Terrible heart-stopping news! US considering taking Syrian refugees

Syrian refugee protesters at a refugee camp in Jordan. So Homeland Security is supposed to sort through this and only bring us the good people? Photo: Khalil Mazraawi – AFP/Getty Images

We’ve been suggesting for months (here) that this day would come when the US State Department would start making noises about bringing Syrian refugees to your towns and cities. 

But, as recently as a month or so ago a top State Department official told a gathering in Fort Wayne, Indiana that a population (he was answering a question on Syrians) had to have been “refugees” for five years before being considered for refugee status.  It sounded bogus to me!  Guess it was!

Below is the disastrous news at the Los Angeles Times. (Hat tip: Jim).  Just as the Senate is considering making it easier and more lucrative for government contractors to bring in larger numbers (more easily) of refugees and political asylees through S.744, we will be inundated with Syrians.  So, when you call your US Senators today about voting NO on the “comprehensive immigration reform” tell them NO Syrians either!   And, if you are thinking there might be some Christians in the bunch, I assure you we won’t single those out for resettlement!

Once they open the spigot, they open it wide!

Just for your information we have already brought 12,396 Iraqis to America in the first 8 months of FY2013!  Most of them are on food stamps, other public assistance and not working!

Los Angeles Times story recognizes the pitfalls, perpetuates some myths:

WASHINGTON — Two years into a civil war that shows no signs of ending, the Obama administration is considering resettling refugees who have fled Syria, part of an international effort that could bring thousands of Syrians to American cities and towns.

A resettlement plan under discussion in Washington and other capitals is aimed at relieving pressure on Middle Eastern countries straining to support 1.6 million refugees, as well as assisting hard-hit Syrian families.

The State Department is “ready to consider the idea,” an official from the department said, if the administration receives a formal request from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, which is the usual procedure.

The United States usually accepts about half the refugees that the U.N. agency proposes for resettlement. California has historically taken the largest share, but Illinois, Florida, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia are also popular destinations.  [See which states are the top resettlement states in the US and will be asked to "welcome" Syrian Muslims---ed]

U.N. refugee officials, diplomats and nongovernmental relief groups plan to discuss possible resettlement schemes at a high-level meeting this week in Geneva. Germany already has committed to taking 5,000 people.

Remember as you read this that Lavinia Limon worked for Bill Clinton and brought the Bosnian Muslims here and then the early Iraqis.  USCRI is a federal RESETTLEMENT CONTRACTOR, not a “service group.”

“It was probably inevitable that in this crisis, with these overwhelming numbers, governments would start moving in this direction,” said Lavinia Limon, chief executive officer of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, a Virginia-based advocacy and service group. “But there will be resistance.”

The Obama administration supports rebels trying to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad, but is wary of deeper involvement in Syria.

The issue is politically sensitive on several levels.

Congress strongly resisted accepting Iraqi refugees, including interpreters who had worked with U.S. forces, after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Most lawmakers share White House caution about getting more engaged in Syria and may have little appetite for a major influx.

The duo of Samantha Power and Susan Rice being involved is further evidence this will be a disaster for your town or city.

But Susan Rice, President Obama’s new national security advisor, and Samantha Power, Obama’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to the U.N., both have been strong advocates for refugees. They may make the White House more receptive to at least a partial opening.

Much will depend on who (if anyone!) raises the security issues.  Honestly the only really possible opposition leader on this will be Senator Rand Paul who ‘gets it’ about the security risks after the discovery of Iraqi refugee terrorists found to be living in his home town of Bowling Green, KY!

Homeland security officials require careful vetting of refugees, with multiple interviews and background checks before they are allowed to enter the country. Under normal circumstances, the screening process can take a year or longer.

U.S. officials are likely to be extra careful with Syrian refugees. As Islamic militants take a more prominent role in the rebel forces, officials worry about fighters with Al Qaeda ties trying to enter the country. Two resettled Iraqis were convicted of trying to send arms to Al Qaeda from their home in Bowling Green, Ky.

The article goes on to report that Middle Eastern officials say the resettlement won’t be worth it if we and other Western countries don’t take tens of thousands!

