Archive for the ‘Catholic Charities’ Category
Posted by Christopher Coen on October 3, 2011
A series of robberies, physical assaults and even a BB gun shooting have recently created fear among Bhutanese refugees resettled to Erie, Pennsylvania. Joel Tuzynski, the executive director of the Multicultural Community Resource Center has written an opinion piece in the Erie Times-News about the issue.
…Erie has been fortunate to be the new home to several hundred new arrivals of the Bhutanese Nepali community…
…Their transition from an Eastern tradition into Erie has become a very difficult journey because some of the “criminals in our midst” have seen these people as “easy marks.”
There have been a series of robberies, physical assaults and even a BB gun shooting, that have recently created fear and wondering among the Nepali regarding their new home.
These attacks upon young Nepali men and women, who are naive to the ways of the modern world, trusting of others, and non-violent by choice, are verging upon what we fear is becoming “ethnic intimidation” at this point.
Erie Mayor Joe Sinnott and Erie Police Chief Steve Franklin are trying to work with the Nepali community about reporting and solving these crimes.
…when a young man is robbed in broad daylight outside of our MCRC [Multicultural Community Resource Center] — a program that exists to welcome and assist them — it is time to call the public’s attention to this situation, which has reoccurred too often.
The physical assaults, robberies and intimidation, must stop, as it is a violation of basic civil rights guaranteed to all people under our Constitution.
We call upon our neighborhood watches, the police SWAT teams, local, state and federal officials and other concerned citizens to help us stop this targeted, criminal, uncivilized, mean-spirited, ill treatment of our newest neighbors, the Nepali community… Read more here
This case gets back to the issue of using refugees to boost the number of inhabitants of US cities with declining populations. Erie’s population was 138,440 in 1960, which declined to 101,786 in 2010. Is it ethical to use these people — as part of a humanitarian program — to boost declining population levels, when many of these places are also particularly unsafe for refugees during their vulnerable time of transition?
Posted in Catholic Charities, dangerous neighborhoods, Erie, Hindu, International Institute of Erie, intimidation of refugees, Nepali Bhutanese, police, population levels, using refugees as pawns to boost, safety | Tagged: BB gun, bhutanese, catholic charities, erie, ethnic intimidation, International Institute of Erie, Joel Tuzynski, MCRC, mugging, Multicultural Community Resource Center, nepalese, Nepali, physical assaults, police, refugees, resettlement, robberies | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on May 21, 2010
Florida’s Supreme Court may soon be deciding on whether the state has violated its constitutional ban on state money going to “any church, sect, or religious denomination, or in aid of any sectarian institution” (here). The “no-aid” provision, a so-called Blaine amendment, banning this practice has been in the Florida Constitution since 1885, although Florida has applied it loosely. Florida is among 39 states with this type of provision.
A century-old provision of the Florida Constitution may soon be dusted off for the first time before the state Supreme Court, with the fate of millions of dollars in state funding to religious organizations hanging in the balance.
The state’s First District Court of Appeal is asking justices to decide whether Florida has violated its constitutional ban on state money going to “any church, sect, or religious denomination, or in aid of any sectarian institution.”
The provision has been in the Florida Constitution since 1885, approved during an era of sweeping, anti-Catholic fervor. Florida is among 39 states with some version of a “no-aid” provision, a so-called Blaine amendment, named for the 19th Century Maine senator who promoted such prohibitions inspired by fear of a rising immigrant population.
While Florida embraced the ban a century ago, most experts say it has been applied loosely.
Millions of state dollars are budgeted each year for programs serving foster children, inmates, and low-income and elderly Floridians that are provided by religious-affiliated organizations.
Some fear the high court could put the brakes to that.
“Everybody is waiting and watching this case,” said Sheila Hopkins, an associate director with the Florida Catholic Conference. “Our charities have never believed in giving people a loaf of bread and then making everybody pray. We do social work.
“But a lot in the future may depend on how the court looks at this. It’d be devastating if these services were lost,” she added.
But would these services be “lost”, as she claims, or would they just instead be contracted to groups that do not use these government funds for religious purposes? She claims they only do “social work” and that they don’t proselytize, but proselytizing is just one way in which these groups can use public money for religious purposes.
