recruits from Somali immigrant communities in the U.S. state of Minnesota,* Britain, and the Nordic countries could train in Somalia and return to carry out attacks.

PET head Jakob Scharf said that between 25 and 40 people “with connections to Denmark have received training or taken part in militant activities with al-Shabab in Somalia,” and at least two people with connections to Denmark have committed suicide attacks in Somalia.

[....]

The 23-year-old had been at an al-Shabab training camp in Somalia from Jan. 18 to Feb. 21, prosecutor Lone Damgaard said. He was the first person in Denmark charged with receiving training with the aim of committing an act of terror.

The charges, which are preliminary, were read out at the Aarhus City Court behind closed doors, as is customary in terror cases.

“We are shocked that some young people who have lived in Denmark for the past 16 years decide to travel to Somalia to make contact with al-Shabab,” said Abdirahman M. Lidle, a spokesman for an umbrella association of 13 Somali groups in Aarhus.

Lidle said he was not sure if he knew the men. “There are 500 to 600 young Somalis in Aarhus and we cannot know everything,” he said.

Denmark has been in the crosshairs of Islamist terror groups since the publication of newspaper cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in 2005, an act that offended many Muslims.

A Somali man living in Denmark was convicted of terrorism and sentenced to 10 years in prison after breaking into the home of one of the cartoonists with an ax in 2010.

* We have written dozens and dozens of posts on the Somalis who thumbed their noses at the good life given to them through the refugee resettlement program of the US State Department and went back to Africa for terror training—search RRW for “Somali missing youths” and all of those posts should pop up.

Resettlement to “welcoming” Minnesota slowed

Well, not just Minnesota but everywhere.  There is nothing new in this story.  I’m posting it here because while the Israelis riot AGAINST more Africans coming across the Israeli border, recognizing the potential destruction of the social fabric, this article highlights the desire by Minnesota’s social service agencies and the “faith” community to “welcome” more to Minnesota.

The refugee program has been slowed because of the discovery (oops!) of Iraqi terrorists having been resettled in Bowling Green, KY and probably some other cases we haven’t heard about yet.    By the way, a reader from Kentucky told me recently that Bowling Green is 10% Bosnian Muslim now thanks to the Clinton Administration’s phony-baloney Bosnian war and refugee resettlement contractors.

Here is the Star Tribune article boo-hooing about the slow flow of refugees to Minnesota:

Fewer feet are stepping across Minnesota’s welcome mat.

Stricter screening measures for refugees hoping to enter the United States from countries deemed a security risk have allowed fewer people to reach Minnesota from hot spots around the world.

The total number of refugees arriving in the state dropped from 2,107 in the 12 months ending in September 2010 to 1,856 in the 12 months ending in September 2011, according to the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

So far, only 758 refugees entering the U.S. have landed in Minnesota in the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, 2011.

Not to worry! The pace will surely pick up in the summer!

Workers at both state and federal refugee agencies predict the numbers of new arrivals to Minnesota will pick up soon as the government fine-tunes the new screening process in time for summer, historically the busy season for refugee resettlement work.

Readers, there is nothing special about summer, it is just that the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30th and the feds and the contractors put on a big push to resettle as many as they can toward the approved cap before the new fiscal year begins.  And, since they are likely to even get smaller numbers of refugees in 2013, they want to get all the bodies they can get in 2012.

Most refugees going to Minnesota are Somalis.

The recent decline in refugee numbers nationally and locally began nearly two years ago, after U.S. officials sought to tighten screening process for refugees coming from Iraq mainly, but it also has affected refugees from Somalia.

See my recent post about Somali chain migration to Minnesota hitting a snag, here.   Same reporter for the Star Tribune, Allie Shah, wrote that story—must be on the Somali beat (or the Muslim beat).

Addendum:  Silly me, I should have linked this post from January 2011 that is one of the top posts here almost every day.

More on those anti-African migrant riots in Israel

Netanyahu:   Africans threaten the social fabric of Israel.

See my earlier post here on the riots.   This one is from the LA Times:

It was the latest in a string of attacks, disturbances and incidents of harassment in the last month, after three Eritrean migrants were arrested in connection with the rape of an Israeli woman.