Then we have some, pardon the expression, Bull S*** from the State Department:

Western officials try to discourage poor foreigners who are seeking a more comfortable life or business opportunities in the West. They say resettlement is only for those who can’t go home, and seek to dispel notions that an easy life awaits.

According to a State Department publication aimed at refugees, “Cars are not provided…. Most Americans value self-reliance and hard work. They expect newcomers to find jobs as soon as possible and to take care of themselves and their families.”   [67% of Iraqis are not working and 95% are on food stamps.  And, as for this business about cars, we don't provide cars but YOU pay into a matching savings account that every refugee is allowed to set up and purchasing a car is one of the programs goals.---ed]

Another sensitive issue is who qualifies for resettlement. Western countries often prefer intact, well-educated families with familiar religious backgrounds. [Gee, that's news!---ed]

But experts say 80% of the Syrian refugees are women and children, many with war-related injuries or psychological problems that could hamper finding work or going to school.  [These will be very costly refugees who will be bringing the men as soon as they can!---ed]

Please spread the word on this and tell your friends and family members to call their US Senators and say NO to S.744 and NO to importing Syrians! 

Please send this to your facebook and twitter friends!

Update June 11: UN wants Germany to take 10,000, here.  Next we will hear that the UN wants the US to take 50,000 when we have just committed to take 50,000 Congolese.

Sacramento Iraqis have mental problems; no psychiatric treatment readily available

This is not the first time that we have written about Iraqi refugee mental health problems (and I suspect it won’t be the last).

So far, this fiscal year (2013) we have “welcomed” 11,066 Iraqis.  If the Sacramento percentages of suffering delicate Iraqis is representative then we have just admitted:

6,528 cases of insomnia

4,869 depressed people

4,537 people with headaches

4,205 fearful people

…all in need of mental health professionals to help them cope, so that they can find jobs.

LOL!  I bet the percentages of Americans reading this post who are experiencing sleeplessness, depression, headaches and fear are at about the same percentage as the Iraqis as we contemplate what the US State Department and the resettlement contractors are doing to America and how the heck we are going to pay for all of this!

Here is the story from California Health Line:

Many of the 2,700 Iraqi refugees living in the Sacramento area have experienced symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder but struggle to obtain mental health care services, according to a report by the UC-Davis Health System Clinical and Translational Science Center, the Sacramento Bee reports.

The report was conducted with the help of Opening Doors,* a refugee resettlement agency, and the Mesopotamia Organization, an Iraqi self-help agency.

Report Findings

The report analyzed the number of Iraqi refugees experiencing PTSD symptoms and found that:

59% of refugees reported experiencing insomnia;
44% of refugees reported experiencing depression;
41% of refugees reported experiencing headaches; and
38% of refugees reported experiencing fear (Magagnini, Sacramento Bee, 6/3).

Obamacare to the rescue?  Don’t count on it!

According to the report:

65% of refugees reported experiencing long waits for treatment of symptoms;
74% of refugees said needed services were not covered by their health insurance; and
82% of refugees said that the U.S. health care system moved too slowly (UC-Davis report, May 2013).

The Iraqi unemployment rate in the US is at about 67%.   Who knew it was because they have so many mental health problems.

He ( Sarmed Ibrahim) added that the lack of medical treatment is affecting Iraqi refugees’ ability to obtain jobs.

Just a reminder, California takes the most refugees of any state, so its only going to get worse for Medi-Cal.

* Opening Doors is a Sacramento refugee resettlement agency.  Its most recent Form 990 is here.  Out of a revenue stream of $636,186, government grants (taxpayer dollars) supplied $595,700 of their income.

Bowling Green, KY a growing Muslim community, the result of refugee resettlement

Someone needs to tell Senator Rand Paul what is happening in his home town.

A mosque in Bowling Green. Saudi money?

Here is a gushy, politically correct, story (entitled: Growing Diversity) on the huge Muslim population in Bowling Green, but not one word about those Iraqi refugee terrorists convicted there last year.

From the Bowling Green Daily News (hat tip: Robin).    By the way, the Bosnian migration was a Bill Clinton project.  He wanted to help his meatpacking friends get some cheap refugee laborers.  I’m guessing he sold out America in exchange for some campaign cash from meatpacking giants.