What about Catholic Charities in Houston neglecting Iraqi refugees who are gay, while giving full services to so-called “families” (heterosexual refugees) here? What about World Relief using government refugee program dollars to pray at staff meeting, and then using that as an excuse to discriminate in hiring Arabic interpreters who are Muslim (here)? How about Catholic Charities of Washington DC discriminating in hiring based on religious belief (here)? None of that is proselytizing per se, but it sure does force all of us to pay for other’s people’s religious beliefs and practices. No thank you.
I think this case is interesting though because it demonstrates how government institutions simply ignore constitutional provisions and laws as they wish. The U.S. refugee program could not run, as it now does, with the regular neglect and abuse of refugees, if the refugee resettlement agencies and their government oversight friends actually abided by constitutions, rules, laws, guidelines, and regulations. The current system we have in place is essentially and old boy network program in which cronies inside and outside of government work together to fulfill their own interests while ignoring the interests of the public and the refugees. Laws and requirements are simply shunted aside at will when they interfere with these people’s interests.
Posted in Catholic, Catholic Charities, Christian, discrimination in hiring, evangelical, faith-based, Florida, funding, neglect, religion, World Relief | Tagged: Blaine amendment, catholic charities, church, church and state, constitution, faith-based, Florida, Florida Catholic Conference, florida Supreme Court, no-aid, proselytize, public funding, refugee, refugees, religion, religious, sectarian, World Relief | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on May 13, 2010
Catholic Charities Diocese of Des Moines has decided to continue resettling refugees in Iowa (here and here). This decision comes on the heels of Lutheran Services in Iowa deciding to stop refugee resettlement and the State Department pulling funding from the Iowa Bureau of Refugee Services (an Iowa state agency that was long given an acceptation to the requirement that refugee agencies be non-profits and add private funding to resettlement efforts).
According to the Des Moines Register:
Catholic Charities decided Wednesday it will push on alone in resettling refugees, extending Iowa’s history as a sanctuary for refugees from war-torn, poverty-stricken nations.
The group’s decision comes months after the only other organizations that had been resettling refugees in Iowa – Lutheran Services in Iowa and the Iowa Bureau of Refugee Services – pulled out of resettlement. That put Iowa’s future as a refugee haven in limbo.
Catholic Charities will resettle between 100 and 130 people annually.
That’s far fewer than the more than 900 refugees resettled in Iowa during the last fiscal year, when Catholic Charities and Lutheran Services jointly resettled refugees through Refugee Cooperative Services.
Lutheran Services said it could not afford to continue its program.
Catholic Charities said that it is facing a “financial burden” due to refugees not being able to find jobs in the current economy, and the group having to pay their rent for a longer time. This, even though the State Department doubled per capita (per refugee) funding as of January 1, 2010. (The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services via their Office of Refugee Resettlement also provides refugees with up to 8 months of cash assistance to help pay rent, as well as a large array of other refugee funding).
If Catholic Charities had stopped resettlement – and that was a possibility, given the financial burden – it would have ended a prolific era of refugee resettlement in Iowa. Thirty thousand refugees have made Iowa home since 1975
….Refugee resettlement makes up about 17 percent of the work of Des Moines’ Catholic Charities, or $450,000 of a $2.7 million budget.
The refugee expenses include administrative costs as well as direct assistance such as help paying rent. Catholic Charities will hire three employees for refugee resettlement, which entails assisting refugees with housing, transportation, learning American culture and finding jobs.
Catholic Charities will focus on receiving refugees with Iowa ties instead of so-called “free cases” – refugees with no familial ties in the United States.
“We’re taking a risk, but we’ve been really careful to set this up so it will be successful,” said Nancy Galeazzi, executive director of Catholic Charities. “We have had to be smart about what we can handle. But it’s the right thing to do.”
The organization will benefit from a decision this year by the Department of State to increase the money it directs to resettling agencies. Instead of getting $900 per refugee, resettling agencies now get $1,800.
One continuing concern is refugees’ difficulty in finding jobs in the sour economy. In that case, Catholic Charities continues to pay their rent. But that’s built into the plan, Galeazzi said.