Amid a national uproar over the rape, Interior Minster Eli Yishai called most African immigrants “criminals” and vowed to either deport or jail them. He said on Israel Radio that a firm response was the only way to discourage more refugees from entering the country. “Once they’re in jail, they won’t want to come over here anymore,” he said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed the sentiment, saying the presence of African migrants in Israel “is extremely serious and threatens Israel’s social fabric and national security.“

Most of the African refugees walk into Israel via the Sinai desert, paying Bedouin smugglers thousands of dollars to deliver them from Egypt. In response, the Israeli government has begun construction of a massive fence along the border and an 8,000-bed detention facility in the southern Negev desert to hold those who get through. Both are expected to be completed this year.

Political correctness has definitely not taken hold in Israel!

Israel swamped with African migrants, Israelis riot

This is a story from this past week that I hadn’t had a chance to post until now.

From Reuters:

JERUSALEM, May 24 (Reuters) – Surging street violence against African migrants, including a rampage that an Israeli broadcaster dubbed a “pogrom”, drew empathy for the rioters from the interior minister on Thursday.

Waving Israeli flags and chanting “Deport the Sudanese”, residents of a low-income Tel Aviv neighbourhood where many of the border-jumpers from Eritrea, Sudan and South Sudan live held a march late Wednesday that turned violent.

Police said 20 people were arrested for assault and vandalism. Trash cans were set alight, storefront windows were broken and a crowd attacked an African driving through the area, breaking his car’s windows. No serious injuries were reported.

Interviewing Interior Minister Eli Yishai, Army Radio likened the incident to pogrom attacks on Jews in 19th century Europe. Yishai bristled at such language, citing police findings that Sudanese and Eritrean migrants were a crime risk.

[....]

Fleeing poverty, fighting and authoritarian rule, some 60,000 Africans have crossed illegally into Israel through the relatively porous desert border with Egypt in recent years.

[....]

Unchecked, the number of Africans illegally in Israel could reach millions and overwhelm the citizenry, Yishai predicted.

“So what, the State of Israel, as the Jewish state, in the name of democracy, in the name of honouring U.N. resolutions, (should accept) a recipe for suicide?” he said.

“The truth has to be told, and believe me it is hard and it hurts, as we are the Jewish people, a merciful people.”

A recipe for suicide—indeed!

Update:  Yikes!  I hadn’t thought of this, but Patrick Cleburne writing at VDARE suggests we could get some of Israel’s illegal alien Africans.  After all, that is precisely what I’ve predicted could happen elsewhere as we continue to tout the Malta-model of resettlement—illegal aliens arrive on Malta and we take them off Malta’s hands because we want something from Malta!

Arab Spring leaves refugees on the Libyan/Egyptian border—US picks up the pieces

Told you so!   We would join the coalition of European nations which took on Gaddafi (Qadhafi) in Libya and our reward would be—you guessed it!—we get the refugees!

Here is an article that gives you a window into a process on-going as a result of that joyous Arab spring.  Immigrants who want to escape Libya and are not allowed into Egypt are stuck at a border crossing called Sallum where the UN and our Dept. of Homeland Security are sorting through them to see which ones we get to bring to America!

From AllAfrica:

Sallum, Egypt — Andrew Mok, computer open in front of him, faced the Sudanese man across the table in a converted freight container and began the interview.

“Please do not make any false statements because that could have a negative impact on your application,” the 23-year-old from Hong Kong informed the man, who was bidding to be recognized as a refugee. “Everything you tell UNHCR will be strictly confidential,” he added, reassuringly.

Refugee status determination (RSD) is a vital part of UNHCR’s daily protection work and the above scene is replicated every day in UNHCR operations around the world.

But there is a difference at Sallum because those being interviewed are stuck at a busy border crossing, unable or unwilling to go home or back to Libya, and not allowed to go further inside Egypt. There are around 2,000 people left from the 40,000 third country nationals who fled to Sallum to escape last year’s conflict in Libya, most of whom were allowed to transit Egypt.

UN Heavily dependent on the US for resettlement!

While the RSD process is almost over, it will take many more months before all of those referred for resettlement finally get to leave for their new homes. That’s partly because “only six resettlement countries have taken cases from Sallum,” said Heidi Boener. “We are heavily dependent on the United States,” added the resettlement officer.

The article doesn’t make it clear who exactly Miss Heidi works for, but in 2008, here, she worked for International Catholic Migration Commission*.  We learn from this report that she preps the prospective “refugees” on the kinds of questions they will get from Homeland Security…hmmmm!    You know it is very important that they keep their stories straight!

As Mok continued with his questions, Boener stood in a nearby building and addressed about 30 registered refugees from Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia who were due to be interviewed over a two-week period by officials from the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). She took them through the kinds of questions they would face, including queries about their family history and why they cannot return to their country of origin.

