Are these Cuban immigrants refugees?

I bet you were under the impression that the era of Cuban refugees streaming to the US had pretty much ended.  A reader sent this article about a Cuban family being resettled in Texas by the International Rescue Committee and commented about this line in the article:

 The family said they sought asylum in the U.S. three years ago for economic reasons.

The legal definition of a refugee is:

REFUGEE - Any person who is outside any country of such person’s nationality or, in the case of a person having no nationality, is outside any country in which such person last habitually resided, and who is unable or unwilling to return to, and is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of, that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.

So, we don’t just take people, even families like this one who sound like nice people, into the refugee program who are economic migrants as they appear to be.  They need to be persecuted or fear persecution.

What is the big deal?  Well, refugees are entitled to taxpayer subsidized airfare loans, subsidized housing, a case worker provided through the volag and funded by you, food stamps and other forms of welfare.    Other immigrants are on their own.

One bit of information I discovered is that the Cubans don’t even have to be outside of the country to seek asylum, we now process them in Cuba.  See this information.

Map shows why immigrants and refugees are on the move

Here is a link to a map at The Economist that a friend of Judy’s sent today.   It’s a map showing what percentage of citizens’ income is used for food/fuel/drink in most countries of the world, although its purpose is not to show immigration patterns, it is nonetheless instructive.  Of course it’s intuitive that immigrants are flowing to North America, Europe and Australia because of the strong economies in those democratic and capitalist countries.   I hope you find it as interesting as I did—to see economies depicted on a color-coded world map.

Earth shattering news from the WaPo: African immigrants support Obama

Somalis, Ethiopians and Kenyans,  many having entered the US as refugees which puts them on the fast track to citizenship, are organizing for Democratic candidate for President, Barack Obama.  Wow!  Can you believe it!  Here is what the Washington Post had to say:

From coast to coast, Somali, Ethiopian, Nigerian and Kenyan Americans are knocking on the doors of their fellow African immigrants, registering new citizens to vote, raising money and preaching Obama’s mantra of hope and change. They hope that his prominence will change their status as one of the nation’s least-recognized immigrant groups, and that he will one day provide aid to help ease the turmoil and poverty in countries such as Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan.

One Somali said Obama is like a son, one of them.

“Obama is one generation away from Africa,” said Eyow, who immigrated to the United States nearly 30 years ago. “I have nothing against my brothers and sisters, black people who were born here, but his father is like me. His father was an immigrant….”

Although Eyow says he has nothing against his black brothers who were born here, we have been chronicaling the tensions that are building in the black community partially resulting from the growing realization on the part of native-born black Americans that immigrants are taking their jobs (among other brewing conflicts).

The Post goes on to report that the Migration Policy Institute (in the right hand column you can check for the number of foreign born voters in your state) says the numbers of African immigrants aren’t high enough to swing the election, but organizers have figured out how to have influence in key states like Virginia.

Endale said that in the District, Ethiopians for Obama will not try to influence the national race between Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain (Ariz.). Instead, the group will target Ethiopian households in the Northern Virginia suburbs.

“There’s a possibility of getting 10,000 Ethiopians in Virginia,” Endale said. “That could be a game-changer.”

Is anyone checking to make sure they are all citizens and eligible to vote?

Brenda Walker at VDARE sends a few zingers on Refugee Resettlement

Thanks to Paul for sending me to VDARE to read Brenda Walker’s article on the Bush Administration’s celebration of World Refugee Day last month.   Here is a sample of Walker’s no-holds-barred writing: 

The UN’s brief movie about the day suggests that we are surrounded by refugees and should do more to make them feel at home. Some of us would be more inclined to be generous if the displaced were to remain in their home countries, where their upkeep is also less costly. But then professional do-gooders of the Refugee Industry would have to relocate away from their comfy homes to scruffier Third World accommodation.

One of the very helpful things VDARE does is put into its articles loads of links so you can continue to edcucate yourself on the subject.   Note there are many links to the works of Thomas Allen who has an extensive archive on Refugee Resettlement at VDARE and is one of only a handful of people across the country  considered  an expert on the subject (other than those who make a living at it!).

VDARE itself has been a leader in publishing information on refugee resettlement for many years.   

I met Brenda (from CA) at an immigration meeting last year and she is an expert on environmental issues and how the environment is impacted by out-of-control immigration.   She is also passionate and knowledgeable about women’s issues, specifically female genital mutilation, as those issues relate to immigrants.