Sol Varisco-Santini, who heads refugee resettlement for Catholic Charities, recently sat in on the weekly resettlement meeting in Washington, D.C., and watched agencies who resettle refugees in the United States allocate the week’s 2,100 arrivals. She wanted Iowa to still be part of that equation. To do that, Catholic Charities decided to focus on fewer refugees.
“One hundred thirty is much more manageable for Iowa than 900,” Varisco-Santini said. “Even though the percentage of people we’re helping is very small, we think it is worth it.”
The meeting she sat in on is the weekly meeting at the Refugee Processing Center (RPC) in Arlington, Virginia. The RPC is a State Department agency at which the private refugee resettlement agencies are allowed to decide where incoming refugees are placed in the U.S. and who will take which refugee “free cases” (refugees with no family or sponsors in the U.S.). Resettlement agencies often fail to mention this process via the RPC, and instead tell refugees, community members and the media that they have no control over how many or which refugees they resettle locally.
The article also refers to the chance that refugees will continue to arrive in Iowa via “secondary migration” (after first being resettled to other states, and then migrating on their own to Iowa).
John Wilken, director of the Iowa Bureau of Refugee Services, applauded Catholic Charities’ decision to continue resettling refugees. But he predicted a rise in secondary migration – refugees who resettle outside Iowa, then move here to be close to family. Wilken estimates some 1,000 additional refugees came to Iowa through secondary migration in 2009.
“When you take a state with a long history of resettlement and reduce its capacity by 80 percent, what do you do with all the cases who wanted to come here but can’t?” Wilken said. “The fact our numbers are down here does not stop the individuals being processed from getting resettled. They’ll just be assigned somewhere else.”
Posted in State Department, USCCB, LIRS, Sudanese, Vietnamese, Catholic Charities, faith-based, funding, RPC (Refugee Processing Center), Iowa, Catholic Charities Diocese of Des Moines, Lutheran Services in Iowa | Tagged: ORR, IA, State Department, refugee, refugees, catholic charities, per capita, resettlement, Office of Refugee Resettlement, cash assistance, Health and Human Services, Refugee Processing Center, RPC (Refugee Processing Center), $1800, Iowa, Diocese of Des Moines, Des Moines, Bureau of Refugee Services, 8 months, free case | 5 Comments »
Posted by Christopher Coen on April 28, 2010
Refugees with professional credentials continue to receive inappropriate employment services from many refugee resettlement agencies. Trained as doctors, engineers, and lawyers, most of these refugees are placed in no-skill or low-skill jobs – cleaning, assembly, landscaping labor, etc. — with almost no attempt made to place them in jobs where they could use their skills.
Iraqi SIV immigrants reported about these problems in Sacraemnto (here).
According to Michelle Karolak, director of the refugee resettlement program at Catholic Charities in Jacksonville, this isn’t her fault, it’s the refugees’ fault (here).
.
“A lot of our other clients – although not all of them – are willing to take whatever is offered,” said Michelle Karolak, director of the refugee resettlement program for the local operations of Catholic Charities. “Iraqis, not so much.”
“We have no choice,” Karolak said. “We have to get them up and running as fast as we can.”
Yet, do they have to get them, “up and running as soon as possible”, only in low-skill jobs? There is no such requirement. The refugee program stresses the need for early self-sufficiency, but does not require resettlement agencies to place refugees in low-pay, low-skill jobs. In fact, jobs for which refugees can use their professional skills are much more likely to allow them to become self-sufficient. Also, what does she mean, “as fast as we can”? Refugees, almost as a rule, report that they sit for months at a time with no one helping them to find jobs.
According to refugees in Jacksonville they’ve had to find professional jobs on their own because local resettlement agencies won’t help them.
Majid Abdulmajeed…was hired as an adjunct professor of chemical engineering based on his experience in Iraq. But he only got the job after an acquaintance passed his resume to the school.
“The main employment agent didn’t suggest jobs like this,” he said.
