Refugees in Arkansas

Catholic Charities eyeing Arkansas for new resettlement site, by Ann Corcoran, 5/23/16

Not enough hours in the day to keep up anymore. The US State Department and its contractors are on a roll trying to set up new resettlement sites to accommodate Obama’s increased numbers especially the mostly Syrian Muslims on the way.

Frank Head (Catholic Charities) helped start a new group Canopy NWA for the purpose of creating a new refugee resettlement office in northwest Arkansas.

http://www.arkansas-catholic.org/news/article/4641/Canopy-group-will-make-sure-refugees-are-covered

Here is news from the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette: Arkansas took in about 1 out of every 1 million refugees who sought shelter worldwide last year — 13 of the 14.5 million refugees accounted for by the United Nations.

A local group called Canopy NWA wants to raise that number despite a contentious atmosphere about the country’s obligation to alleviate what the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees has called a severely unfair burden on a few countries.

“We’re talking about one or two families a month,” Frank Head of Catholic Charities said at the group’s May 4 meeting. “People wouldn’t even notice if we didn’t talk about it.”  [I am sure they would like to get the refugee flow moving before people start talking about it!—ed]

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is one of the nine charitable organizations authorized to accept refugees into the country through agreements with the U.S. Department of State.

The group operates in Northwest Arkansas through Catholic Charities Immigration Services. Catholic Charities sent a representative to the May 4 meeting, held at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Fayetteville. So did the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, another of the nine authorized groups.

Nina Zelic, director for refugee services for the Lutheran organization, told the dozen interested attendees her group is evaluating the region as a potential site for opening another chapter. More here.

If you are from Arkansas, you need to educate your governor.  It looks like he thinks this is some sort of private initiative! 

https://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com/2016/05/23/catholic-charities-eyeing-arkansas-for-new-resettlement-site/