Archive for the ‘Groups’ Category
Posted by Christopher Coen on May 2, 2012
Reading through ORAM’s new guide on assisting LGBTI refugees, asylees, and asylum seekers I found a code of conduct to focus on when assisting these people. It seems that this list of principles would also be highly useful in assisting any person or group of refugees or asylees, and therefore worth posting here:.
◊ Demonstrate Kindness, Patience, and Sensitivity: Maintain a kind and patient attitude towards refugees, asylees, and asylum seekers. Remain sensitive to the fact that most of them are continuing to heal from psychological and physical scars left by traumatic experiences.
◊ Be Aware of Power Disparities: Do not assume an equal footing between you and the refugee, asylee, or asylum seeker. Act consciously to put yourself in the refugee’s situation before making a request of this individual.
◊ Understand Your Friendship from the Refugee’s Perspective: Remember that with scant resources in their new country, refugees are particularly vulnerable and may feel obligated to say or do things that they otherwise would not in order to secure your continued friendship and support.
◊ Avoid Conflicts of Interest: Avert situations pitting your interests (including financial ones) against those of the refugee.
◊ Respect Differing Cultures, Religions, and Beliefs: Demonstrate respect for differing cultural and religious backgrounds and practices. Do not proselytize or attempt to convert the refugee to your own religious, cultural, or political beliefs, even if you believe you are acting in the refugee’s best interest.
◊ Support Autonomy: Support the refugee’s ability to make independent decisions. Affirm that refugees bring much to [their new community and friends] and to their new country.
◊ Value Refugees’ Contributions: Remember that refugees are defined not by their needs, but by the contributions they do and will make to their new communities.
◊ Communicate Honestly: Always communicate honestly, even when doing so is difficult.
◊ Demonstrate Accountability: Fulfill all commitments once they are agreed to.
◊ Protect the Refugee from Discrimination: Identify discrimination against the refugee, whether based on sexual orientation, gender identity, race, religion, nationality, or any other grounds. Stand up for the refugee.
◊ Respect Interpersonal Boundaries: Respect the refugee’s right to personal privacy. Refrain from becoming physically or romantically intimate with the refugee…
◊ Safeguard Confidentiality: Keep [confidential] all potentially sensitive or private information about the refugee…unless otherwise instructed by the refugee being helped. Confidentiality extends to the personal history, medical status, financial arrangements, and other dimensions of the refugee’s life. Maintaining confidentiality is particularly important for asylum seekers and for refugees awaiting resettlement, as they have not yet secured or reached a place of safety. Read more here
Posted in best practices, LGBT refugees, ORAM | Tagged: asylees, asylum, code of conduct, lgbti, ORAM, personal boundaries, power disparities, refugees, resettlement | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on April 29, 2012
ORAM (the Organization for Refuge, Asylum & Migration) has released the first ever guide for American LGBT and accepting communities on welcoming people fleeing persecution in their home countries, according to a recent email announcement from ORAM.
…Rainbow Bridges, a 48-page guide developed in a pilot project to resettle LGBT refugees in San Francisco, offers practical step-by-step guidance on welcoming new refugees, ensuring their mental and physical wellbeing, and helping them find support in their new communities. It includes sample forms, a suggested code of conduct, and outlines the avenues for refugees to receive housing, employment, and federal assistance…
…ORAM estimates the US receives about 2,000 refugees a year who are fleeing persecution based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, representing 6% of all refugees in America. Unlike other refugees, those who are LGBT or intersex often undergo the integration process alone, facing exclusion from the religious and immigrant communities that form the safety net for most newly arrived refugees and asylees. Rainbow Bridges will help U.S. LGBT, faith-based, and welcoming communities support these refugees as they build new lives in the United States…
…About ORAM
The Organization for Refuge, Asylum & Migration (ORAM) is the only organization focused exclusively on helping vulnerable LGBTI refugees worldwide find safety and rebuild their lives in welcoming communities. ORAM increases global support for refugees and asylum seekers through advocacy and education, as well as technical assistance to people and groups interested in working with refugees, asylees, and asylum seekers…
The report notes that resettlement agencies, “are unaccustomed to the isolation and challenges LGBTI refugees face and are unfamiliar with their unique needs. Many [resettlement agencies] lack the training and resources needed to effectively serve this vulnerable group. Perhaps most importantly, no [resettlement agency] has the resources or capacity to successfully integrate an individual without support from family or community.” This is an important point when you stop to think of all the other refugees resettled without support from family or community, e.g. the 3000+ Sudanese “Lost Boys” refugees.