Well, why not? Have resettlement agencies begun to believe their own PR that Iraqi refugees are just too difficult, and refugees must accept any job offered? According to the Matching Grant Program requirements (only 30% of refugees are enrolled in it, but the resettlement agencies are doing everything they can to get the government to expand the program) refugees must accept the first job offered, but even in that case that doesn’t mean that resettlement agencies have to refer the refugees to inappropriate jobs.
Many resettlement agencies seem to have an extraordinarily difficult time thinking outside of the box, and of course refugees continue to pay the price for that.
Posted in California, Catholic Charities, employment services, Florida, Iraqi, Jacksonville, Matching Grant program, neglect, professionals, SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) immigrants, USCCB, World Relief | Tagged: any job offered, catholic charities, employment, employment services, FL, Florida, Iraqi, Iraqis, Jacksonville, jobs, low-skill, Matching grant, Michelle Karolak, no-skill, professional, professionals, refugee, refugees, self-sufficiency, USCRI, World Relief | 1 Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on March 30, 2010
Refugee clients of Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of San Antonio, Inc. who arrived a year ago are living in desperate circumstances, and a local aid leader is asking that they be cared for first before Catholic Charities brings in any more refugees (here).
Something wasn’t right with 5-year-old Taw Meh.
She threw up every morning, just before breakfast at the Head Start program she attended. It had become so frequent that her counselor, Abdul, a former interpreter for U.S. military forces in Iraq, would cover her with plastic to protect her clothes.
When he told his Family Services Association co-worker, Pam Espurvoa, about the child, she suspected her diet. She suggested they visit the Northwest Side apartment Taw Meh shared with her father, Baw Reh, 49, mother, Htwa Meh, 39, and two sisters, Pleh Meh, 15 and Mo Meh, 3.
When Espurvoa and Abdul arrived at Taw Meh’s apartment at the Auburn Creek complex off Wurzbach Road, the only food they found was rotting vegetables in the refrigerator. A chill hung through the apartment. Several wires dangled from a furnace blower that didn’t work. …parents about apartment maintenance and application deadlines. Many refugees are illiterate in their language, Espurvoa said, and the letters for phone appointments for Medicaid and food stamps are in English. They, like other refugees, do not have a phone.Meh’sreturned to the apartment in early March, with her supervisor, Susan Miller, to teach Taw EspurvoaFour beds for five people filled one of the two bedrooms. A father and his daughter lived in the other bedroom. Roaches scurried up the walls as Andrade showed the family how to use a space heater.
Why are other agencies in San Antonio having to come to the rescue of these refugees a year after their arrival? The State Department contracted with Catholic Charities to teach these refugees about apartment maintenance and application deadlines (e.g. for food stamps) during their first 30-90 days in the US.
Local aid agencies are advising that new refugees not be resettled to San Antonio until refugees already here are properly taken care of. Why didn’t Catholic Charities and the state refugee coordinator, Caitriona Lyons, think of that themselves?
Some aid workers said the best move would be to take care of those already here before bringing in more refugees.
Jann Fractor from Refugee Forum SA, a local network of organizations, churches and volunteers that helps refugees with transition needs, said several refugee families — without jobs and beyond services — faced eviction in the Wurzbach area in December, but humanitarian agencies came together to pay their rent.
Fractor, one of the forum founders, said several refugee families recently faced expulsion from their apartments, but groups scrambled to help them.
“People chipped in, but here we go again,” Fractor said.
“We can’t bring people here and have them homeless, that’s not the idea. The realistic view is not there because they’re expecting people who haven’t been educated in their own language to attain enough English in six months to get a job,” Factor said.
Notice that not only did the refugee resettlement agency apparently not continue to look out for these refugees, they also don’t seem to have at least referred the refugees to anyone who could help them fill out forms in English and turn them in on time. The refugees also don’t seem to have learned how to request help for apartment maintenance issues. Also, did Catholic Charities originally place the refugees in those roach-infested apartments at the Auburn Creek complex off Wurzbach Road? That’s against State Department contract rules, albeit rules that are not enforced.
Why do members of the community and local aid leaders have to come forward to the media and point out that refugees are not receiving the help they need from Catholic Charities rather than the state refugee coordinator dealing with these issues before they become a crisis?