Boener said more than 1,400 people had been referred to the US for resettlement and the visiting DHS staff planned to meet a first group of about 250 for a so-called first circuit interview, with plans to return about every three months to talk to a similar number each time. After interviews, and if they are conditionally approved, they will undergo security background checks and medical screening before final approval and authorization to fly to America.

To hear Obama tell it, we were dragged into the Libyan war so that we might help a coalition of nations—France, Britain, Canada and Italy.  So, after paying for the lions share of the war’s cost, the US takes the lions share of “refugees” while Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden take a few.   According to this account, guess who isn’t helping—-the greatest beneficiaries of that Libyan oil—France, Britain, and Italy.

More Africans on the way to your town!

* Just when you think you have seen them all, along comes another NGO living on the US taxpayer’s dime.  Here the International Catholic Migration Commission gets half of its funding from you.  And, it is so funny, you never see the ACLU go after these non-profits on the separation of church and state issue.

Somali chain migration to Minnesota hits a snag

Update:  A kind reader explains the various visas used for chain migration, here.

I’ve had this story to post for a few days, but wasn’t quite sure what to make of a couple of bits of information in it and was hoping to be able to tell you more, but can’t at the moment.  If you are a reader familiar with resettlement help us understand this story by sending a comment.

First, a little background:  back in 2008 the US State Department discovered that lo-and-behold many Africans (mostly Somalis) trying to get their “relatives” into the US weren’t even related to the persons they were getting in, but before the extent of the lying was fully known the State Department estimates that over 30,000 entered the US fraudulently.  There are no plans to find them and remove them.

The program, known as P-3 (family reunification) was put on hold and is still not fully open.  As a matter of fact some of those contractors testifying to the State Department May 1 meeting were begging for it to be fully re-opened (they get paid by you to help process in the ‘family’).  One of the options for identifying legitimate family members is DNA testing, but that idea hit some snags (or at least that is the last I heard).

And, by the way, here is an article from 2009 in which we are told that the State Department thinks DNA testing is expensive and time consuming and should be used only as a last resort.   I suppose it is neither time-consuming or expensive if it weeds out people who were going to get into the US fraudulently and become dependent on our ‘services’ (food stamps, education, subsidized housing, healthcare, etc.) or had terrorism in mind.

Now, according to this article by reporter Allie Shah in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, it appears that the ‘families’ have been using the I-130 visa* for their chain migration and that too has been stymied (Homeland Security and the State Dept. must know something we don’t know).    I’m wondering why they aren’t using the I-730 visa to get around the P-3 moratorium.  Does anyone know?

So, here is the story I am puzzled about (emphasis mine):

A major bump has surfaced in the well-traveled road from Nairobi, Kenya, to Minnesota for Somali refugees hoping to reunite with family members here.

Recently, the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi began asking for more proof to verify that refugees applying to come here are who they say are.   [See Ireland post yesterday---ed]

The result, according to immigration attorneys in Minnesota familiar with the changes, is that the embassy is rejecting applicants at an alarming rate.

“I got a spike of clients in the last four months,” said Abdinasir Abdulahi, a Minneapolis immigration attorney. “They were storming into my office.”

The trouble began near the end of 2011, he said, when embassy officials started requiring applicants for what’s called the I-130 visa to produce a refugee ID issued by the Kenyan government.

Since 2007, Kenya has required Somali refugees to register with the government and carry an ID, but many refugees don’t understand the requirement, Abdulahi says.

Identifying refugees fleeing Somalia has always been a sticky issue. Most people arrive in neighboring Kenya without any papers.

In the past a sworn affidavit would do it!  Imagine that!  I guess these State Department officials don’t know about Taqiyya (Muslims are allowed to lie to unbelievers in order to defeat them.)

In the past, embassy officials have accepted sworn affidavits from town elders to confirm the identities of individuals. More recently, in response to reports of fraud, they rely on DNA testing to prove, for example, that a person claiming to be the sister of a Minnesota Somali really is the sister.

But even the DNA evidence doesn’t seem to be enough to satisfy officials, say some local immigration attorneys, who argue that the tighter rules amount to unnecessary red tape. They’ll discuss the issue Friday at a meeting of the local chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

In conclusion, I would like to know more about why they are using the I-130 to skirt the State Department closure of P-3 and how extensive is the use of DNA testing for the I-130s or the I-730s for that matter!

* When you have a few extra minutes check out the massive numbers entering the US on I-130 visas here.