Posted in best practices, LGBT refugees, ORAM, San Francisco | Tagged: bisexual, gay, lesbian, lgbt, lgbti, ORAM, Organization for Refuge Asylum & Migration, refugees, resettlement, transgendered | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on March 23, 2012
It turns out that the year-long near stoppage in security clearances for Special Immigrant Visa applicants (now beginning to wane) and Iraqi refugees was due in part to a software snafu at the US Department of Homeland Security. The other part of the problem that we knew about was the huge backlog of security clearance reviews caused when new requirements mandated older security clearances being redone, including those for the 58,000 Iraqi refugees already in the US. A newspaper column in the Greensboro News-Record by the founding director of the Center for New North Carolinians mentions the software issue:
“Freedom.” “Security.” “Education.”
The first three volunteers wrote on the board. Our interpreter explained that they were listing the advantages of living in America. The list grew.
Then they listed the disadvantages. “Separated from family members,” “loss of culture,” “learning the language,” “loss of job skills certifications.” Then these Iraqi refugees who fled to Jordan discussed their answers.
The lesson was taught by a teacher working for the International Organization for Migration. IOM contracts with the U.S. State Department to provide cultural orientation for Iraqi refugees accepted for resettlement in America. The objective was to develop realistic expectations about America and develop analytical and networking skills in decision-making. The class was conducted in Arabic because the U.S. no longer pays for English language training.
I was leading a dozen U.S. refugee professionals and researchers from half a dozen states for the Association of Refugee Service Professionals. We were studying refugee issues. My daughter, who works with the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, had arranged meetings for us. The refugees were stuck. Though approved for resettlement, they can’t get security clearances because new software designed for the Department of Homeland Security has problems… Read more here
Posted in Dept of Homeland Security, Greensboro, IOM, Iraqi, security/terrorism, SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) immigrants | Tagged: Center for New North Carolinians, Department of Homeland Security, International Organization for Migration, IOM, Iraqi, refugees, resettlement, security clearance, SIV, Special Immigrant Visa | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on February 4, 2012
A federal grand jury has indicted an Uzbek refugee living in Denver for alleged material support to an Uzbekistan group that the U.S. State Department designates a foreign terrorist organization. But the group is fighting the Uzbekistan dictatorship that U.S. diplomats spoke out against for its indiscriminate use of force after police mowed down hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators in 2005. The regime practices torture of activists and ordinary citizens using electric shock, boiling water and the threat of rape and sexual humiliation, thus radicalizing many Uzbeks. A professor calls the Uzbek dictator one of the world’s worst human-rights violators. (Reminds me of the US government’s help in creating the Iranian Islamic regime via support for the Shah of Iran’s widespread repression and human rights abuses.) Human Rights Watch claims that the material-support law is overbroad and that it’s a problem if our government uses the law improperly against anybody who was not actually involved in terrorism. An article in The Denver Post explains the story:
AURORA — The Uzbek refugee facing terrorism charges in Denver was a merchant turned human-rights activist who tried to defend farmers, opposed Uzbekistan’s dictator after a 2005 massacre, endured a detention that left him bloody, saw his sister arrested on a false murder charge…
The plight of Jamshid Muhtorov, 35, looked so bleak that the United Nations and U.S. government rescued him, along with his wife and two small children. U.S. authorities gave Muhtorov a comfortable new perch in Colorado…
But now the same government that rescued Muhtorov is prosecuting him under a law that prohibits “material support” for terrorists.
FBI agents arrested him in Chicago on Jan. 21 while he was en route to Turkey. A federal grand jury indicted him for allegedly providing material support to the Islamic Jihad Union — which the U.S. State Department has designated a foreign terrorist organization — and attempting to provide material support.
