More on Rutland: Refugee resettlement is about
(your) money, by Ann Corcoran 11/22/16
It’s hundreds of
thousands of dollars in grant money that goes towards transitioning the
refugees. In Rutland, VT the controversy about
whether to bring mostly Syrian refugees to the city in the coming months
continues to simmer. The brakes are on right now, as we told you here and here recently, because the federal contractors know they
can’t get out too far ahead of their money (YOUR money, federal grants).
Frankly, the contractors have
virtually no money of their own especially the contractor in Rutland (USCRI here). For new readers, USCRI*** is the contractor working
in Twin Falls, Idaho too.
There is nothing earth-shattering in
this, another story on Rutland, but I was interested to see how overtly the
promoters of resettlement are willing today to talk (they didn’t 9 years ago)
about the need for federal bucks to make the resettlement work.
Those promoting bringing the Syrian
Muslims (flavor of the year!) to Rutland aren’t shelling out their own money,
neither is the state of Vermont (at least on the surface, they will, however,
shell out plenty for ‘services’ and educating the kids as time goes on.).
On this flavor of the year comment (I
can hear the rage!), I was struck by a thought when I wrote about the rally for Syrians in
Charleston, WV and we see it here in Rutland too.
Would the resettlement advocates be
so eager if they were going to be getting mostly impoverished and boring
Christians from the DR Congo or
Burma, or is this fervor for Syrians and Iraqis (mostly Muslims) fueled by a
desire to be just kinda cool?
Here is the bit of the story
at WCAX.com I want you to see: An opportunity about 100 Syrian and Iraqi refugees hope to find in
Rutland. “It’s frankly just a lot of unknowns,” said Rutland Mayor Chris
Louras.
After Donald Trump’s win, Rutland officials are not sure whether their
resettlement plan for the refugees will be affected. “There’s the potential
that we may only see two families in before he’s inaugurated. We don’t know
what happens at that point,” Louras said.
President-elect Trump campaigned
with anti-immigrant rhetoric, saying he plans to cut refugee funding and put a
temporary halt on accepting Muslims.
“Without that federal funding for the program, there’s no mechanism to
resettlement to the United States,” Louras said. [If people really were driven by
humanitarianism, they would be privately funding resettlement, one family, one
church at a time!—ed]
Right now with all the
uncertainty, USCRI isn’t going to go out on a financial limb and hire staff and
open an office!
It’s hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant money that goes towards
transitioning the refugees. The Vermont
Refugee Resettlement Program Rutland plans to hire three full-time case workers
and two part-time translators to work with the refugees on education and
employment. “We’re still planning as if these people are coming — we have to,”
Louras said.
So is Marsha Cassel, a Rutland High
School teacher and active member of the group, Rutland Welcomes. And, check out
this next line. The good citizens of Rutland are bringing over their old
furniture, but USCRI gets to give it a monetary value so they can tell the feds
they have some skin in the game. The feds expect the contractors to show
they have contributed something, and since they don’t have cash (especially
USCRI 97% taxpayer funded) they get to use old furniture and volunteer hours
(your volunteer hours are given a cash value!) to prove they are contributing.
In the Rutland Herald’s former
printing press room, hundreds of pieces of donated furniture await new owners.
“They’re coming with nothing but hope, so we are just hoping to get them
started,” Cassel said.
The WCAX.com story continues with
much discussion about screening terrorists, but I think the greater threat is
what we are seeing in Minnesota where the generation of cute little kids we supported
grows up to be jihadists.
https://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com/2016/11/22/more-on-rutland-refugee-resettlement-is-about-your-money/
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