We had to point the Texas state coordinator Caitriona Lyons to refugees being neglected in Houston, and she was fairly unresponsive (here, here and here). She refused to contact the refugees in question, and would not answer basic questions about what she was doing to investigate the situation. This, at a time when President Obama is calling for a new focus on open and accessible government. Are refugee program government oversight agencies determined to cover up their own failings with a culture of secrecy and unresponsiveness to the public?
I think what we need even more than additional funding for this program is some new, real accountability. Certainly government checks sent directly to the refugees is the only sensible way to help these refugees. It’s clear that many refugee resettlement agencies cannot be counted on to deliver direct services to the refugees.
**UPDATE** November 22, 2010
**UPDATE** December 8, 2010
Posted in Burma/Myanmar, Catholic, Catholic Charities, Karenni, Obama administration, San Antonio, State Department, Texas, USCCB | Tagged: apartment maintenance, application deadlines, Archdiocese of San Antonio, Auburn Creek, Burma/Myanmar, Caitriona Lyons, catholic charities, filling out forms, food stamps, furnace, houston, karenni, Medicaid, neglect, refugee, refugees, roaches, San Antonio, space heater, State Department, state refugee coordinator, Texas, Wurzbach Road | 5 Comments »
Posted by Christopher Coen on March 20, 2010
Colorado refugee contractors and government officials met with PRM Assistant Secretary Eric Schwartz. Refugee resettlement agencies will resettle about 2,600 refugees in Colorado in 2010, which will be a sizable increase over recent years (here).
Strangely, the recurring theme of complaints about not enough federal funding for refugee resettlement came up again, even though the State Department just doubled the per capita (per refugee) grant funding to resettlement agencies. The resettlement contractors don’t raise the issue of private funding, and why they aren’t raising enough private funds, and reporters don’t ask.
Colorado’s state refugee health coordinator Brenda Hummel said that refugees are arriving with medical problems and with no warning given to state officials, even though refugees supposedly get medical screening before arriving here.
“Hummel..said it’s particularly frustrating not to know when someone coming to Colorado needs medical attention.
Refugees are supposed to be medically evaluated before they get here. But, she said, those evaluations commonly miss serious problems. That leaves the state health department scrambling to find them care, she said.
Individuals are hurt, and the whole resettlement program suffers when workers don’t have accurate information about the refugees arriving, [Colorado state refugee coordinator Paul Stein] said.”
Medical screening for refugees abroad is generally coordinated by the Intergovernmental Organization on Migration (IOM) in cooperation with voluntary agencies (see p. 10 here). There is a requirement that they screen for tuberculosis, HIV, and certain venereal diseases — although they would presumably notice at these screenings if refugees have other serious medical issues. So, why aren’t the IOM and voluntary agencies abroad notifying state officials about refugees’ medical problems before they arrive here? Notice that the state official just blames the US federal government.
The issue of secondary migration also came up at the meeting, with a county government official complaining that it has an impact on Colorado counties’ finances.
“A recurring theme of the downtown meeting was a lack of attention to what those who work with refugees call ‘secondary migration’ — groups of refugees who leave the areas where they first settle in search of jobs.
That happened in Greeley, said Judy Griego, director of Weld County’s human services department.
After immigration officials raided the Swift meatpacking plant in 2006, dozens of Somalis arrived, hoping to fill jobs vacated by the raid, Griego said.
‘It ends up being on the counties to take care of these individuals,’ she said.”
This is an interesting issue because we’ve documented groups of refugees moving to other states after being neglected by their resettlement agencies. About 10 Burmese Karenni refugees recently ran from USCRI affiliate International Center in Bowling Green, and moved to Minnesota after complaining that the International Center had placed them in filthy apartments without basic furnishings or food. They also complained of not being able to get to the doctor’s office (no rides) and not being able to enroll their children in school because they couldn’t get them vaccinated.
Now, we have refugee contractors and state refugee coordinators blaming the federal government about lack of funding for secondary migration to other states, yet in the case of the Karenni refugees in Bowling Green we warned government officials about the problems hoping they would help the refugees. Instead, Kentucky’s state refugee coordinator Becky Jordan got our email and three weeks later still had not responded to us.