It’s a complicated case that raises questions about the fine line between freedom fighter and terrorist. The portrait of Muhtorov that emerges from State Department reports — including a leaked diplomatic cable, and from interviews with human-rights colleagues — is one of an idealist forced to flee for his life. He — like Libyans, Egyptians and others — remained keenly aware of the continuing repression and fight for freedom back home…
…A federal affidavit does not reveal much about the substance of his alleged material support...
The law [that prohibits "material support" for terrorists] is controversial.
“Human Rights Watch definitely has concerns that the material-support law is overbroad,” said Laura Pitter, an adviser on counterterrorism for U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, which worked with Muhtorov inside Uzbekistan. “If the material-support law was being used improperly against somebody who was not actually involved in terrorism, then that would be a problem.”…
…In 2005, U.S. diplomats spoke out publicly against Uzbekistan’s indiscriminate use of force when police mowed down hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators at Andijan, near where Muhtorov was working.
Since then, [Uzbekistan's dictator, Islam Karimov's] repression has intensified and includes torture of activists and ordinary citizens using electric shock, boiling water and the threat of rape and sexual humiliation, said Hugh Williamson, director of Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia division...
“The longstanding dictator of Uzbekistan is one of the worst human-rights violators in the world,” said Nader Hashemi, an assistant professor at the University of Denver who studies Middle East and Islamic affairs.
Ruthless torture and oppression by Karimov “have radicalized a lot of Uzbeks who are seeking a revolutionary change. The IJU emerges out of that political context,” Hashemi said.
While union members have been charged with attacks on U.S. and German targets overseas and could have links to al-Qaeda, “Muhtorov may not have any intention of committing a terrorist act against Americans. It depends on where he was flying to and what the objective of the mission was,” he said.
“My sense is the target of his ire and his angst is back in his native country. If he was targeting Western forces, that would raise serious concerns,” Hashemi said. “But if one wants to be objective, it would be highly irresponsible for someone to render a judgment on this case without bringing it back to Uzbekistan and the political regime there.” Read more here
Posted in Denver, FBI, Human Rights Watch, Islamic, police, security/terrorism, Uzbek | Tagged: dictator, Freedom Fighters, human rights, Human Rights Watch, refugees, resettlement, terrorism, torture, Uzbek, Uzbekistan | 1 Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on September 1, 2011
A 30-year-old gay Ugandan refugee named Daniel, displaced specifically due to anti-LGBTI persecution, is one of the first refugees resettled to the US in recognition of that fact. U.S.-based evangelical movements assisted in Daniel’s persecution in Uganda. An article in the Contra Costa Times has the story:
OAKLAND — Being gay in Uganda was never easy for gospel singer Daniel Dyson, but the anti-gay hysteria that erupted in the African nation two years ago forced him to flee.
Prominent Christian pastors had launched a political movement to eliminate homosexuality in the country. They employed professed ex-gays to reveal the names, whereabouts and other identifying details of gay residents in Kampala, the capital city. Dyson was on the list…
...Dyson, who landed in the Bay Area in the spring, is among the first refugees the United States has invited to live in California specifically because of anti-gay persecution abroad. The nonprofit groups that helped him move here — Jewish Family and Children’s Services of the East Bay and the San Francisco-based Organization for Refuge Asylum and Migration — are among the first in the country to take sexual orientation into account in the way they integrate refugees into a new community, aware that the ethnic communities and extended families most refugees rely on for support won’t necessarily accommodate them…
…”They were saying that we were destroying African culture, so I went to the media houses, trying to educate people that gay people, we are African people, we are here,” he said.
He had been involved in low-profile lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activism for more than five years, but the barrage of venom grew in 2009. On his way back from a radio station that spring, armed men kidnapped and brutally assaulted Dyson, he said, leaving injuries from which he is still recovering. He fled across the Kenyan border several days later…
…Uganda is debating whether to imprison gays and execute those with “aggravated homosexuality” offenses. The lawmaker who proposed the bill and other Ugandan anti-gay activists have close ties to U.S.-based evangelical movements, though many American pastors have since distanced themselves from the bill and its proponents.
As more countries threaten to penalize homosexuality with jail or death, the United States and United Nations are breaking down some of the institutional barriers that prevent many gays, lesbians and transgender people from seeking refuge. Most of those awarded refugee status belong to a political, ethnic or religious groups and are in danger in their homeland and have no place to live safely. LGBT status also can be considered a social class in countries where gays and lesbians have a well-founded fear of persecution.
