See articles below:
1,600 of Australia’s rejected migrants want to come
to America in Obama “dumb” deal, by
Ann Corcoran 5/24/17
This is the
“dumb” deal that the Trump Administration has agreed to honor! (See previous posts here) Supposedly we are taking up to 1,250
rejected asylum seekers (mostly from Muslim countries) that Australia is
housing in detention centers at two off-shore locations after they tried to
enter Australia illegally.
Australia plans to close some of the
detention facilities by the end of August and detainees (those not going to
your US town) have been offered help to get home. So what is the
“deal” part of this?
For the first time in a long time, we get a bit of news about what Australia is
doing for us! Get this! Australia is
taking some Central Americans presently in Central America (they aren’t even in
the US!).
So, I repeat, what are we getting out of the deal?
From 9 News (Australia):More than 1600 refugees have
expressed interest in Australia’s resettlement deal with the United States,
which is expected to offer up to 1250 places. US officials are vetting refugees on
both Manus Island and Nauru to decide who they’ll resettle in America under a
one-off deal struck with the federal government.
The immigration department says the US
considers refugees as cases, which can comprise a nuclear or extended family
group, or an individual. More than 900 detainees have completed their first
interviews with US officials.
Australia will remove itself from the
process on August 31, meaning no more help for refugees returning to their home
countries voluntarily from that date forward, senators were told. Meanwhile,
Australia has begun a refugee screening process for seven cases, 30 individuals
in total, for potential resettlement from Central America in relation to the US
deal. Let me be clear! First, any Central
American migrants presently in Central America are not our problem.
And, consider this! Australia will
take Central American Christians and we get mostly Muslims from the following
countries: Iran, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, and Sudan (4
of those countries are on Trump’s original travel ban list). Adding insult to injury, you pay for
all of this!
Trump spotted
the dumb deal and called it what it is, but….
POTUS might have had the best instincts
during the campaign and shortly after getting in office, but frankly, he is now
being rolled by the bureaucrats (and RINOs in Congress). So much for his
business/management acumen!
If this deal
goes through, it will be Trump’s dumb deal!
Refugee industry wants Trump to admit 75,000
refugees this fiscal year, and another 75,000 in FY18, by Ann Corcoran 5/24/17
The President’s budget for next
year is out, but I have to be completely
honest with you, going through these numbers is not my thing! And, consider
that it is Congress that will in reality set the agenda and budget for refugee
admissions by how much money they are sending to the program and ultimately out
to the federal resettlement contractors.
In searching around this morning, I’ve
found several indicators of what Trump might do, what he has done, what the
budget might dictate, and how the contractors are reacting, and I will leave it
to you (who have more patience to wade through numbers than I) to analyze the
numbers. Just so you
know, as of today (5/24/2017), note (from Wrapsnet) that Trump
is now at 45,172 admitted refugees for this fiscal year (FY2017 ends on September 30th). (Average refugee admissions for the last ten years is around in the
low 60,000s.)
Resettlement contractors happy with FY17 budget!
I missed this: The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society was very happy with the Continuing
Budget for the present fiscal year. See here earlier this month:
Today (May 5) President Trump signed
into law a $1.1 trillion government spending bill to keep the government
running through September 30, the end of the current fiscal year.
Within that massive bill are a few items
of particular importance for refugees who, after fleeing war and persecution,
have either found safety abroad or are beginning new lives in the United
States.
The spending
bill funds the Office of Refugee Resettlement at a level equal to last fiscal
year. ORR oversees the domestic side of U.S.
resettlement and facilitates refugees’ integration and economic success in this
country. This funding
will allow ORR and its partner agencies (including HIAS) to continue providing
services for
refugees, asylees, unaccompanied refugee and asylum seeker children, Cuban and
Haitian entrants, and Iraqi and Afghan Special Immigrant Visa recipients.
Also included is $3.06 billion for Migration Refugee Assistance, which
is $99 million more than the Trump administration requested. This funding will
enable the U.S. State Department to provide humanitarian aid to refugees
overseas as well as resettle refugees in the United States.
The bill also
extends the Lautenberg Amendment, which ensures a safe means of exit for
religious minorities from Iran and the former Soviet Union who are approved to
come to the United States.
[Bunch of hypocrites! They say
Trump can’t legally select Christians over Muslims, but they have supported choosing Jews as a priority from Iran and Russia for decades!—ed]
This funding agreement, which originated in the House of
Representatives and passed both chambers of Congress before it reached the
President’s desk for signature, ensures that the U.S. refugee resettlement
program will be sufficiently funded for the remainder of this fiscal year.
This means that communities in states
across the country will be able to continue doing what they already do so well
every day: welcoming newly arrived refugee families and helping them to
integrate by providing a strong start in their new home.