But, you can bet that Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was perfectly fine with it, or Kentucky wouldn’t be as high as it is on the list of states “welcoming” refugees.  The Bush State Department contributed also to the demographic change we see today.

Daily News:

When Sulejman Hasanovic moved to Bowling Green 15 years ago from Bosnia, he recalls the few Muslims who lived in the community at the time meeting in homes to worship.

Now, Bowling Green has two mosques and an estimated 7,000 Muslims, who make up about 10 percent of the city’s population. They have emigrated from as many as 23 countries, including Burma, Iraq and Russia.

Even with such a presence, Hasanovic still meets people who aren’t aware of Bowling Green’s Muslim population.

“It’s a big shock for them. They’re like, ‘Oh, you’re here,’ ” he said. “But after 15 years, I think people are getting used to us here.”

Thank USCRI!  That is the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants one of the primary resettlement contractors working in Bowling Green.  And, coincidentally that contractor is run by the woman, Lavinia Limon, who was Bill Clinton’s director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement during the initial Bosnian importation.  Back to the story:

A growing Muslim population

As they have in Bowling Green, Muslims have become part of the national fabric, with about 2.5 million living in the U.S., said Lawrence Snyder, associate religious studies professor at WKU. Bowling Green has one of the highest percentages of Muslims in the state, and it’s rare for a city of its size to have two mosques.

“For the most part, they have been welcomed without much backlash,” Snyder said. “I think that says a lot about the nature of our community.”

The large growth of Bowling Green’s Muslim community occurred in a relatively short amount of time because the city is seen as a good place for refugees to resettle and a lot of those refugees happen to be Muslim, Snyder said.

“In some ways it’s just kind of a quirk of history,” he said.

What the heck—a quirk of history! 

Snyder wants you to believe these Muslim refugees “found their way” to Bowling Green ’cause from a continent away they heard Bowling Green was lovely.  Bowling Green was targeted by the US State Department and its resettlement contractors.  The US State Department planned this demographic change! Maybe someday we will know why!

The rise of Muslim immigrants is not limited to Bowling Green, but is a trend across the nation as well.

Compared to 20 years ago, a smaller percentage of new U.S. green card recipients are coming from Europe and the Americas and a growing number are coming from Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, according to a report from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

In 2012, Muslims made up about 10 percent of new legal immigrants to the U.S., compared to 5 percent in 1992, according to the report.    [This is the study we told you about here.---ed]

To learn more about what “diversity” has brought to Bowling Green, we have an entire lengthy archive on this Kentucky city.  I think we first became aware of problems in Bowling Green in April 2008 when a Bosnian teen would-be robber was shot and killed by a homeowner.  The homeowner was exonerated.

The photo is from this blog which has photos from other mosques in Kentucky as well.

I’m AnnC@refugeewatcher on twitter. Please tweet this and also follow me!

Senator Rand Paul: ‘Immigration reform’ must include improved security measures

Paul: Refugee program deserves more scrutiny!

After reading the opening paragraphs of Paul’s op-ed in the Washington Times today, one might think Kentucky Senator Rand Paul has been reading RRW!  All of the cases he cites have been reported on these pages!

A recent Quinnipiac poll in Iowa puts Paul only 4 points behind Hillary while Rubio gets trounced by her 48% to 37%. Politico

Fazliddin Kurbanov is from Uzbekistan, a Central Asian country that borders Afghanistan. This month, Mr. Kurbanov was arrested in Boise, Idaho, charged with teaching people how to build bombs that could be used to target public transportation. He is accused of conspiring with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which the United States recognizes as a terrorist organization. Mr. Kurbanov was here legally, admitted as a refugee in 2009.

Last year, in Aurora, Colo., Jamshid Muhtorov was arrested and charged with providing material support to the Islamic Jihad Union, which the United States recognizes as a terrorist organization. Like Mr. Kurbanov, Mr. Muhtorov is from Uzbekistan and was also here legally as a refugee.