“It hasn’t been a legal obstacle in a long time, but there have been enormous systemic obstacles,” said Neil Grungras, director of the nonprofit Organization for Refuge Asylum and Migration. “Few people, extremely few people, said this is the reason I’m being persecuted. We’re trying to make the system more open, less blocked.”…
…”I don’t know what it’s like for him every day. He carries a lot of pain around. Those scars just never really go away,” Grungras said… Read more here
Posted in LGBT refugees, ORAM, San Francisco, Ugandan | Tagged: evangelical, gay, glbt, intersexed, Jewish Family and Children's Services of the East Bay, lesbian, lgbt, lgbti, Neil Grungras, ORAM, Organization for Refuge Asylum and Migration, persecution, refugees, resettlement, transexual, Uganda | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on July 29, 2011
In this week of federal debt trauma in walks an employee of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to tell us how federal employees at his agency get overtime pay in exchange for not working. But of course all of us who care about refugees and immigrants, for the human beings they are, already know this about government agency workers, as well as their friends in private industry at the resettlement agencies. Many of them do whatever they want to do, and they suffer no consequences whatsoever. That is why we so desperately need passage of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act. Read more in Joe Davidson’s Washington Post column.
During a period when some in Congress and their related policy wonks think federal employees are overpaid, here comes Christian Sanchez, a Border Patrol agent who says he was punished for refusing overtime pay.
His bosses suggested that he get psychological help.
Instead, Sanchez has become a whistleblower, and on Friday he plans to tell gathering on Capitol Hill that he was retaliated against because he would not take overtime for doing no work.
Sanchez is an example of what the Government Accountability Project, a whistleblower advocacy organization, calls “pocketbook whistleblowers.” They allegedly have suffered retaliation for actions that could save the government money.
This emphasis on guarding Uncle Sam’s pocketbook allows whistleblower advocates to broaden the appeal of legislation designed to expand legal protections for employees who disclose government waste, fraud and abuse. Supporting whistleblowers becomes more than helping individual employees who have been mistreated by the system — it becomes into an act of fiscal responsibility.
That approach could increase chances for the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act. It’s come close to passage during the many years it has lingered in Congress, but proponents have not been able to push it across the finish line.
In a letter last month to President Obama and Congress, a group of federal whistleblowers urged them to approve the legislation, telling them that “you have allowed potentially billions of tax dollars to be wasted because all federal workers know they cannot speak up without engaging in professional suicide.”
Sanchez is speaking up, and he has paid a price.
There is little work to do at the Port Angeles, Wash., station, where he is assigned, he said. He calls it a “black hole” where agents have “no purpose, no mission.”
“The worst fraud on taxpayers is that we are getting paid overtime not to work,” Sanchez said in a prepared statement. When he first started working at the station, “I noticed it was common practice for everyone to get paid overtime not to work… Read more here
Our own experience with Customs and Border Protection also demonstrated how completely corrupt and debased that federal agency is. Before either the Left or the Right try to spin this case for their own interests, I’d like to remind everyone that for decades both the Democrats and the Republicans have repeatedly contributed to corruption by installing their own cronies in the federal agencies and courts, while turning a blind eye to the damage these people have done to the people and the nation.
I nominate Christian Sanchez as hero of the month. It helps to restore my faith in humanity when I see that our country still has people like this among our ranks.
Posted in Congress, funding, Government Accountability Project, immigration services, Obama administration, openess and transparency in government, police, revolving door, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, Washington | Tagged: Border Patrol, Christian Sanchez, Congress, Customs and Border Protection, Democrats, federal government, Government Accountability Project, immigrants, Port Angeles, refugees, Republicans, Washington, whistleblower, Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act | 1 Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on July 25, 2011
The Los Angeles Times has a recent article about new procedures the federal government has instituted which will rescreen 58,000 Iraqi refugees who have already been resettled to the U.S. The recheck will include a smaller number of refugees from Yemen, Somalia and other countries where terrorist groups are active.
Reporting from Washington— In a far-reaching inquiry, authorities are rescreening more than 58,000 Iraqi refugees living in the United States amid concerns that lapses in immigration security may have allowed former insurgents and potential terrorists to enter the country, U.S. officials said.
The investigation was given added urgency after U.S. intelligence agencies warned that Al Qaeda leaders in Iraq and Yemen had tried to target the U.S. refugee
stream, or exploit other immigration loopholes, in an attempt to infiltrate the country with operatives.
..So far, immigration authorities have given the FBI about 300 names of Iraqi refugees for further investigation. The FBI won’t say whether any have been arrested or pose a potential threat.
The individuals may have only tenuous links to known or suspected terrorists. The names were identified when authorities rechecked phone numbers, email addresses, fingerprints, iris scans and other data in immigration files of Iraqis given asylum since the war began in 2003.
They checked the data against military, law enforcement and intelligence databases that were not available or were not utilized during the initial screening process, or were not searched using sufficient Arabic spelling and name variations.
It addition to the Iraqis, authorities have rescreened a smaller number of refugees from Yemen, Somalia and other countries where terrorist groups are active.
…The enhanced screening procedures have caused a logjam in regular visa admissions from Iraq, even for those who risked their lives to aid American troops and who now fear reprisals as the Obama administration winds down the U.S. military presence… Read more here
Posted in Dept of Homeland Security, FBI, government, Iraqi, security/terrorism, SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) immigrants, Somali, The List Project | Tagged: Al Qaeda, human rights, Iraqi, refugee, resettlement, security screening, Somali, terrorism, visas, Yemen | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on February 4, 2011
ORAM (Organization for Refuge Asylum & Migration) has began a pilot refugee resettlement program out of their Bay Area office, according to the blog LezGet Real: A Gay Girl’s View of the World (Note: 6-15-11 – this blog turns out to have been written by a male). Currently ORAM is reaching out to the local community to ask for assistance with housing for a gay Ugandan refugee.
Melanie Nathan – Jan 12-2011 – SAN FRANCISCO - ORAM, the first migration organization focusing exclusively on refugees fleeing sexual and gender-based violence worldwide, has began a pilot resettlement program out of their Bay Area office. This service will add to the new network spanning national, ethnic, religious, racial and gender divides, as ORAM provides clients with free legal representation and conducts advocacy and education on their behalf.
Today the group – an imperative resource for LGBT refugees, is reaching out to the Bay Area for help, with an urgent call to for housing for a Gay Ugandan Refugee. The young man (approximately late 20’s-30’s) has fled Uganda and is being legally directed to San Francisco, where he will receive assistance from ORAM and some financial support from the US Government. He will be seeking employment as soon as he arrives. He will have a stipend and medical coverage – the most difficult to arrange is a place to stay…. Read more here
For more information about ORAM click here. Here is a posting from August about an article on ORAM.
Posted in LGBT refugees, Oakland, ORAM, San Francisco, sexual and gender-based violence - refugees fleeing | Tagged: Bay Area, gay refugees, gay Ugandan refugee, gender-based violence, glbt refugees, lgbt, LGBT refugees, lgbti refugees, ORAM, Organization for Refuge Asylum & Migration, refugee resettlement, refugee resettlement program, refugees, sexual and gender-based violence, Uganda, Ugandan refugees | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on October 17, 2010
Betsy Cooper and Katie Reisner of the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project are proponents of the idea of elimination of the annual refugee ceiling limit, an idea first proposed by academic David Martin, according to a post at the Congressional blog The Hill. The proposal is to treat the declared refugee numbers (e.g. President Obama’s limit of 80,000 refugees this fiscal year of 2011) as a target and not a ceiling. In other words, the number authorized by the President whould be a goal for refugee resettlement and not an absolute limit. This would allow the State Department and the private resettlement agencies to surpass the ceiling limit in the event of an emergency, such as the Iraqi refugee crisis or the Haitian earthquake, or any other reason of their choosing.
