And, an even bigger shock is that NBC is featuring this lengthy investigation into charges of corruption, fraud and bribery in the agency that selects refugees for your American towns and cities.
Featured in what is billed as a first installment of a seven-month-long investigation is Africa and specifically Somali resettlement from the huge camp, Dadaab, run by the UNHCR, that I mentioned in a post here recently.
It is a huge story both in impact and in its length, so I’ve snipped a bit here for you to get the gist of it.
Money, and lots of money, helps ‘refugees’ move to the head of the line and in this opening segment we learn that a likely crook is living in Minnesota (I know don’t laugh!).
Continue reading “Shock! Fraud and Corruption Rampant in UN Refugee Resettlement Program”
Tag: refugees
Local Refugee Offices Closing as Trump Administration Keeps Refugee Numbers Low
Of course there isn’t much to cheer about as you know tens of thousands of migrants are streaming across our southern border, most claiming they are refugees seeking asylum.
The flow that has definitely slowed is the US Refugee Admissions Program refugees that are selected initially by the United Nations, followed by US State Department approval and resettlement by one of nine federal resettlement contractors who distribute them to most states. (One of many posts on the contractors at RRW is here.)
The work of the contractors is almost completely funded by you.
Office closures reported this week are the result of the federal slowdown in admissions (slowdown in money to the contractors) and because these resettlement offices could not find enough local financial support to keep their doors open, a fact that demonstrates one vital point:
There is not enough support by the public generally for refugee resettlement!
Before I get to the two office closures I heard about this week, one in Ohio, the other in Virginia, here is a bit of information about where we are at the 6-month-mark for FY19.
(Fiscal year 2019 runs from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019.)
Continue reading “Local Refugee Offices Closing as Trump Administration Keeps Refugee Numbers Low”
The Refugee Travel Loan Fraud
What is the world coming to?
Yesterday we learned that the Southern Poverty Law Center could (fingers crossed!) implode and now The New York Times (The New York Times!) reports on the deep dark secret about travel loans to refugees that you pay for with your tax dollars.
I first heard about the travel loans in 2007 and wrote about them from time to time at Refugee Resettlement Watch, but I don’t recall any major publication saying much about them and certainly not with a questioning tone about how the nine federal ‘non-profit’ refugee contractors benefit from collecting the loans.
For many of you it’s bad enough that we give no-interest loans and that a large number are never repaid, but for me the scam has always been that the contractors (six are supposedly ‘religious’ charities) benefit financially from the deal.
Continue reading “The Refugee Travel Loan Fraud”
Tennessee States' Rights Case involving US Refugee Program to be Argued by Top Appellate Attorney
As perhaps a signal that this case is incredibly important, the Thomas More Law Center will be represented in the case by a renowned appellate attorney the Center announced yesterday.
Because I don’t want to show my ignorance about the ins and outs of legal cases, I’m posting most of this breaking news in its entirety.
And, am directing you back to my many posts on the case at Refugee Resettlement Watch.
The gist of the argument, for those of us not steeped in the law, asks the question: does the federal government have the right to dump budgetary costs on a particular state’s taxpayers by its decisions in Washington to place refugees in states that have already said they do not want to participate in the US Refugee Admissions Program?
Frankly, many of us who want to see the US Refugee Program dumped or reformed had high hopes for a political solution via the Trump Administration and a Republican Congress, but Trump went no further than temporarily reducing the numbers. And, Republicans under the leadership of Paul Ryan clearly had no stomach for dealing with this tough issue.
Now we will see if the courts will force this critical reform.
Continue reading “Tennessee States' Rights Case involving US Refugee Program to be Argued by Top Appellate Attorney”
Syrian Sob Stories Help Explain Fraudulent Use of Refugee Status
I’ve only said this about a million times (exaggerating of course!): To be a legitimate refugee one must claim that he or she would be persecuted for one of several reasons if the refugee claimant should return (or be forced to return) to his or her home country.
The wannabe refugee makes that claim and is then processed by the UN which arranges resettlement to a third country!
Imagine my surprise to see this news that gives me the rare opportunity to praise the United Nations!
Continue reading “Syrian Sob Stories Help Explain Fraudulent Use of Refugee Status”