Today marks a
victory for our partners in Washington and around the country, who have been
advocating for continued U.S. support for welcoming and protecting refugees. But there is still so much more we can
and should be doing.
We continue to urge the Trump Administration to resettle at least
75,000 refugees this fiscal year. That was May 5th.
They have
friends in the Republican Congress! A couple of days ago (May 22nd), the President unveiled
his FY18 budget and here at the Daily Caller we learn that it includes enough funding for 50,000 refugees for FY18 (begins September 30th, 2017), but
just like the CR discussed above, Congress can,
and likely will, add more money for MORE refugees!
Why would
Republicans who control Congress want more refugees? That is easy: cheap immigrant labor for
their big business donors and for the Chamber of Commerce!
The markers are being laid down!
Trump wants 50,000 and they want 75,000 for FY18! Here is what the refugee industry is
saying about this budget, from their lobbying arm in DC yesterday—the Refugee Council USA:
WASHINGTON, DC—Refugee Council USA
(RCUSA), a coalition of 24 U.S.-based non-governmental organizations***
dedicated to refugee protection, urges Congress to fund refugee programs at
levels that reflect the reality that the world is currently experiencing the
worst refugee crisis since World War II. The last thing that the United States
should do during a time of historic refugee crises is to cut lifesaving refugee
budget accounts.
“Now more
than ever, we must allocate funding to programs that align with our American
values of freedom, compassion and opportunity,” Hans van de Weerd, Chair of
RCUSA, said. “The
United States has historically been a global refugee protection leader, both
through strong support for refugees overseas, as well as through funding a
robust domestic refugee resettlement program. We can, and must, continue to do
both. During this
challenging and tumultuous time, we urge the Committees on Appropriations to
demonstrate support for America’s leadership in the world and our longstanding
tradition of welcome by robustly funding these important humanitarian accounts
during the FY 2018 appropriations process.” [You see, they know they can get to
Congress even if Trump has slightly reduced the numbers—ed]
RCUSA is requesting that at least 75,000 refugees be resettled in FY18,
and believes that the Administration’s budget proposal that would support the
resettlement of 50,000 is inadequate and an abdication of U.S. leadership.
RCUSA is advocating for a continuance of
FY17 funding levels, and therefore recommends funding of $1.688 billion for the
Department of Health and Human Services’ Refugee and Entrant Assistance (REA)
account. The REA account, which funds the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR),
is a crucial component of fostering refugee integration and self-sufficiency.
In addition to providing services to resettled refugees, ORR is tasked with
implementing social services for unaccompanied minors, asylees, Cuban and
Haitian entrants, Special Immigrant Visa holders, victims of human trafficking,
and survivors of torture. The President’s budget proposes a 31% cut to refugee
services that help refugees achieve long-term integration and economic success
and assist communities and local partners in welcoming new Americans. RCUSA
also recommends $3.604 billion in funding for the Department of State’s
Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) account. The MRA account provides
overseas assistance to displaced refugees, supports admissions to the U.S. of
the most vulnerable refugees, and funds lifesaving services in humanitarian
emergencies.
RCUSA also strongly opposes the
president’s proposal to eliminate the Department of State’s Emergency Refugee
and Migration Assistance (ERMA) account, which for example, in recent years has
provided stabilizing assistance to countries of first asylum that have given
safety to South Sudanese and Syrian refugees. RCUSA urges a continued funding
level of $50 million for this account in FY 2018.
I’ve included that last paragraph above
because this ERMA fund is nothing to fight about. It is no great shakes for
Trump to have omitted funding for it. Yes, it saves US taxpayers some money,
but readers in the past have confused it with money used to bring refugees to
America. It is for assistance abroad and not for resettlement here, so don’t
let Trump people tell you this is some sort of victory.
The battle
lines are shaping up and it is pretty clear that the refugee industry is going
to the Republican Congress to stop the President from reducing numbers to
50,000, a number that we think is outrageously high for a President who
campaigned on stopping the program, at least temporarily, all together.
Sadly, instead of a fight about abolishing or reforming the UN/US
Refugee Admissions Program (and getting the fraud out of it!) it sure looks
likes it is going to be a fight simply over numbers—50,000, 75,000, or
somewhere in between. At this stage it appears that the Trump
Administration hasn’t any fight left for this issue.
Go here to see all members of the Refugee Council USA. All nine
federal resettlement contractors are a part of this lobbying office. I
suppose one could look at this 75,000 demand as a comedown for them. In
August of 2016 they urged Obama to set the ceiling at 200,000, see here. But, again, they are always
pushing, pushing and pushing.
For new readers, the nine federal
refugee contractors you pay to bring refugees to your towns and cities:
·
Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC) (secular)
·
International
Rescue Committee (IRC) (secular)
·
US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) (secular)
No comments:
Post a Comment