“These are good-paying jobs, these are federal employees with good health insurance, good salaries and good retirement benefits. This is not like losing a low wage job.”
(Gabriel Pedreira, regional union organizer for the American Federation of Government Employees)
That is if Congress doesn’t move swiftly to bail out the agency that processes applications for citizenship among other things.
The Dems must be going nuts because this is just the season when their push to get more Democrat voters through the citizenship process in time for the November election is usually in full swing.
The story is from the Vermont Digger, a publication I highly recommend to readers interested in what is happening in the people’s republic of Vermont. (Hat tip: Brenda)
Vermont USCIS employees face furlough due to budget shortfall
Thousands of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees across the country, including some based in Vermont, may be furloughed next month due to a shortfall in the federal agency’s budget.
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a “dramatic” decrease in revenue the agency relies on, generated by applications and petitions related to citizenship, according to a USCIS spokesperson. In response, 13,400 USCIS employees nationwide may be furloughed as a cost-saving measure.
Vermont is home to one of five USCIS service centers that are responsible for processing millions of citizenship applications, according to a 2017 report to Congress. The agency employees people primarily in St. Albans and Essex.
During the 2016 fiscal year of the five service centers, Vermont’s had both the highest allowed employee spots of 1,021 and the highest number of working staff of 959 employees.
Union organizer Pedreira
Gabriel Pedreira, a regional organizer for the American Federation of Government Employees, the union that represents USCIS employees said the situation for Vermont is particularly dire.
[….]
According to the USCIS spokesperson, the shortfall is due to a projected drop of 61% in citizenship applications and petitions through the end of the 2020 fiscal year.
[….]
Cross-border travel into the United States has slowed drastically during the Covid-19 crisis, as travel restrictions have been imposed — including the partial closure of the U.S.-Canada border.
[….]
Pedreira said in a time of economic decline in the United States, the loss of pay for USCIS employees affects more than just those workers — it affects the entire economy.
“These are good-paying jobs, these are federal employees with good health insurance, good salaries and good retirement benefits. This is not like losing a low wage job,” Pedreira said. “So these are employees who because they make a good salary contribute to the local economy.”
Who cares about the rest of you low wage nonessential workers hurt by the Chinese Virus—these are good jobs!
Continue reading hereand see that the old curmudgeon Senator Patrick Leahy is on the case.
“We welcome the hate crime charges in this case and urge law enforcement authorities in Vermont and nationwide to take similar actions in response to any bias-motivated or anti-immigrant attacks.”
(CAIR National Communications Coordinator Ayan Ajeen)
You are probably like me!
First question is: What the heck did 24-year-old Vermonter, Chase Atkins, say in a phone message to warrant hate crime charges, and to draw the attention of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR)?
But we aren’t being told exactly what he said! (We have a picture though!).
Addison County man accused of harassing Migrant Justice members
An Addison County man has been accused of harassing members of Migrant Justice, a Vermont-based organization that advocates for farmworkers and immigrant rights. [Be sure to see Migrant Justice’s website—ed]
Atkins could get two years in jail for the phone call!
Chase Atkins, 24, of Addison was issued a citation to appear in Vermont Superior Court in Middlebury in November, Vermont State Police said. He is expected to be charged with disturbing the peace by using a telephone or electronic communications with a hate crime enhancement.
The accusations stem from incidents that occurred in late August. Police say Atkins was visiting a farm on Vermont 22A in Addison at the time, and during his visit, he let the air out of the tires of a Migrant Justice member’s car. The tires were later re-inflated, and no damage was caused.
Police say that several days later, Atkins left a voicemail for Migrant Justice in which he told them not to return to the farms. State police said the message “would have left a reasonable person to feel threatened and intimidated.”
On Sept. 12, Atkins spoke with members of the Vermont State Police about the incident. The Addison County State’s Attorney’s Office then decided to pursue charges.
The Vermont State Police have notified the Vermont Attorney General’s Office under the Bias Incident Reporting System, police said.
Earlier this month, the Associated Press reported that three other people had also been accused of vandalism and harassment targeted at Migrant Justice members in Addison County during the same late August time period.
So the feud began over access to a local fishing area!
Migrant Justice posted on Facebook in August that for a few nights, a group surrounded farmworkers’ houses, yelled insults, broke windows and air conditioning units and returned later to fire guns into the air.
Police have said that those offenses appeared to be part of a feud between local farm families that started as a dispute over access to a fishing area.
Here, jumping on the bandwagon, is an overjoyed CAIR! As I understand it, the migrant workers at these Vermont dairy farms are Hispanic, so CAIR national’s interest tells us a lot.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, which describes itself as the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in America, released a statement Friday welcoming a hate crime charge for the alleged harassment of staff members at Migrant Justice, an immigrant rights group that advocates for farmworkers.