See Walker’s extensive archive at VDARE here.   If you are one of the readers of RRW who has expressed concern about the impact of immigration on the environment and asked why the big environmental groups are shunning the issue, you can find the answers in Brenda’s archived articles. 

Office of Refugee Resettlement Annual Report to Congress, where is it?

Sorry our “your state” page is so incomplete.  I just figured you could get your state information from our link to the ORR Annual Report to Congress, but I notice the link isn’t working (at least for me).  

If the new report is out would someone send me the link at Ann@vigilantfreedom.com!   Thanks!

Want to be a volag?

Last week the State Department released the FY2009 ‘Funding Opportunity Announcement’ which is all the rules and regulations for being chosen as a government contractor to resettle refugees.   It is very instructive and demonstrates too how the same volags (some are non-profit church groups) have a lock on the contracts year after year.   One has to have experience and have been a non-profit for three years among other requirements.   How would some new outfit ever get experience?   I doubt anyone is giving newbies a few refugees to practice with! 

Although now that I think about it, maybe that isn’t such a bad idea.  I doubt they could mess up any worse then some of the long-time contractors have recently.

Fact sheet on Iraqi Refugee processing available

In case you are interested in the process involved in bringing Iraqis to the US, here is a handy fact sheet published at Immigration Daily.  

Just a reminder that we have a category entitled ‘where to find information’ if you are one of those readers trying to sort out the complex business of refugee resettlement.

 

Saskatoon, Canada getting 200 refugees soon

Just as in the US, Canada is spreading out refugees across its entire geographic landscape (see map for Saskatoon).   World Refugee Day yesterday inspired all sorts of news releases, it was a great news ‘hook’ to repeat how great refugees are for communities.  

The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, today announced funding to help refugees settle and succeed in Saskatoon.

The Saskatoon Open Door Society will receive over $260,000 and Global Gathering Place will receive over $65,000 to help up to 200 refugees begin their new lives in Saskatchewan.

“Canada is a blessed country, and the Government of Canada is committed to helping those truly in need to begin their new lives in Canada,” said Minister Finley. “As we celebrate World Refugee Day later this week, these services will help them along their journey. The hopes and dreams they bring with them will help build a richer and stronger Canada.”

Falling on June 20, World Refugee Day is an annual opportunity to honour the courage of the millions of refugees and displaced people around the world.

This post is just FYI for our Canadian readers.  There is some contact information at the end of the news release in case you need to reach Canadian refugee officials.  You might want to find out where the 200 new refugees are coming from.

Number of Muslims by country

Wikipedia provides a handy chart that lists the countries of the world with the number of Muslims in each and the percent of the population they comprise.

The percentage of Muslim population of each country was taken from the US State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report 2004 [1]. Other sources used were CIA factbook [2] and adherents.com [3]. In a few cases of conflicting estimates, the average of lowest and highest estimates was calculated. The total population of each country was taken from census.gov [4] (2005 estimates).

The site also lists the top 60 countries by Muslim population and percent of population.

Why resentment against refugees?

This tiny little mention in a blog today reminded me to once again try to explain why there is on-going resentment toward refugees in local communities.  We saw it in our county last year and we have written about it on many occasions at RRW.

Here is the notice that inspired this post: 

Cars for Refugees

LiNK is seeking cars to be used by North Korean refugees resettled here in the US. If you are able to donate and would like more information, please email info (at) linkglobal.org with the subject headline “Cars for Refugees.”

All contributions are, of course, tax-deductible!

By the way, we have guietly started taking North Korean refugees.  Up until 2005 the ORR database shows no refugees from North Korea, but 2006 and 2007 indicate we are now taking a handfull.    But, I guess its enough to encourage some NGO to solicit cars for them.

Refugees enter the US with all sorts of goodies including air fare (technically they are supposed to return this loan money, but many don’t), a housing stipend, medical care, food stamps and the list goes on.   Also, the volags (voluntary agencies contracted to resettle refugees) can participate in a special government program (Match Grant) that returns cash to the volags for junk they collect—including used cars. 

I don’t know if this particular organization (with this advertisement) is getting taxpayer cash for cars, but they are seeking donations of cars for this particular group of refugees.

So, it’s no wonder that Americans living with not much, such as those we mentioned recently in Roanoke, VA or the Quad-cities area of IL,  get resentful.   And, no matter where the refugees are resettled stories abound that refugees get special treatment and it makes for very bad relations in communities where citizens ask, ”What about our own poor people?”

See this early post on refugees getting cars and then go read this 2003 VDARE article by Thomas Allen that explains in more depth how (it’s no rumor), that goodies (and cars) flow to refugees.