In 2011, in my hometown of Bowling Green, Ky., Waad Ramadan Alwan and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi were arrested and accused of supporting efforts to kill American troops in Iraq. Both men are from Iraq. Both were also here legally as refugees.

The Bowling Green Daily News reported that these Iraqi refugees “slipped through the vetting process that allowed both of them political asylum in the United States.” Apparently, Mr. Kurbanov and Mr. Muhtorov “slipped through” as well.

Read on.  Then this:

I condemn government inefficiency and incompetence often. The targets for criticism are endless. In the repeating patterns from these refugee and visa cases, however, we see potentially dangerous scenarios in which we cannot afford any excuses.

[....]

These questions are crucial as Congress continues to debate immigration reform, in which vital national security concerns must be addressed. Our visa and refugee programs deserve far more monitoring and scrutiny, and there is something desperately wrong with a “vetting process” that makes so many repeated mistakes.

Instead of fixing the problems, the so-called ‘comprehensive immigration reform bill’ (S.744) weakens security measures already in place but doing poorly!   Most efforts to strengthen security failed in the Senate Judiciary Committee mark-up largely due to heavy lobbying by refugee resettlement contractors who object to anything that slows the flow of refugees into the US (and slows the flow of taxpayer dollars into their coffers!).

Paul concludes by laying down a marker for Harry Reid.  The question then becomes is this a recommendation by Paul or a demand; and will he follow through by holding up the Gang of Eight plus Grover bill *when it reaches the Senate floor?

“I respectfully request that the Senate consider the following two conditions as part of the comprehensive immigration-reform debate: One, the Senate needs a thorough examination of the facts in Massachusetts to see if legislation is necessary to prevent a similar situation in the future. Two, national security protections must be rolled into comprehensive immigration reform to make sure the federal government does everything it can to prevent immigrants with malicious intent from using our immigration system to gain entry into the United States in order to commit future acts of terror.”

The Politico Iowa poll story is here.

*Senator Paul, if you are reading this, please stay away from Grover Norquist!

I’m AnnC@refugeewatcher on twitter. Please tweet this and also follow me!

More on Sweden: NYT can’t figure out why the “youths” are so angry

After yesterday, one of the best days ever at RRW with over 6,000 visitors (nearly 10,000 in three days) from around the world to our post about Swedes fighting back against the immigrant gangs in Stockholm, here, I thought I should look around to see if the mainstream media was mentioning any of this.

There isn’t much in the American press.  Has anyone seen any mention of Swedish immigrant riots on Fox News?

However, a couple of days ago the New York Times was scratching its proverbial head to try to figure out why the immigrants to the “welcoming” social welfare capital of the world were so “unhappy.”  The article was laughable as it wondered about how “welcoming” Sweden could have gone wrong—must be racism, must be the recent cut in welfare, must be a shortage of jobs, racism of course—but one word was completely missing from the piece (two actually).  The ‘I’ word and ‘M’ word could not be found.  Like “Voldemort” in Harry Potter, “Islam” and “Muslim” are words never to be spoken in stories like this one.

Like the evil character in Harry Potter (He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named) aka Lord Voldemort, Islam Must-Not-Be-Named!

NYT:

STOCKHOLM — Eva Bromster, an elementary school principal, was jolted awake by a telephone call late Thursday night. “Your school is burning,” her boss, the director of the local education department, told her.

Ms. Bromster rushed to the school, in the mostly immigrant district of Tensta, north of Stockholm, and found one room gutted by fire and another filled with ankle-deep water after firefighters had doused the flames. It was the second fire at the school in three days.

In Stockholm and other towns and cities last week, bands made up mostly of young immigrants set buildings and cars ablaze in a spasm of destructive rage rarely seen in a country proud of its normally tranquil, law-abiding ways.

Ms. Bromster went on to speculate for the NYT that those immigrants burning schools must be “unhappy.”

Perhaps readers of the NYT are expected to know their world history and geography and know without being told that if the immigrants are from Somalia, Iraq and Syria, most will be Muslims!

The riots, now subsiding, have produced less damage than the earlier ones in Paris and London, which also involved mostly immigrants. But the unrest has shaken Sweden, which has a reputation for welcoming immigrants and asylum seekers, including those fleeing violence in countries like Iraq, Somalia and Syria, and regularly ranks in surveys as one of the world’s happiest places.

