Editor:  This is cross-posted from Refugee Resettlement Watch this afternoon.  I had planned a new post for ‘Frauds and Crooks’ but was so annoyed by this news about my governor’s action that I posted this at RRW and want you to see it too (in case you don’t read RRW).

 

We are thrilled with this decision.”

 (Zainab Chaudry, director of CAIR Maryland outreach)

Of course they are, they have apparently been lobbying him heavily. Just as you can be sure they were busy in most states making sure that governors, especially Republican governors, toed the line.

I told you about Hogan’s consent yesterday, here.  I guess it shouldn’t have been a surprise because he has always been a ‘never Trumper’ so supporting the President on reform of the UN-driven Refugee Admissions Program wasn’t at the top of his priority list.

So far I am not seeing any Maryland county governments begging for refugees (although I can think of several ready to invite more ‘diversity’ and more poverty to their counties).

From WBAL-TV:

Hogan letter: Maryland will keep door open to refugees

BALTIMORE —
The Council on American-Islamic Relations is praising Gov. Larry Hogan’s decision to agree to receive refugees this year while criticizing President Donald Trump’s policies.

Hogan made his decision well before a Jan. 21 deadline set by the Trump administration.

In a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Hogan wrote, “We are willing to accept refugees who the federal government has determined are properly and legally seeking refugee status and have been adequately vetted.”***

“They are a great asset to Baltimore and to Maryland,” said Ibrahim Abusway, community development of Islamic Circle of North America Relief USA.

“We are thrilled with this decision,” said Zainab Chaudry, director of CAIR Maryland outreach.

The president imposed the requirement for cities and states to make a decision as to whether or not they would accept refugees after he cut the total number of refugees the United States will accept to a historic low of 18,000.

“This is just another step that is indicative of the Trump administration’s anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-refugee agenda,” Chaudry said.

While Maryland has accepted nearly 10,000 refugees under the Hogan Administration since 2016, Hogan was among 31 governors who wanted to refuse Syrian refugees in 2015.  

“In 2018, CAIR had the opportunity to actually introduce Gov. Hogan to a couple Syrian refugee families that were settled in the Baltimore area, and not only was he able to hear more about their personal story, the circumstances that led them to flee their country and civil war and strife and to settle here in the United States, but he also learned about how they were launching a small business,” Chaudry said.

Just so you know, by very large margins (even under Trump), the vast majority of Syrians entering the US are Muslims.

*** This vetting issue is a red herring!  Hogan surely knows that you can’t robustly vet anyone when they come from failed states.  The vetting in many cases involves nothing more than asking the refugee if he/she has associated with any terrorist groups.  What do you think they will say!  Lying to infidels is permitted in the Islamic ‘faith.’

And, besides, the State Department’s Funding Guidance expressly says a governor can’t put any conditions on his/her letter.  However, Hogan did place a condition—he said they must be “legally vetted refugees” (whatever that means!).  See his letter here.

Was that so he could throw a little bone to all of you who might be concerned about who he is welcoming to Maryland?

Here is what the Funding Guidance says:

The letter may consent to initial resettlement for refugees only in certain localities within the state, but otherwise must convey the state government’s unambiguous and unconditional consent to accept the initial resettlement of any refugee in that state in FY 2020. The consent may not be conditioned on acceptance of certain refugees or on any other factor, such as refugees’ race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin.

For the umpteenth time—why are the squabbling factions in the Middle East our problem?  They have been fighting among themselves for centuries and we are then expected to take them in—why?