The Syrian refugee issue has been in the news a lot lately, though the focus has been mainly on Europe. Many Americans, however, are apprehensive about the likelihood that some of the refugees will end up in their communities. AJ Kern, writing for the St. Cloud Times, hints at a way to determine if refugees will be coming to your community:
“On July 16, HUD provided its overreaching final version of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule known as AFFH.
Claiming to further the purposes and policies of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, HUD will dangle federal dollars as an incentive to direct communities to ‘take significant actions to overcome historic patterns of segregation, achieve truly balanced and integrated living patterns, promote fair housing choice, and foster inclusive communities that are free from discrimination.’”
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“How could this happen you ask? Well, while you were paying attention to the U.S. Supreme Court decisions on Obamacare and same-sex marriage, a third decision granted the federal government the right to coerce neighborhoods to integrate based on racial quotas.
The 5-4 court ruling in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project determined that housing policies that are not intentionally discriminatory can nonetheless be discriminatory because they have ‘disparate impacts’ or adverse impacts on minorities, refugees and immigrants.”
Hence, in order to retain eligibility for community development block grants, a community will be forced to go along with accepting HUD’s new stringent federal zoning requirements.
Jeannie DeAngelis writing for American Thinker further illuminates this dilemma:
“For those who still don’t get it, this is not about hardworking black and Latino Americans buying and moving into white neighborhoods where they are welcome to live as free citizens, this is about the government socially engineering what they perceive to be WASP neighborhoods with a deluge of third-world types and refugees from Muslim countries who, once here, open bodegas and build mosques.
And if that’s not disturbing enough, after the complexion, religion and language of a neighborhood has been altered to the government’s liking, according to the 64-page White House Task Force (emphasis on force) on New Americans April 2015 ‘Strengthening Communities by Welcoming All Residents: A Federal Strategic Action Plan on Immigrant and Refugee Integration’ prospectus, Barack Obama has plans to safeguard against the residents balking. To make sure ‘newcomers’ are greeted in a friendly manner, Obama’s blueprint proposes the imposition of ‘Welcoming Communities.’”
A group of resettlement contractors initiated a White House petition, which originally called upon President Obama to admit 65,000 Syrians into the United States in FY2016. The petition has been modified and is now requesting that 70,000 Syrians be admitted to the US, instead of 65,000. The petition had garnered 39,828 signatures at the time of this writing and therefore needed an additional 60,172 in order to get the 100,000 signatures needed.
Congressman Lou Barletta (R-PA) has expressed concern over the potential threat posed by largely unvetted Syrian refugees entering the US. The congressman pointed out what should be blatantly obvious: Syria is a hotbed of terrorism and the lack of an effective refugee vetting process endangers Americans.
Even Muslim countries are refusing to take in Syrian refugees, due to the risk of terrorism. According to a Breitbart article: “Five of the wealthiest Muslim countries have taken no Syrian refugees in at all, arguing that doing so would open them up to the risk of terrorism. Although the oil rich countries have handed over aid money, Britain has donated more than Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar combined.”
For those who doubt claims citing the potential for terrorism, two al Qaeda affiliates, in 2012, who were living in Kentucky at the time of their indictment, were able to enter the US legally through a resettlement program for “vulnerable” refugees. And, that’s just one example:
“At a December 4th, 2012 hearing on terrorist exploitation of refugee programs, it was revealed that the Kentucky case was not a one-time glitch in the system. Chairman of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, Patrick Meehan (R-PA), voiced some concerns, testifying that the ‘threat posed by refugees with ties to al Qaeda is much broader than was previously believed.’ This is basically a reiteration of the FBI’s then-director Robert Mueller’s testimony, last year, before a House Intelligence Committee in which he admitted having ongoing concerns about individuals who may have been resettled here in the United States that have some association with al Qaeda in Iraq. In addition to that, immigration officials have given the FBI the names of roughly 300 Iraqi refugees, for further investigation.”
According to a Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) investigation, “common criminals, war criminals, international fugitives and terrorists have all used the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) and its related asylum provisions for entry into the United States.” CIS Fellow, Don Barnett, in his report titled “Refugee Resettlement – A System Badly in Need of Review” has outlined the main issues the resettlement program needs to address. Here are just a few:
- The program is rife with fraud, profitable for hundreds of “non-profit” organizations, and is a potential channel for terrorism into American communities.
- Policy about who is admitted as a refugee to the United States has been surrendered to the U.N. and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that stand to benefit from the program
- Meaningful background checks are difficult to obtain for refugees admitted from countries without reliable government records. Common criminals, war criminals, international fugitives, and terrorists have all used the USRAP and its related asylum provisions for entry into the United States.
- Bribery of U.N. officials is commonly reported among those attempting to secure refugee admission to the United States.
- Currently the rate of background checks provided for refugees from certain countries and the denial rate based on those background checks is classified information. This data should be made public.
- U.N. News Service report found that Somalis are using United Nations refugee camps in Zambia as “stepping stones” to the United States. According to the story, the Somalis first settle in Zambian refugee camps and then slip into neighboring Zimbabwe and Namibia. From there, they “filter into South Africa before negotiating their way onto Mexico-bound ships. Once in Mexico, they can easily walk into the USA as their final destination.
- The lack of secure official records from most refugee-sending countries would mean we can’t be sure even about given names and ages.
- Risk assessment of some of these individuals is nearly impossible, especially if they aren’t already registered somewhere as suspect.
- With the enormous role granted the U.N. in our refugee program, corruption in the UNHCR must be a matter of the highest concern. A torrent of corruption is pouring in with the program.
On top of the push to relocate more Syrian refugees to the US, last week the Obama administration issued a directive to grant Temporary Protective Status (TPS) to Yemeni nationals currently residing in the United States, according to an order approved by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). With the Obama Administration’s come one, come all (except for Christians) refugee policy, how much longer before ISIS joins the party?
If they haven’t already.