Vermont State Police, in a news release, said Chase Atkins, 24, of Addison, will appear in Middlebury criminal court Nov. 18 to be charged with disturbing the peace by phone. The charge has been enhanced because police believe it was a hate crime.
Last month, CAIR called for a hate crime probe of harassment targeting migrant workers.
CAIR National Communications Coordinator Ayan Ajeen said the group supported the efforts of law-enforcement officers responding to a message Atkins allegedly left on voice mail at Migrant Justice that police said “would have left a reasonable person to feel threatened and intimidated.”
“We welcome the hate crime charges in this case and urge law enforcement authorities in Vermont and nationwide to take similar actions in response to any bias-motivated or anti-immigrant attacks,” Ajeen wrote in his statement.
Ajeen added CAIR has “reported an unprecedented spike in bigotry targeting American Muslims, immigrants and members of other minority groups since the election of Donald Trump as president.”
Of course, we don’t know exactly what Atkins said, but the message is loud and clear—they are watching your every move!
There are smarter ways to make your voices heard like getting politically organized, best to stick with those!
Apparently the Bhutanese/Nepali refugees that the feds, along with one of nine federal contractors, placed in Vermont (to help diversify one of the whitest states in the nation) are moving west. Bhutanese refugees in Columbus didn’t like Trump. https://radio.wosu.org/post/refugees-work-overcome-language-barrier-ballot-box#stream/0
According to a report at Vermont Public Radio, the “new Americans” want to join others of their ethnic group in Columbus, Ohio.
Indeed, they, like many other large groups of refugees we have admitted, are building ethnic enclaves in an ever increasing balkanization of America. Somalis have staked out Columbus, so what happens when two large ethnic groups are scrambling for housing and jobs? (The Bhutanese/Nepalis are not Muslims, btw.)
By the way, if you never saw mypost welcoming you to this blog, to Frauds and Crooks, check it out now. I started it after learning that the Progressives were working on yet another film about the joys of diversity—this time centered on Columbus, Ohio.
Before I get to the latest news, you should know that the George W. Bush State Department said in 2007that the US would take 60,000 Bhutanese/Nepali refugees from the UN camps on the Nepal border(to help out the UN because we had no national interest or involvement in ethnic conflicts in that region).
Fast forward to today and data shows that we now have ‘welcomed’ over 96,000 so-called Bhutanese ‘refugees’ to your towns and cities. Continue reading “Resettled Refugees Leaving Vermont to be with their Growing 'Community' in Ohio”→
Diversity is beautiful alert!
His friend says the mistake was made because: “…it was based on someone who came from a place where women are considered lower class — in Africa, especially in Muslim countries.” But, he is a changed man says the friend who is a “new American” like Jafar.
Here is the story headline,
Jafar Vows to Remain in Burlington Council Race Despite Sexist Tweets
Mohamed Jafar vowed to stay in the race for Burlington’s South District city council seat despite a VTDigger.org storypublished Monday that described a series of sexist tweets the candidate had sent as recently as 2015. Jafar is running in the Democrat Primary for City Council
“I sincerely apologize to those I’ve offended. I sincerely apologize to those who were really surprised” by the tweets, Jafar, 22, told Seven Days. “My personality and character have evolved since then.”
[….]
Though he was contrite on Monday, Jafar, a Progressive running on a platform of equality and civic engagement, said that there’s “no chance” he’d withdraw from the race as a result of the revelations.
[….]
In the race for the South End seat, Jafar faces incumbent Joan Shannon, a Democrat, and Paco DeFrancis, an independent. Shannon and DeFrancis each told VTDigger.org that they were troubled by the tweets. Just a sampling, more tweets at Vermont Digger. https://vtdigger.org/2019/02/11/progressive-burlington-council-candidate-apologizes-sexist-tweets/ Progs contacted by Seven Days on Monday appear to be standing by their man. Councilor Ali Dieng (D/P-Ward 7) said he was initially disappointed by the tweets but would continue to support the candidate. Dieng has campaigned for and spoken publicly in support of Jafar. Both men are New Americans; Jafar is Somali and was born in a Kenyan refugee camp.He was 7 when his family immigrated to the U.S.
Dieng noted that Jafar was young when he tapped out the offensive tweets. “Where the mistake was made, it was based on someone who came from a place where women are considered lower class — in Africa, especially in Muslim countries,” Dieng said. “His life has definitely shown he has changed.”
Every one of you should be getting your own Vermont Digger–like website up and running, how about a Virginia Digger, Minnesota Digger, or my favorite would be a Maryland Digger!
Or if there is something similar in your state, promote it!
Every one of you should be getting your own