Refugee Rally Bombed

1 month early: Obama tops goal of 10,000 Syrian refugees, 'Puny crowd' of 'hardcore lefties' holds rally at Washington Monument, by Leo Hohmann, 8/28/16

As pro-refugee activists gathered for a rally on the mall in Washington, D.C., Sunday, the Obama administration announced that it will meet its goal of importing 10,000 Syrian refugees on Monday, more than a month ahead of schedule.

As of the end of the day Friday, the administration had resettled 9, 902 refugees from Syria in the current fiscal year that began on Oct. 1, 2015, according to the U.S. State Department refugee database. At least another 98 were scheduled to arrive Monday, putting the total at more than 10,000 with more than a month left in the fiscal year.

On the mall around the Washington Monument Sunday, the mood was celebratory. An African man from France was rapping in French. Another refugee was reciting poetry about the world’s oppressed and displaced. One man carried a sign that read, “I LOVE Syrian refugees,” and the sound of Middle Eastern music simmered in the background. One sign read, “Displaced Syrians yes, Donald Trump hell no.”

But most of the approximately 1,000 people who turned out for the rally on a hot and muggy Sunday were your typical white, liberal Americans, said Ann Corcoran, author of the Refugee Resettlement Watch blog who attended the rally “out of curiosity.”

“Most of those here are white, with a few African refugees and a few Middle Eastern looking people,” she told WND. “It’s really a puny crowd. These are your hardcore lefties who are out here. I’m gonna guess there might be 1,000 people here max; I’m gonna be really generous in saying that. They told people to show up in orange T-shirts. I want to say there are maybe 250 in orange T-shirts.”

Around 1,000 people gathered to show their support for refugees from Syria and other countries Sunday on the mall in Washington, D.C. A few counter-protesters showed up and were asked to leave (Photo: Ann Corcoran of the Refugee Resettlement Watch blog)

The fact that Obama has reached his goal of importing “at least 10,000” Syrians ahead of schedule means he could easily increase the number to 11,000 or more by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. And then there is next year.

Obama is expected to announce at a United Nations refugee summit on Sept. 20 his goal for fiscal 2017. Some observers expect him to up the ante considerably and announce plans to bring many more than 10,000 in fiscal 2017, which begins on Oct. 1. Hillary Clinton has already said she plans, if elected, to import 65,000 Syrians in 2017, which would represent a 550 percent increase over Obama’s 10,000 in fiscal 2016.

“I’m predicting 65,000 Syrians in 2017 if Hillary is elected,” Corcoran said. “It’s outrageous to us, but that’s what she said. So let’s take her at her word.”

Congress is the only institution with the power to curtail the influx of refugees, but so far it has given Obama full funding for his expanded refugee resettlement.

“The people who are fully responsible are Mitch [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell and [House Speaker] Paul Ryan,” Corcoran said. “Our people have got to get that in their heads. They’ve got to stop with Obama, Obama, Obama and get this through their heads. Those are the people who could stop this in a heartbeat if they wanted to.

Obama already said he wants $2.2 billion for the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and they can hold it at $1. 67 billion or cut it back. And this is just for the ORR portion of the budget not the DHS or State Department’s portion.

“But this is what our people have to understand. We’re impotent if all we do is keep squawking about Obama. We need to tell our people the buck stops with Ryan and McConnell. We could save all these new towns from becoming resettlement centers if nothing else.”

The 10,000 figure for fiscal 2016 was considered modest by most Western standards. Canada, for instance, is importing 50,000 Syrians this year, and the United Kingdom promised to take 20,000.

States that have received the most Syrian refugees since October 2015 are:

Michigan: 1,028
California: 1,004
Arizona: 766
Texas: 735
Pennsylvania: 600
Illinois: 569
Florida: 527
New York: 538
North Carolina: 450
Ohio: 424
Georgia: 313
Connecticut: 301

Among the cities being hit hard with Syrian refugees are Chicago with 424; Troy, Michigan with 295; Dearborn with 220; Glendale, Arizona with 369; Tucson with 206; Phoenix with 191; Houston with 222; Dallas with 264; Buffalo with 217; Syracuse with 156; Atlanta with 210; and New Haven, Connecticut, with 240.

Smaller cities also being hit hard - Smaller cities getting pummeled include Stone Mountain, Georgia, with 58; High Point, North Carolina, with 103; and Clinton Township, Michigan, with 211.

Many other cities, such as Helena, Montana; Twin Falls, Idaho; and Spartanburg, South Carolina, have been named as possible targets to receive Syrian refugees, but plans to deliver them have been delayed due to outcries of protest from local citizens.

Amid the pro-refugee crowd on the Washington Mall Sunday were several counter-protesters. Counter protesters told to leave One man held a sign that said, “Saudi Arabia Refuses Muslim Refugees” while another had a sign that touted websites that provide information on the negative aspects of resettling Muslim refugees in America, including Corcoran’s Refugee Resettlement Watch, Understanding the Threat and the Center for Security Policy. “The organizers got mad and told our people they had to leave,” Corcoran told WND.All counter-protesters were told to leave (Ann Corcoran of the Refugee Resettlement Watch blog)

The Obama administration started out slowly with the Syrian refugee program, but in April announced it would slice the vetting period from at least 18 months down to three months, which led to a “surge” of refugees from the war-torn country. They have arrived at a rate of nearly 400 a week since May.

More than 98 percent of Syrian refugees who have entered the U.S. since last October have been Muslim, and the vast majority of those have been Sunni Muslim, the same sect as the Islamic State, al-Qaida, Boko Haram, al-Nusra Front, al-Shabab, Hamas and many other terrorist groups. The Islamist regime leading Turkey into the grips of Shariah law is also Sunni.

And the Syrians make up only about a quarter of all refugees coming to the U.S. from jihadist-infested areas around the globe. The Obama administration is bringing in a total of 85,000 refugees from all countries in fiscal 2016. About half of the 85,000 will be Muslim, according to a study by Pew Research Center.

http://www.wnd.com/2016/08/1-month-early-obama-tops-goal-of-10000-syrian-refugees/

Comments

The big rally for refugee resettlement reminds me of the rally to welcome the aliens in the movie “Mars Attacks”.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader