Refugee Resettlement: A Clear and Present Danger to Our Nation

Refugee Resettlement: A Clear and Present Danger to Our Nation

James Simpson

This week, the Center for Security Policy published my latest work, The Red-Green Axis: Refugees, Immigration and the Agenda to Erase America. It reveals a malevolent component of our dysfunctional immigration system that has largely flown under the radar: refugee resettlement. This article highlights a few of its findings.

Hatched by the U.N. and the American Left, the resettlement agenda is dedicated to erasing our culture, traditions and laws, and creating a compliant, welfare-dependent multicultural society with no understanding of America's constitutional framework and no interest in assimilation. The ultimate target is a voting base large enough for the Left's long-sought "permanent progressive majority."

Most people would be shocked to know that America currently takes more refugees from the world's ghettos than all other refugee resettlement countries in the world combined. The State Department brags about it. Furthermore, most of those refugees are referred to the United States by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The refugees (and the illegal aliens flooding the southern border from Central America) are then "resettled" by taxpayer funded "Voluntary Agencies" or VOLAGs as they are called.

There are nine of them, six nominally religious, but all are in it for the money and top staff make high six figures. Together the VOLAGs are paid close to $1 billion in taxpayer dollars to resettle refugees. Two more organizations who settle most of the unaccompanied alien children (UAC) brought the total to over $1.3 billion last year.

The VOLAGs meet weekly to review refugee lists and decide which one of your communities will accept the refugees. You have no say in it, nor do local leaders. The VOLAGs are secretive and sneaky, and are becoming more so as communities saddled with increasing crime, unemployment and welfare costs increasingly vent their outrage.

Refugees from Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere establish their own little enclaves, bringing with them habits of the old country. So for example, when first settled, Somalis in Maine turned kitchen cabinets into chicken coops, slaughtered goats inside and threw carcasses in the back yard to rot, jammed up sinks, bathtubs and toilets (for reasons no one could explain), and other behavior. Landlords were cited for code violations and left with the bill. One Springfield, Mass., refugee didn't understand plumbing. He left the water running constantly, creating a $13,000 water bill. Who paid? Not the refugee.

They are not taught to assimilate. They are however, taught how to game the system. In Portland, Maine, Somalis who failed driving tests were not coached to improve their driving skills, but to launch massive letter-writing campaigns criticizing the test administrator who failed them. In short order all Somalis were passing their exams, no questions asked. Clever Somalis in Lewiston, Maine would call for an ambulance, complaining of back pain. The back pain would magically disappear when they got downtown. Ambulance drivers who got wise to the ruse were sued. The local ambulance taxi service resumed.

The Health and Human Services Department's Office of Refugee Resettlement provides a plethora of grants specifically to help refugees become self-sufficient. Following is a partial list of grants and their most recent funding levels:

Refugee Agriculture (community gardens) $1.0 million for 11 grants of about $85k each. Cuban Haitian (Projects in localities most heavily impacted by Cuban and Haitian entrants and refugees); $18.7 million 13 grants, $16.5 million went to Florida). Ethnic Community Self Help (Community building and cultural adjustment and integration) $6.1 million. Refugee Health Promotion (Health screening, preventative care, other medical services) $4.6 million. Individual Development Accounts (Matched savings accounts to help refugees save for purchases, i.e. free money in the bank) $4.3 million. Microenterprise Development(helps refugees develop, expand or maintain their own businesses and become financially independent) $4.4 million. Microenterprise Development; Home-based Childcare (provides business opportunities to refugee women in a market where there is a shortage of childcare providers) $4.1 million. Preferred Communities(Preferred communities allow ample opportunities for early employment and sustained economic independence. In addition, they support special needs populations) $12.5 million 18 grants.Refugee Social Services (funds for employability services and other services that enable employment: childcare needs, interpreters and social adjustment) $80 million. School Impact(Provides funding for activities that lead to the effective integration and education of refugee children) $14.8 million 36 states $410k avg.Services for Survivors of Torture (Enables torture victims to regain their health and independence and rebuild productive lives) $9.8 million 31 grants $316k avg. Services to Older Refugees (State grants ensure that refugees age 60 and above have access to mainstream aging services in their community) $3.3 million to 31 states, avg. $103k.Targeted Assistance (Grants to states to help refugees obtain employment within one year's participation in the program) $4.7 million to 25 states, avg. $187k.

All kinds of non-profits can apply for these grants, especially businesses run by refugees. Wouldn't it be nice to receive a government grant for your business? How about a grant to grow your own garden?

But despite it all, many refugees seem to find welfare more attractive. The following table lists the percentage of refugees settled in the past five years that are still on some form of public assistance, and its associated cost.

Estimated Annual Welfare Costs for Refugees & Asylees

% Refugees

# Refugees

Avg. Annual

On Welfare

On Welfare

Cost/User2

Total Cost

Medicaid

56.0%

421,323

$4,083

$1,720,243,507

Cash Assistance (SSI only1)

47.1%

354,363

$6,187

$2,192,610,222

Food Stamps (SNAP)

74.2%

558,253

$1,504

$839,724,683

Public Housing

22.8%

171,539

$9,202

$1,578,581,006

Total

$6,331,159,417

Total Refugees/Asylees

752,363

Sources: 2013 ORR Report to Congress; USCIS Table 6. Persons Obtaining Lawful
Permanent Resident Status by Type and Major Class of Admission; FY 2009 – 2013
1 Supplemental Security Income
2 Total program costs divided by # recipients as given by administering agency

The above does not include any extra for the flood of UACs and families last year, over 130,000 in all. Obama asked for and received $3.7 billion extra to handle that. So together, refugee resettlement costs are currently running at well over $10 billion per year.

But this is not the worst of it. The vast array of organizations feeding on government grants for the refugee program are aggressively promoting a campaign to soften up American communities to help "welcome" refugees and immigrants. Welcoming America, a nationwide network of 18 state operations with 52 partner cities in over 30 states, seeks fertile ground to "seed" refugees and immigrants in "welcoming" communities, while weeding out those "pockets of resistance" that object to being saddled with the myriad problems refugees bring.

According to the "Welcoming" folks, we must "recognize the role everyone must play in furthering the integration of recent immigrants in the fabric of the U.S." Sao even their literature tells us we have no choice. Everyone must promote immigration and immigrants according to these people. The arrogance is mindboggling.

Not surprisingly, for those of us with other ideas, the Welcoming agenda's latest innovation is an organized, Alinsky-style effort to vilify anyone who opposes refugee resettlement. You can probably write the script. They suggest using the Southern Poverty Law Center, a communist-aligned, institutional hate group, and a newer one, the Center for New Community. CNC has already published two screeds. The "Islamophobia Movement in America" reference guide includes Frank Gaffney, Brigitte Gabriel, Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer and others. Another report titled Islamophobia, the New Nativism attempts to place blame for violent acts against immigrants, for example the Sikh Temple shooting, on the "racism, nativism, xenophobia, or Islamophobia" they claim is being inspired by opponents to this latest wave of immigration.

When the average American considers the term "refugee" or "asylum" he imagines a small number of desperate victims fleeing immediate danger from war or national disaster. That was the original plan. But the program has grown wildly out of control. The Office of Refugee Resettlement's current refugee cap allows 70,000 refugees in per year. Depending upon one's definition of "refugee" however, the number is actually approaching 200,000 per year.

There is a plethora of special programs beyond the refugee program, including asylum seekers (asylees) and their families (follow to join), "diversity" visas, and the Cuban/Haitian Entrant program. The Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) does not publicize Cuban/Haitian program, but it is at least 20,000 per year, mostly Cubans. Additionally, refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan have their own program, Special Immigrant Visas (SIV). The table below shows the latest data from these various programs.

Refugees, Asylees and Other Special Categories

2011

2012

2013

Refugees

56,384

58,179

69,926

Asylees

24,904

29,367

25,199

Follow to Join

9,550

13,049

13,026

SIV

719

3,312

1,902

Cuban/Haitian

20,000

20,000

20,000

Diversity Visa

50,103 

40,320

45,618

Total

161,660 

164,227 

175,671 

Sources: DHS/State Department Refugee Processing Center

The U.S. today accepts approximately 1 million legal permanent residents per year. That's right. About 140,000 are from Muslim countries; even more from communist countries. In 2013 America accepted some 72,000 communist Chinese. But a significant proportion of refugees are from Muslim countries. This creates a specific problem. From Ann Corcoran's new book, Refugee Resettlement and the Hijra to America:

Hijra remains the model to this day for jihadists who seek to populate and dominate new lands. Their migrations are not for the purpose of assimilating peacefully in a new host nation, adopting as their own its traditions and legal systems. Rather, Mohammed's followers, in keeping with the example established by their prophet, are driven first to colonize and then to transform non-Muslim target societies – whether through violent means or via stealthy, pre-violent ones favored by the Muslim Brotherhood when it is not powerful enough to use violence decisively.

Hijra forms a critical ingredient in what the Brotherhood calls its "civilization jihad." As its 1991 strategic plan entitled "The Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal of the Group in North America" declares, the Brothers' mission in America is to wage "civilization jihad" so as to "destroy the Western civilization from within." By aiming very explicitly at changing the demographics, legal systems and governments of such infidel states in an incremental process, the civilization jihadists advance their ultimate objective – global submission to Shariah and the reestablishment of a caliphate to rule according to it.

They are being aided and abetted in this Hijra by the American Left and especially, the Obama administration. 14 Democratic senators, who we have dubbed the "Jihad Caucus," have written a letter demanding the U.S. accept 65,000 Syrian refugees by 2016. To do that they would either have to ignore the caps (no problem for the man with the pen and phone) or shut down the refugee program for others. The FBI has already said there is no way to vet Syrian refugees, so if the senators get their way, ISIS operatives will be invited in, along with free healthcare, food stamps and enough cash to sustain a small "business".

Have you had enough yet? Please read this book and share it among your friends and loved ones. It details the organizations, the networks, the players, the dollars, and the tactics involved. The agenda is real, and it is an existential threat.