Tag: Refugees

Refugees Get Full Access to U.S. Welfare Programs, Expert Says

Chris Butler

  One out of five legal immigrants in this country in recent years has come here as a client of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement — and they arrive with instant access to all welfare programs the United States has to offer. This, according to Don Barnett,  a fellow with the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies and a resident of Williamson County. Barnett spoke in Lebanon Monday as part of  The Tennessee Star Wilson County Town Hall on Refugee Resettlement at the Lebanon D.T. McCall and Sons’ location. Barnett delivered an extensive and detailed presentation on the history and costs of the Refugee Admissions Program, which began 40 years ago with the passage of the Refugee Act of 1980. More than 3 million refugees have been legally resettled in the United States under that program over four decades, Barnett said. The Office of Refugee Resettlement is an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. “In 2016 we had 212,000 individuals with instant access to the welfare system,” Barnett told audience members. In 2016, 85,000 of those 212,000 entered through the federal Refugee Admissions Program, while the remainder came through other programs. “In addition, there’s another category called…

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Ohio Refugee Resettlement Up 22 Percent Under Gov. Mike DeWine, Including Hundreds From Countries With ‘High Burdens’ of TB

Jason M. Reynolds

Refugee resettlement in Ohio is up 22 percent under Gov. Mike DeWine, including hundreds from countries with “high burdens” of tuberculosis.

DeWine is one of more than 30 governors who have agreed to accept more refugees under a plan put forth by President Donald Trump in which a governor has to opt in for resettlement, the Associated Press reported.

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FLASHBACK: Mark Dayton Tells Minnesotans to ‘Find Another State’ If They Aren’t Happy

Anthony Gockowski

  Former Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, once told a crowd of frustrated residents to “find another state” if they weren’t happy with Minnesota. The comments were made during an October 2015 forum in St. Cloud hosted by the local chapter of the NAACP. Dayton was responding to concerns some residents had about the large number of refugees settling in the area. “Minnesota is not like it was 30, 50 years ago. But this is Minnesota and you have every right to be here. And anybody who cannot accept your right to be here and that this is Minnesota should find another state,” Dayton said, calling the behavior of some St. Cloud residents “unacceptable, un-Minnesotan, illegal and immoral.” “If you are that intolerant, if you are that much of a racist or a bigot, then find another state,” he continued. “Find a state where the minority population is one percent or whatever. It’s not that in Minnesota. It’s not going to be again. It’s not going to be that in St. Cloud, or Rochester or Worthington.” Video of Dayton’s comments were circulating in conservative Twitter circles Tuesday in response to the mainstream media’s coverage of President Donald Trump. As…

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New York Times Isn’t Forthright About Population Growth of St. Cloud, Local Paper Responds by Calling Own Readers ‘Cowards’

Anthony Gockowski

  The New York Times recently sent one of its east-coast reporters to St. Cloud, Minnesota to report on the frustration some residents have with the influx of refugees settling there. The article begins by noting that a “few thousand” refugees “moved into this small city.” But a few paragraphs later The Times writes: St. Cloud, the state’s 10th largest city, increased in population by 33 percent over the last 30 years, to roughly 70,000 people. The share of nonwhite residents grew to 18 percent from 2 percent, mostly with East African immigrants from Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia, and the numbers of Somalis are estimated to grow. According to the City of St. Cloud, the estimated 2019 population is 67,924, so a population of 18 percent East African immigrants would be 12,226. A jump from 2 percent of the population to 18 percent would be an increase in 10,868. The actual number of refugees is likely a bit lower, but not as low as the “few thousand” reported by The Times. According to U.S. Census estimates, the number of foreign-born residents as of 2017 was 6,865. Additionally, between 2000 and 2012, the population of the City of St. Cloud grew…

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Study: The US Is No Longer the Top Destination for Refugees

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by Jason Hopkins   The United States is no longer the top destination for the world’s refugees, falling from its number one position for the first time in nearly 40 years. In what appears to be a historical turnaround, Canada surpassed the U.S. in the number of refugees it accepted into its country in 2018, according to a newly released study from the Pew Research Center. Canada resettled a total of 28,000 refugees in 2018. In comparison, the U.S. resettled only 23,000 — a substantial decrease from the 33,000 that were accepted in 2017. “Until 2017, the U.S. resettled more refugees each year than the rest of the world’s countries combined,” the study noted, using data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The once-unwavering trend began when the U.S. first established the Refugee Act of 1980. However, this trend was broken when President Donald Trump chose to drastically lower the amount of refugees allowed into the U.S. The Trump administration set the 2018 refugee cap at 45,000 — nearly half of the 85,000 cap former President Barack Obama set for the 2016 fiscal year. The new threshold, according to the Pew Study, was not even close to being…

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Trump Administration Slashes Refugees US Will Take By A Third

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Mike Pompeo

by Joshua Gill   Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Monday that the U.S. will take only 30,000 refugees over the next fiscal year — the fewest since the 1980 Refugee Act. The cap on refugees decreased from the 45,000 cap set for the current fiscal year and is the third such cutback on the yearly refugee cap President Donald Trump has implemented in a row. Pompeo said the lowered cap was necessary to allow the U.S. to deal with the backlog of 800,000 currently pending asylum seekers. “In consideration of both U.S. national security interest and the urgent need to restore integrity to our overwhelmed asylum system, the United States will focus on addressing the humanitarian protection cases of those already in the country,” Pompeo said, according to The Washington Post. International law requires countries to admit asylum seekers, but allows for judges to reject the cases of asylum seekers once they have been admitted into the country and deport them. Refugees, on the other hand, remain outside of the country while their cases are processed. While the new cap on refugees represents a significant decrease from the previous year’s cap, fewer than 20,000 refugees have been admitted to the…