Becky Jordan, it turns out, works for another private refugee contractor in Kentucky, Catholic Charities (she actually has her office there and receives a paycheck from them, while supposedly acting as their oversight agent!), and told us she was accountable to them and not to us. She also said that she wasn’t going to communicate with us because we asked her if she was concerned about the refugees! (This would almost be a joke if refugees weren’t being so abused by such a broken system, and with such incompetent people at the helm.)
So obviously one of the best ways to solve the problem of secondary migration is to make sure refugee resettlement agencies are assisting the refugees they’re being paid to help, and not just throwing more money to the states and the resettlement agencies. Refugees will run to other states much less often if they find themselves in tolerable circumstances where they are. Isn’t that just obvious?
Posted in Assistant Secretary of the PRM, Bowling Green, Catholic Charities, Colorado, Eric P. Schwartz (former Asst Sec.), government, health, International Center in Bowling Green (Western Kentucky Refugee Mutual Assistance Association), IOM, Karenni, Kentucky, Minnesota, PRM, R&P, State Department, USCRI | Tagged: assistant secretary, Becky Jordan, Bowling Green, Brenda Hummel, catholic charities, Colorado, Eric Schwartz, HIV, International Center, IOM, Kentucky, Minnesota, oversight, Paul Stein, PRM, refugee, refugees, secondary migration, refugee, State Department, state refugee coordinator, state refugee health coordinator, tuberculosis, USCRI, vaccinations, voluntary agencies | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on March 16, 2010
Indianapolis is gearing up for larger number of refugees this year (see here). Indianapolis will be accepting 30% more refugees this year.
Hussein is among a recent wave of refugees who have resettled in Indianapolis. More than 1,110 refugees are expected to make Indianapolis their home this year, an increase of more than 30 percent from last year.
Most of the refugees who resettlement agencies have resettled in Indianapolis are Burmese, however, Somalis and other ethnic groups are also being resettled here.
Catholic Charities Indianapolis and Exodus Refugee Immigration, the two refugee resettlement agencies in Indianapolis, cite the area’s relatively healthy economy, a welcoming community and an established Burmese population of about 8,000 people on the Southside for why refugees are placed here. About 75 percent of Indianapolis’ refugees each year are Burmese. (Burma is also known as Myanmar.)
Residents and local government agencies in Indiana have complained in recent years that they cannot adequately absorb the large numbers of Burmese refugees who resettle to the state, however, the State Department has only a limited ability to effect this. Many of the Burmese refugees are arriving to join family members already resettled in Indiana. Even in the case of extended families, separating them from their extended family members by resettling to them to other states will prevent them from being assisted by their extended family that arrived before them, an important source of support for becoming economically self-sufficient
Posted in Burma/Myanmar, Catholic Charities, Exodus Refugee Immigration, Indiana, LIRS, Somali | Tagged: Burma/Myanmar, catholic charities, Exodus Refugee Immigration, idianapolis, Indiana, Myanmar, Somali | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on March 16, 2010
Catholic Charities of Washington, D.C. is now joining the evangelical group World Relief in creating a new employee policy that discriminates based on religious affiliation (see here).
Meanwhile, officials with Catholic Charities of Washington, D.C., have begun requiring new employees to sign a statement promising that they will not “violate the principles or tenets” of the Catholic Church. It’s a sweeping statement – one that would allow Catholic Charities to dismiss employees for virtually any infraction of church rules, from failure to attend religious services and using artificial contraceptives to cohabitation and publicly criticizing church leaders.
The Establishment Clause of the Constitution prohibits discrimination in government-funded programs. Nevertheless, President George W. Bush issued executive orders allowing faith-based social service groups that receive public money to discriminate in their hiring practices. In addition, Federal and D.C. laws also explicitly give religious groups exemptions from bans on religiously based employment discrimination (see here).
Our position is this — while it may now be legal (by law, although not by Constitution) to discriminate against workers based on religious affiliation, any private organization that does so does NOT belong in the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program. Their participation is purely voluntary, both by them and by the federal agencies that oversee the program. They don’t HAVE to take part in the program, and they should NOT be allowed to take part.