American Jihadist in Somalia: gee, I wonder how my Mom is feeling about all this

Oh brother, not long ago there were reports out of Somalia that Alabama-born Abu Mansoor al-Amriki was dead (killed by fellow jihadists), now we learn he has penned a book.  He says he hopes to inspire other young American Muslims that they too can follow their Jihad dreams and come on over to Africa.

Jihad a normal career choice!  From Dawn.com:

Amriki, who has reportedly been based in anarchic Somalia since late 2006 and is wanted by the US on terrorism charges, has issued previous videos calling for foreign recruits, including singing rap songs praising holy war.

“I am not simply a disenfranchised foreigner who is jealous of America,” the 28-year old said, writing thousands of miles from the small town of Daphne, Alamaba where he grew up.

“The real fear that Americans feel when they see an American in Somalia talking about jihad, is not how skillful he is at sneaking back across the borders with nuclear weapons,” he added.

“The Americans fear that their cultural barrier has been broken, and now jihad has become a normal career choice of any youthful American Muslim.”

But wait…there will be no going back.  No Mommy, no sister, no chicken wings or gourmet coffee!

What I would like though is to have a three day visit to see my mom, dad and sister…I often wonder what this whole experience has done to them,” he writes, as well as missing his daughter whom he abandoned in Egypt as a baby.

“After going through all the hugs and kisses, me and Dena (his sister) would probably go running around town laughing our heads off and talking about a billion things without ever finishing a conversation,” he wrote.

“I’d like to make a round of the restaurants and get some Chinese food, some hot (chicken) wings, some Nestle ice cream, some gourmet coffee and a slew of other foods and beverages.”

Wait till he finds out that he gave up Chinese food and there is no Allah!  Boo hoo!

More Africans on the way from Malta to the US; new Ambassador says ain’t it great!

“It is remarkable that the US takes responsibility for these people in an act of charity and solidarity.” (Maltese official with a sigh of relief that they aren’t left holding the bag!  The Maltese people are fed up with the boatloads arriving on their shores. )

I know, I know, it is the same old story I’ve been writing about for nearly 5 years!   The Bush Administration managed to pervert the refugee resettlement process by taking some of the illegal aliens who arrive in the tiny Mediterranean Island of Malta to the US as “refugees.”   Now, everyone thinks this is so great and no one remembers the process was perverted in creating the Malta-model for resettlement—illegal aliens arrive in a safe European nation where they are supposed to request asylum (if they can justify it!).  Instead we transform many (mostly single young Muslim men) into refugees for US resettlement.

Here is just the latest installment from the Malta Independent (I see we have a new ambassador):

A total of 27 Somali and Eritrean migrants, including three families, yesterday left Malta for the US under the US Refugee Resettlement Programme (USRRP). This brings the total of refugees relocated in the United States since 2007 to 985.

US Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley* and Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici bid them farewell on the start of this new journey in their life.

The ambassador having arrived in Malta only last week, this was the first time she was present for such a departure.

In comments to The Malta Independent, she said the experience was “exciting” and “gratifying”. She had heard before what Malta does for the migrants and the dangerous trips they take to get here.

“The US admires Malta for the hospitality and we are partners in this,” she said. “Malta has for these people been a safe haven and we are proud to be partners.

“The US Refugee Admissions Programme is very close to my heart and I intend to make every effort to ensure it remains active. It represents a continuation of America’s commitment to welcome refugees and to provide a safe haven for those most in need,” Ms Abercrombie-Winstanley continued.

“This programme is a success thanks to the collaboration of the Maltese government and several local and international organisations which offer support to the refugees throughout their time in Malta,” she noted.

The US is the largest beneficiary of the African illegal alien migration to Malta!

On their arrival in the US, the migrants – a family of four, two couples and 19 single men will be assisted by NGOs to proceed to their final destinations in various states.

This departure brings the total number of beneficiaries of international protection who resettled in the US from Malta since 2007, to 985, making the US the country receiving the majority of migrants making it to Malta. As part of the USRRP programme that was launched in 2008, 957 beneficiaries were settled.

This year alone, a total of 174 migrants have left Malta for the US and more are expected to depart in the coming weeks.

*Now I understand—we want something from Malta!  So, once again we are using the “refugee program” for some other foreign policy objective!  You get to have a bunch of new Somali young men in your towns in need of “services” and the US gets what?—read about it!   In my testimony to the State Department on May 1, this was one of my ten reasons for a moratorium—Congress needs to reform this program and disallow its use for other foreign policy goals, here.

For more on Malta—just type the word ‘Malta’ into our search function where you will find dozens of posts archived.