…Last week, the President set an 80,000-person ceiling on the number of refugees who can enter the United States next year. This is the upper boundary of our commitment – rather than the goal we commit ourselves to fulfilling. In doing so, the President missed an opportunity to rethink our responsibility to vulnerable populations, especially the 4 million Iraqis now scattered across the globe…
…On face, the refugee resettlement numbers are disappointing. Despite the scale of the Iraqi refugee crisis, the United States plans to accept only around 17,000 Iraqis into the country this year – roughly the same as last year. This means that many clients of our organization, the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project, will be stuck waiting abroad…
…One simple solution requires only that President Obama rethink what we’re already doing. Five years ago, academic David Martin proposed an important fix: to treat the declared refugee numbers as targets rather than ceilings. In other words, the number authorized by the President should be a goal for refugee resettlement rather than an absolute limit – making “admissions shortfalls . . . a failure of the system.”…
…There’s reason to hope that President Obama will adopt this mantle of reform: its innovator, David Martin, is now a top Department of Homeland Security official. We strongly encourage the President to take his advice. Read more here
Yet, how does this address the capacity issue? Do we have unlimited capacity to take in refugees in any single year? This is not only the capacity of the private refugee resettlement agencies but also the capacity of local communities to accept newcomers — including the ability of local government agencies such as public health offices, the capacity of local nonprofits that offer services incoming refugees need to become self-sufficient, and the capacity of local co-sponsors and volunteers.
The federal government’s goal of assisting refugees is a worthy one, however resettlement to the U.S. is just one option. In the case of the Iraqi refugee crisis we may need an intermediate solution to resettle Iraqis who cannot safely return home. The List Project promoted the idea of bringing Iraqi refugees to Guam until we can process and resettle them. That would allow for a safe place to stay until we can slowly bring them to the U.S. as capacity allows. The notion, however, that we focus on absolute numbers without addressing capacity, funding, and other essential factors seems to me like simple-minded idealism.
Posted in capacity, Iraqi, Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project, Obama administration, reform, State Department | Tagged: airlift Iraqi refugees to Guam, annual refugee ceiling limit, David Martin, Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project, Iraqi refugees, Obama administration, refugee resettlement, refugee resettlement agencies, refugee resettlement capacity, refugee resettlement program, refugees, State Department | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on October 9, 2010
President Obama, via the Presidential Determination for Refugee Admissions, has announced his authorization for the admission of up to 80,000 refugees to the United States during Fiscal Year (FY) 2011.
The admission of up to 80,000 refugees to the United States during Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest; provided that this number shall be understood as including persons admitted to the United States during FY 2011 with Federal refugee resettlement assistance under the Amerasian immigrant admissions program, as provided below.
The 80,000 admissions numbers shall be allocated among refugees of special humanitarian concern to the United States in accordance with the following regional allocations; provided that the number of admissions allocated to the East Asia region shall include persons admitted to the United States during FY 2011 with Federal refugee resettlement assistance under section 584 of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act of 1988, as contained in section 101(e) of Public Law 100-202 (Amerasian immigrants and their family members):
Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,000
East Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,000
Europe and Central Asia . . . . . . . . . . 2,000
Latin America/Caribbean. . . . . . . . . . . 5,500
Near East/South Asia. . . . . . . . . . . 35,500
Unallocated Reserve . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,000
Read more here
The total of 80,000 refugees authorized by President Obama is the same number that he authorized for last year. Refugee Council USA (RCUSA) recommended that the president authorize 100,000 refugees in 2011. RCUSA is the lobbying group for the national refugee resettlement agencies and each years recommends the entry of larger numbers of refugees, seemingly irrespective of our capacity or ability to absorb those numbers of refugees. In fact they have spent the past year announcing to anyone who will listen that there is not enough public money in the system to cover refugees’ minimum needs during their first year or so in the US, in spite of the State Department doubling the refugee resettlement per refugee grant in January. They then go ahead and recommend that we increase resettlement by 20,000? Their local affiliates simultaneously tell everyone that they have no control over the numbers of refugees entering the US.
So remember that. They have no control this year over the number of refugees entering the US. They got 20,000 fewer refugees than they wanted. I wonder what their new excuse will be now when the media continues to find them neglecting their refugee clients?
Posted in Obama administration, Refugee Council USA (RCUSA), State Department | Tagged: FISCAL YEAR 2011, fy2011, Obama administration, PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATION, Presidential Determination for Refugee Admissions, Proposed Refugee Admissions—Report to Congress, RCUSA, refugee admissions, Refugee Council USA, refugee resettlement, refugee resettlement agencies, refugee resettlement program, refugees, State Department | Leave a Comment »
Christopher Coen
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