Why? Because their religious beliefs mean that they will ban people who are the MOST qualified from being interpreters, translators, and case workers for incoming refugees. This type of religious discrimination is incompatible with the refugee program. It also just plain violates common sence. If it violates common sence then it has no place in the national, public refugee program.
For example, why would we allow Iraqi interpreters to come into the U.S. on Special Immigrant Visa’s (SIV visas) and then let them be banned from being Arabic interpreters and translators for the other Arabic-speaking refugees simply because most of them are Muslim? Do we have hundreds if not thousands of Christian, Jewish, or other, Arabic interpreters to take their place? No. Then it makes no sence for us to allow a organization to take part in the program that is going to ban their employment. As it stands, what will happen is that Arabic-speaking refugees just won’t get essential Arabic interpretation and translation services if we allow this type of religious discrimination.
World Relief kept Iraqi SIV immigrant Saad Mohammad Ali as an interpreter volunteer in Seattle for six months before he applied to work with them. They decided that his religion was incompatible with employment — that is, receiving a paycheck — but it wasn’t incompatible with doing the work for free for six months. Does that make any sense at all? The best reason they could give for refusing to hire a non-evangelical Christian, or in this case a Muslim, was that the person might feel uncomfortable while they do their praying at staff meetings.
Something tells me these people spend far too much time in meetings and not enough time assisting refugees. Federal oversight agencies must invite World Relief and the Catholic Church (USCCB) to change their new employee policies or consider leaving the refugee program. Although they have the right to discriminate, according to laws and executive orders, they don’t HAVE to. It’s a choice, and a choice that is incompatible with this program. It’s also our choice to allow them to continue to take part in this public program.
Here is our post about World Relief refusing to hire an Arabic interpreter in Seattle simply because he is a Muslim and not an evangelical Christian.
Here is out post about World Relief requiring a volunteer to sign a “spiritual assessmen”‘ in Spokane, Washington.
Posted in Catholic Charities, Catholic Charities of Washington DC, Christian, discrimination in hiring, evangelical, Islamic, religion, USCCB, World Relief | Tagged: ACLU, Arabic, catholic, catholic charities, Catholic Charities of Washington, catholic church, D.C., employee policy, employment discrimination, Establishment Clause of the Constitution, evangelical, executive orders, exemption, faith-based, George W. Bush, interpreter, Iraqi, islam, Muslim, refugee, refugee program, refugees, religion, religious affiliation, religious discrimination, SIV, translator, U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program, USCCB, visa, visas, washington d.c., World Relief | 8 Comments »
Posted by Christopher Coen on March 11, 2010
USCCB, the largest refugee resettlement agency in the U.S. is boosting its capacity to resettle refugees by 25% (see here).
In an effort to provide even more life-giving assistance, the USCCB has developed a comprehensive plan to increase by 25 percent over the next two years the capacity to welcome and serve refugees who come to our land.
USCCB resettles 30% of the refugees resettled to the U.S.
This past year, through agencies such as Catholic Charities and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, the USCCB has resettled 22,565 refugees, or approximately 30 percent of the annual total refugees admitted into the United States.
Wouldn’t it be best if USCCB and its affiliates ensure first that they are adequately assisting the refugees that have already been entrusted to their care before taking on any more refugee clients? (thinking about the refugees in Houston)
Also, if you look through some of the State Department inspection reports for USCCB and it’s affiliates (here), you see that they are regularly failing to meet even the rather minimal “minimum standards” set out for them in the contracts (Cooperative Agreement) to care for refugees that they sign with the government. Many refugees ask to go back to refugee camps when they are left on their own by resettlement agencies in our cities with little to no help.
By the way, Catholic Charities of Arkansas is gearing up to expand operations in that state (see here).
Posted in Arkansas, Catholic Charities, Christian, Cooperative Agreement, Minnesota, religion, USCCB | Tagged: Arkansas, boosting capacity, catholic charities, catholic charities of arkansas, Catholic Legal Immigration Network, refugee, refugees, resettlement, State Department, US refugee program, USCCB | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Christopher Coen on February 13, 2010
World Relief in Fort Wayne, Indiana is claiming that it purchases most of the required items for refugees (see article).