Gee, it can’t all be about poverty, they have a world-famous welfare system in Sweden.  The Left cannot let go of the idea they have pushed for decades that Islamic Jihad is related to poverty.  If not poverty it must be racism.

While the violence was concentrated in relatively poor districts, most of their residents have been shielded from dire poverty by a welfare system that is one of the world’s most expansive, despite recent cutbacks.

[....]

The left, which dominated Swedish politics for decades and devised the cradle-to-grave welfare system, has blamed reduced state benefits and a modest shift toward the privatization of public services for the unrest, pointing to an erosion of the country’s tolerant, egalitarian ethos.

Racism 24/7 in Sweden says Iraqi who has been given much:

Husby, Mr. Khamisi said, “looks nice on the outside, but inside it is not nice.” A first-year law student at Stockholm University who did not join in the rioting, Mr. Khamisi acknowledged that “Sweden has given me opportunities I didn’t have in Iraq,” but “I’m not treated the same as a white guy.”

“I feel discrimination all the time,” he said.   [Maybe there is some connection to years of immigrant crime and Muslim-perpetrated violence in cities such as Malmo?---ed]

What a shock! Sweden’s “anti-immigrant” party gaining strength:

The recent violence has been a boon to the Swedish Democrats, the anti-immigration party. Opinion polls suggest the party is gaining in popularity, partly because of the indignation many Swedes feel about being called racists after accepting so many refugees. Immigrants and the Swedish-born children of immigrants make up about 15 percent of the population, and last year Sweden nearly doubled the number of asylum seekers it took in and became Europe’s primary destination for refugees from Syria.

And, one more thing, the NYT had the audacity to suggest it was older immigrants, no mention of the Swedes, who went out on the streets to try to get the “youths” to go home.

We have seen all this coming for the past five years, see our Sweden archives here.  One story from last fall, still makes me laugh.  The Swedish government purchased a rural mansion in which to house Muslim refugees and they protested against living there saying it was full of ghosts—see Tundra Tabloids for the story on the ungrateful “youths.”

I’m AnnC@refugeewatcher on twitter. Please tweet this and also follow me!

Senator Rand Paul: Why are we bringing so many Iraqis to the US?

From the editor:   for all those arriving here, be sure to see Senator Grassley amendment to S. 744 here.

Didn’t we give Iraq a democratically elected government Paul went on to say!  Yup!

Maybe Rand Paul needs to ask his pal Grover Norquist those questions.***

Below is a story I missed last month (again in the wake of the Boston Chechen refugee terrorist act).

And, if Paul keeps this up I will have to withdraw my criticism of  him here when he was kissing-up to the Gang of Eight plus Grover bill.

Tell Senator Paul to keep his distance from Open Borders Muslim sympathizer Grover Norquist. AP Photo

The snarky HuffPo article does mention that two Iraqi refugee terrorists were convicted in Kentucky, but there is another problem with importing the high number of Iraqis.  Iraqis are not finding work (unemployment rate is 67%) and they are heavily supported by welfare (95% are receiving food stamps).  Some are so unhappy that they have returned to the Middle East.

The HuffPo reports the number of Iraqi refugees entering the US through 2012 (64,174), but so far in FY2013 we have already imported 11,066 which means we will top 20,000 this year alone!  Some may be Christians but a large percentage will be Muslims!

The Huffington Post back in April:

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) expressed concern Tuesday morning about Iraqi refugees who might be coming to the United States to commit acts of terrorism.

Speaking about immigration on “The Dennis Miller Show,” Paul said that the United States needs to reexamine its asylum-granting policies and specifically mentioned the number of refugees fleeing Iraq, a country still dealing with intense violence years after the U.S. invasion in 2003.

“We’ve exempted [Paul must mean 'resettled'---ed] 60,000 Iraqis in the last three years. My question is, for one, are any of them intending to do us harm? And two, we won the war in Iraq — why would they be running from a democratic government?” Rand asked an agreeable Miller.

According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the United States has admitted 64,174 Iraqi refugees since 2007…

[....]

