Poughkeepsie Congressional candidate learns how
secretive federal refugee planning is, by Ann Corcoran 11/1/16
Last week we
told you that
Poughkeepsie, NY had been chosen
by the US State
Department as a new refugee resettlement seed community. In order for
the plans to be this advanced—the office should be open before the end of the
year or in early 2017—there has been at least a year of behind-the-scenes
planning.
Some local elected officials have surely been
in on the plan since the beginning. There are churches, mosques and synagogues (probably
part of a local ‘Interfaith’ group) that are quietly working on the plans and
may very well have instigated the idea.
Oliva, running
for office in NY’s 18th Congressional District has just discovered that
Poughkeepsie has been targeted to receive Syrian and other Middle Eastern and
African refugees within the next few months.
And, there is
also an R
& P Abstract for FY2017
(a planning
document for Poughkeepsie which includes numbers, ethnicity, and other
information about where refugees will work and so forth) that should be made
available to all citizens! In fact, Congressional candidate Oliva should
call Church
World Service and ask for the document.
If he gets a
run-around, then he should call the New York State Refugee Coordinator (see this list) and ask for it. There is
nothing new about this story. Church World Service was the major contractor
where I live and was working quietly to bring refugees into my county seat in
2007 until concerned citizens demanded answers. Because the answers were not
forthcoming, Refugee
Resettlement Watch was born. But, I digress…..
Back to
Poughkeepsie and the Congressional candidate. From WAMC-Northeast
Public Radio: The Republican candidate for New York’s 18th
congressional district was in Poughkeepsie Monday. Phil Oliva is expressing
concern over news that a refugee resettlement office will open in the city.
Phil Oliva, who’s running against two-term
Democratic Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, questioned why he had to learn
from a City of Poughkeepsie resident that Church World Service would be opening
an office in Poughkeepsie.
“We’re not
beating up on Syrian refugees. And I, and the ones that are here, I would treat
them like a neighbor,” Oliva says. “It’s not them that we’re mad at.” “My anger is
directed at our federal officials. Why didn’t they tell us about this and they
just think they can slip it in,” says Oliva. “And why Poughkeepsie? Why the
City of Poughkeepsie?”
“Church World
Service is a vendor of the federal government. The federal government, the
Department of State knows this. They’re doing this, and they didn’t tell anybody locally [I’m betting they did and some local
elected officials are in on it especially if they are Dems!—ed]. That’s
a major, major problem,” Oliva says. “And, as a congressman, I would raise holy
hell in Washington because I’m the federal representative. If I don’t
know about this, I’m either not doing my job, and if somebody’s trying to slip
one past me, then there’s going to be a price to pay and I’d be demanding
answers now, not just sending Carol [Poughkeepsie
resident mentioned above—ed] and others to go ask this one and ask that
one. The buck would stop with me.”
Concerned
citizens better get
registered for this
meeting next week. I warn you this will be a controlled meeting which
means they will probably not allow open questions from the floor. Learn a
little about something called the Delphi Technique for controlling the outcome of a meeting. Here
are all of our mentions of the technique, don’t let them herd you like cattle.
Church World Service will hold an information
session about the new Poughkeepsie office Thursday, November 10. at the
Adriance Memorial Library.
Concerned citizens do
your homework in the next ten days. You have every right to know what the
federal government is planning for your town or city!
Start with ‘Ten
things your town needs to know.’ See RRW’s Frequently
Asked Questions. Then search RRW for ‘New York’ and learn all about what is happening
throughout the state on refugees. Search RRW for ‘Church World Service.’ Also,
search RRW for ‘Rutland’ (VT) to see the controversy there (is your mayor in
cahoots with Church World Service?).
These are the other sites (we hear there are 47 new ones, there
are hundreds of established sites) that we have identified so far. The
huge surge in locations is needed for the highest number of refugees we have
admitted in decades and because they want them planted before a possible Trump
administration takes the reins of government in January.
All planning
proceeds in secrecy. Why? Because they can’t sell this program to a community
when they put all the facts on the table!
Asheville, NC
Rutland, VT
Reno, NV
Ithaca, NY
Missoula, MT
Aberdeen, SD
(may have been thwarted!)
Charleston, WV
Fayetteville, AR
Blacksburg, VA
Pittsfield, MA
Northhampton,
MA
Flint, MI
Bloomington, IN
Traverse City,
MI
Poughkeepsie,
NY
Wilmington, DE
Watertown, NY
(maybe)
Youngstown, OH
(maybe)
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