The long, detailed checklist of furnishings, kitchen items, linens, cleaning supplies, toiletries and food for each refugee adds up. Jeff Keplar, director of World Relief in Fort Wayne, said his agency must buy the majority of the items refugees need and rely on donated items to make up the difference.
Yet, used items are acceptable, so how impressive is his claim? How much could these items cost at garage sales and second-hand stores? Not much. In FY2008 World Relief got 64% of its funding from the government (see 990 form), which must be even higher today due to the doubling of the State Department’s R&P grant. I suspect that their refugee resettlement program in the US must depend almost entirely on public funds. So the fact that they have to purchase a few items isn’t too impressive, especially when you know they are using taxpayer funds to do it.
The “long, detailed checklist” of required items, referred to in the article, is actually a relatively short list. Here it is:
FURNISHINGS
Furniture:
Bedding (described as bed frame and spring, or equivalent, and mattress) appropriate for age and gender composition of family. (Only married couples or small children of the same sex may be expected to share beds.)
One set of drawers, shelves, or other unit appropriate for storage of clothing (in addition to closet, unless closet has shelving to accommodate clothing) per family
One kitchen table per family
One kitchen chair per person
One couch per family, or equivalent seating (in addition to kitchen chairs)
One lamp per room, unless installed lighting is present
Kitchen items:
One place setting of tableware (fork, knife, spoon) per person
One place setting of dishes (plate, bowl and cup) per person
Pots and pans: at least one sauce pan, one frying pan, one baking dish
Mixing/serving bowls
One set of kitchen utensils (such as spatula, wooden spoon, knife, serving utensils, etc.)
Can opener
Baby items as needed
Linens and Other Household Supplies:
One towel per person
One set of sheets and blankets for each bed
One pillow and pillowcase for each person
Alarm clock
Paper, pens and/or pencils
Light bulbs
Cleaning supplies:
Dish soap
Bathroom/kitchen cleanser
Sponges or cleaning rags and/or paper towels
Laundry detergent
Two waste baskets
Mop or broom
Trash bags
Toiletries:
Toilet paper
Shampoo
Soap
One toothbrush per person
Toothpaste
Personal hygiene items as appropriate
CLOTHING
Appropriate seasonal clothing required for work, school, and everyday use as required for all members of the family, including proper footwear for each member of the family, and diapers for children as necessary.
______________________________________________________
Now, is it me or is this list not exactly long, and consist of just a few basic items a family needs to start a new life? Aren’t these just obvious items that resettlement agencies would supply for the refugees even if they didn’t have this list in the government contract? Why do they keep telling reporters how burdomsome and extensive their requirements are?
Notice that the list doesn’t even contain such basic, needed items as clothes irons, curtains, wallets, phones and phone service, stamps & envelopes, dictionaries, umbrellas, watches and vacuums (needed to keep carpeting clean so that it doesn’t attract roaches). Basic children’s items that are not required include, cribs, toddler beds, play pens, car seats, boosters, high chairs, and strollers.
I think that reporters should take a look at the basic contract documents of the refugee resettlement program instead of just taking the word of these agencies, that their requirements are so strenuous or expensive – because they aren’t.
It should also be pointed out that often the resettlement agencies don’t even provide these “required” items. Check out this report about World Relief refugee clients in Nashville who didn’t get furniture or adequate clothing. Also, in many resettlement sites community members often buy these items for refugees when resettlement agencies such as World Relief fail to fullfill these so-called “minimum standards” of their government refugee contracts.
Posted in Burma/Myanmar, Catholic Charities, government, Indiana, Operational Guidance, R&P, State Department, USCCB, World Relief | Tagged: Burma/Myanmar, catholic charities, clothing, fort wayne, furnishings, furniture, household items, household supplies, Indiana, kitchen items, minimum required, minimum standards, monitoring report, Operational Guidance, R&P, refugee, refugees, State Department, toiletries, World Relief | 2 Comments »
Christopher Coen
Melissa Sogard
nancylee1