In 2011, Paul sounded off about background checks on Iraqis seeking refuge after two Iraqi refugees in Kentucky were charged with conspiring to send weapons and supplies to al Qaeda operatives in Iraq. The two men were successfully thwarted by an FBI sting operation. One was sentenced to serve a life term in federal prison; the other to a 40-year term.

***In 2007, long before the War in Iraq was over Grover Norquist and “conservative” buddy David Keene were pushing for the US to bring in Iraqis.  They,along with Ted Kennedy, said we broke it (Iraq), so the only way to fix it is to “welcome” tens of thousands to the US.

Readers, thanks to the help of a reader from Kentucky, Robin, we have identified Rachel Bovard as the staff person in Senator Paul’s office who is working the immigration issue for the Senator.  I dropped a letter off to her last Wednesday when I was in DC for the State Department hearings asking that the Senator investigate the Refugee Resettlement Program.   Please contact her by phone or e-mail and encourage the Senator to keep asking questions and to oppose S.744 which will make it easier for more refugees and asylum seekers to come to America.

And, while you are at it, warn her about what Rep. Frank Wolf revealed about Grover Norquist on the House floor, here in October of 2011, Wolf:  You can never say again that you didn’t know!

Send her the link to my post too!

Rachel Bovard, Policy Advisor to Senator Rand Paul, phone 202-224-4343 or e-mail: Rachel_Bovard@paul.senate.gov

This should be a banner year for refugee resettlement in America

Iraqis top the list!

At the State Department hearing this past Wednesday in Washington, representatives from contractors US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Church World Service and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society all praised the US State Department for the expeditious arrival (so far) of refugees in FY2013.

So, just now as I checked the Palestinian arrivals at WRAPS, I see that, for only being a little over half way into the fiscal year, we have brought a larger number of refugees than usually arrive by this time.  So far, as of April 30th, we have brought in 39,778 refugees.  We could easily hit 80,000 at that rate which would be higher than previous years.

Waad Ramadan Alwan. His fingerprints were on an IED in Iraq, but he got into the US as a refugee!

Here are the top 5 nationalities of refugees resettled so far:

Iraqis:  11,066  (The State Dept. knows how many of these are Muslims and how many are Christians! See Muslim share of immigrant population growing, here)

Burmese:  9,336

Bhutanese (really Nepal): 5,067

Somalis:  4,387   (This number is so high because they re-opened family reunification for Somalis.  It had been closed  beginning in 2008 due to high levels of fraud detected.  At this rate, 2013 will come close to the highest Bush years.)

Cubans:  2,199  (could Florida’s wealthy Cubans be pushing Senator Marco Rubio?)

Hurry! Someone tell Senator Rand Paul!  Just now as I searched for a photo of  one of Bowling Green, Kentucky’s Iraqi refugee terrorists, I came across a story only a few weeks old where Paul is asking, why the heck are we bringing so many Iraqis?  Maybe Senator Paul doesn’t know that S.744 (The Gang of Eight plus Grover bill) will make it easier and provide more money for refugees and asylum seekers to get into the US!  He could do something about that!—strip all refugee/asylum provisions from the bill and hold separate hearings on the program!

If you are a new reader here, scroll back through the previous few days for stories on Somali, Chechen, and Uzbek refugee terrorists in the US (and Palestinian immigrant terrorists too!).

Former refugee resettlement worker blows the whistle on refugee program failures; calls for moratorium

In a must-read letter to the US State Department a 25-year veteran of the International Rescue Committee (one of the largest of the top nine federal contractors) calls for a moratorium on refugee resettlement until the ORR (Office of Refugee Resettlement) and the volags (contractors) get their act together.

Boston on our minds. The IRC closed its Boston office in 2009. But, several other refugee contractors are still doing business there.

Consider this long-time Boston resident’s comments about fraud and lax security screening in the light of two posts we have written in the last two days, here and here.  It all rings true.

Editor:  This is one more, but, by far the most damning, of the testimony we have been publishing in advance of this Wednesday’s hearing at the US State Department.  All other testimonies we have received are archived here.

(Emphasis below is mine)

Ms. Anne Richard
Asst. Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration
US State Department
Washington, DC. 20520

April 27, 2013

Re: Federal Register Public Notice 8241 Comment Request

Dear Ms Richard:

I worked for the IRC in several capacities from 1980 until 2004 (caseworker, deputy director of the Boston office). In 2004, amid increasing budget constraints, I volunteered for a lay off. At the time, my heart was still into the work I loved and I continued to volunteer for two additional years, spending 3 days a week working on the family reunification program, in which I was considered an “expert.”

Early on, I grew familiar with the fraud that was rampant throughout the program, from the refugees themselves (sometimes forgivable), the overseas OPE’s (not forgivable) and on up to the UN (most unforgivable). Most of my colleagues were also aware of it, and while they often joked about it, almost no one did anything to change or challenge it.

In our work, it was all about “getting the numbers,” often at the expense of legitimate screening for “real“ refugees.

To be honest, I never turned a blind eye to obvious fraud, but had been instructed to give all refugee applicants “the benefit of the doubt.” Yet there were many applications about which I had serious reservations. Some of them were classically laughable ( “I don’t remember my mother’s name… let me make a phone call..”). There were more than a few applicants that I rejected (or referred to another Volag that might not have had the same concerns).

Being directly “in the field,” it’s often difficult to objectively see outside the perimeters of our day to day work.

My major concern was helping people re-unite with close and legitimate family members whose relationship I believed to exist in fact. I can’t tell you how many times, after resettlement that those relationships were revealed to be fraudulent. Sometimes the reasons were understandable from a human kindness point of view ( claiming an orphaned niece as a sister), but often those “relationships” were simple financial transactions.

In my long years at the IRC, I assisted many ethnic groups. I can say without reservation that the Somalis were among the most duplicitous. There was a time when I suggested that they swear on the Quran before signing the affidavit of relationship. Most of the time they would flee and not return. That practice was discontinued, being deemed politically incorrect.

All of us in the field know just how weak the “security screening” was. It’s mostly a very poor and ineffective system of simple name checks from countries that for the most part keep no records.

I personally had some concerns about some Iraqi refugees admitted in the mid 90’s.

One of them went on to become implicated in the Oklahoma City bombings. Being a volag worker, I was very protective of him but, having spent hours with him in the emergency room of a mental hospital.  I still have not been able to say to myself that he was not involved.

It is time for a moratorium on refugee resettlement until ORR and the volags get their act together.

Refugee resettlement affects every community it touches, from Lewiston ME, Minneapolis MN,  to Kansas City KS.

The Volags hide behind their time frame responsibility fences. While I agree that they do not have funding to do much beyond initial basic placement, this is hardly adequate for a successful program, when most refugees end up being on long term public assistance.

The present program is really a “resettle and dump on the community” thing. This is not fair to the communities, the refugees or the volags.

ORR has yet to release long overdue federally mandated reports that show welfare dependency rates or employment figures. Some people say that ORR may have something to hide. I tend to agree.

Refugees are not assimilating for the most part. (some argue that refugees should not “assimilate” but “integrate” but , to me, it‘s all the same, since the majority do neither.). The State Dept continues to fund MAA’s (ethnic based organizations) which only keep immigrant and refugee communities separate and ghettoized.

As someone who spent most of my adult lifetime working in this field, I ask for a serious second look at the current program.

After 9/11, I was, as always, very vocal in defense of refugees and the US refugee program , convinced that no one admitted under the program could possibly be or become a terrorist. Regrettably, my mind has changed.

I now believe that we need a moratorium on continued resettlement until such time as ORR can get its house in order and present a restructured program that can provide safe haven for those truly in need and at the same time guarantee that this currently flawed program does not admit persons unworthy of our kind-heartedness or who are unwilling to become a positive part of our national fabric.

I do think the US should continue to receive some refugees, but it needs to be a much smaller and very carefully monitored program. The current one is a huge mess and a danger to our security and a detriment to our economy and society.

Respectfully,

Michael Sirois

No need for me to say anything further, except maybe to remind readers that S.744 (the Gang of Eight bill in the Senate) provides more funding for resettlement contractors and makes it easier for a greater number and variety of refugees/asylum seekers to gain admission to the US.

About the photo caption:  We wrote about the closure of the IRC Boston office here in 2009.  Visit it!

Lindsey Graham looking for more security screening for certain aliens in S.744

Here is an amendment to S.744 that is probably sending the refugee industry into conniption-fits.  They don’t want any more security screening that slows the flow of third-worlders into the US.  If it fails to pass it will send yet another signal that S.744 will endanger our security.

Graham, Kirk, McCain and Rubio yukking it up in Libya (we did good!) one year before the murder of Americans at Benghazi. Photo perhaps unrelated to this post, but it’s here because it infuriates me!
Photo credit: AP

And, you have to laugh because, should it pass, half the countries we are importing refugees from now would have to be on the list—Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Russia, former Soviet Union countries, even Burma (Rohingya Muslims).

Be sure to see our previous post here about Graham’s other amendment that is clearly in response to the Boston Marathon bomber brothers’ faux asylum claim.

Go here to see the list of all the amendments (hat tip: John).  The list now has a notation about which have passed/failed or been withdrawn.

Here is Graham’s amendment #3:

Purpose: To require additional security screening for certain aliens.

Additional Security Screening

The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall establish and maintain a list of countries or regions that, in the Secretary’s opinion based upon information related to national security, represents a threat, or contains groups or organizations that represent a threat, to the national security of the United States.

Upon determining that any alien or alien dependent  spouse or child is or was a citizen or long-term resident of any such country or region, the Secretary shall conduct an additional security screening to ensure that the alien or alien dependent spouse or child is not a member of or otherwise affiliated with any terrorist or similar group or otherwise presents a threat to the national security of the United States.

We will be watching!

Norwegian towns saying “NO!” to more refugees

The changing face of Norway—Asylum child waiting in line.
Photo : Julien Harneis

Norway’s Refugee Dilemma!

Holy cow!  It’s not just stunning that many towns are saying NO!, it is stunning that they are even given a choice in Norway of whether they want any refugees at all!    Even with our Constitutional tradition of “States Rights,” American cities and states are not given an opportunity to say to the US State Department—sorry we can’t afford more refugees!

Here is the news from The Nordic Page:

Aftenposten writes that only 64 of the 368 municipalities agreed to accept as many refugees as the government wants. 27 municipalities simply reject, while 204 municipalities receive less than the government has requested. 73 municipalities have not even responded to the request of Integration and Diversity Directorate, IMDI.

Later in the article we learn this about who is going to Norway—mostly Muslim young men.

The refugee and asylum seeker definitions are similar to the ones used by the US.

There are two main groups of refugees who come to Norway. The first group consists of asylum seekers who come to Norway on their own initiative, and the second group consists of resettlement refugees. Resettlement refugees are refugees who cannot return to their home country and cannot be granted residence in the country in which they are staying. Resettlement refugees’ cases are processed by and, they are recognised by, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) before they arrive in Norway. The Norwegian parliament, the Storting, stipulates a quota for the number of resettlement refugees Norway accepts each year.  In 2010, Norway accepted 1,300 resettlement refugees. Most of the 2010 quota was reserved for Eritrean, Afghan, Palestinian, Burmese and Iranian refugees. Minimum 55 per cent were to be women and girls, while 15 per cent of the places were for vulnerable female refugees.

Also, there are asylum seekers who come to Norway on their own initiative and apply for protection from the Norwegian authorities. In the end of September, the Directorate of Immigration (UDI) had received 7,299 asylum applications. Many of these applicants come from countries badly affected by war or previous conflicts. The biggest groups of asylum seekers come from Eritrea, Somalia and Afghanistan. Not everyone who applies for asylum in Norway is entitled to protection or a residence permit.

[....]

A total of 163 500 persons with a refugee background were living in Norway on 1 January 2012. These persons accounted for 3.3 per cent of the Norwegian population, and 30 per cent of all immigrants in Norway. The two largest groups were persons with a refugee background from Iraq and Somalia.

[....]

Male refugees were overrepresented, with around 10 200 more men than women as at 1 January 2012.

There is a lot more, read it all!