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REPORT: Trump Admitting Fewer Than Half Of Refugees Allowed Because Of Enhanced Vetting

Tennessee Star Staff

by Will Racke   The U.S. is on track to admitting fewer than half the number of refugees allowed under the current annual cap, as the Trump administration’s enhanced screening procedures have slowed the refugee resettlement process. With just over a month remaining in fiscal year 2018, the U.S. is on pace to resettle about 20,000 to 21,000 refugees, which would be the smallest number since the current refugee program was established in 1980. President Donald Trump set the FY2018 refugee cap at 45,000 in 2017 — itself the lowest annual ceiling during the same time period. One reason for the historically low number of refugee admissions is that it now takes the FBI much longer to conduct background checks than it did before the administration put new security vetting in place, NBC reported Friday. The FBI, one of several government agencies involved in the refugee screening process, often reviews just a “handful” of cases in a single day, according to the NBC report, which cited two former Trump administration officials and humanitarian workers. Influential officials within the administration, particularly White House policy adviser Stephen Miller, have long called for stronger vetting of refugee applicants. They have also sought to…

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Trump’s Top Aides Make Push to Drastically Cut Refugee Numbers

Tennessee Star Staff

by Hanna Bogorowski Several top officials in President Donald Trump’s administration are making a push to drastically reduce the number of immigrants coming legally and illegally into the United States, as well as significantly lowering the cap of refugees admitted. The administration ultimately settled on a 45,000 cap for refugees for the 2017 fiscal year, which marked the lowest number since the program started in 1980, according to Politico. While the numbers fluctuated over those months, White House officials are telling Politico that at one point, Trump suggested lowering the cap to just 5,000 for the fiscal year, which was lower than the already historical suggestion by senior policy advisor Stephen Miller, who offered 15,000. One former White House official cited in the report said the number would in fact probably be as low as 15,000 by 2019, and that a group of administration aides would be meeting to discuss the refugee cap for 2019. “Miller is not deterred,” the source told Politico. “He is an adamant believer in stopping any immigration, and the president thinks it plays well with his base.” Miller, known for his hawkish push for the zero-tolerance policy, and a few other advisors are moving forward with…

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Judge Dismisses Class-Action Challenge to Travel Ban

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A federal judge in Washington who had been a thorn in the side of the Trump administration reversed course Tuesday and ruled she could not force the State Department to grant visa lottery approvals to would-be immigrants from Iran and Yemen. The complicated case doesn’t directly challenge President Trump’s travel ban, but it does deliver a rare lower-court legal victory on one aspect of the ban, which has restricted visits and immigration from a number of majority-Muslim nations.

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Report: ‘At Least’ One Middle East/Southeast Asia Refugee Rejected By Australia To Be Resettled in Knoxville

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At least one of the 600 Manus Island, New Guinea refugees rejected by Australia is scheduled to arrive in Knoxville for resettlement, the Australian news outlet SBS News reported on Wednesday. “Since 2013, Australia has paid Papua New Guinea, its closest neighbor, to house hundreds of migrants caught at sea while trying to reach the continent,” The New York Times reported in November. “About 600 migrants, all men, and mostly from the Middle East and Southeast Asia, remain at the center [on Manus Island]. Most of them have sought status as refugees or asylum seekers,” The Times noted. Now, many of these refugees rejected by Australia are coming to the United States, and one is headed to Knoxville. “American officials said dozens if not hundreds of refugees from Manus and Nauru would be accepted in the coming weeks and months. About 50 men already moved to the United States in September under a deal brokered by former President Barack Obama,” The Times noted last year. SBS News reported on Wednesday that dozens of refugees–all men–are currently heading for the United States to at least five cities: Knoxville, Tennessee; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Elizabeth, New Jersey; Atlanta, Georgia, and somewhere in North Carolina. Through a complex arrangement of refugee resettlement efforts, a 22-year-old man named Sajid Hussain will arrive in Knoxville…

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Enhanced Vetting By Trump Administration Brings Sharp Decline in Refugee Admissions

Tennessee Star Staff

President Donald Trump has radically changed the U.S. refugee program, as a lower admissions cap and tighter vetting procedures have led to a sharp decline in both the number of people admitted and the share of Muslims in the refugee population. The Trump administration restarted refugee admissions in late October after the end of a 120-day…

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Just 1,200 New Arrivals in First Month of FY 2018 Refugee Resettlement Program

Tennessee Star Staff

The U.S. refugee program is off to a sluggish start in the new fiscal year, following newly announced screening procedures and a significant reduction in expected arrivals in the coming 12 months. About 1,200 refugees arrived in October, according to data made public through the U.S. State Department. The program, already cut down to the lowest…

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POLL: Large Majorities of Voters Support Cutting Immigration, Including Refugees, Plus Ending Chain Migration and the Visa Lottery

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Tennessee Star

by Roy Beck A new national poll of “likely midterm voters” finds 55% of them favoring a bill that “would allow immigrants to bring in their spouse and minor children but would end migration of extended family.” Only 32% of the voters say they oppose eliminating the Chain Migration categories. With so much speculation the last two days about what the President would require to be part of any DACA amnesty, his tweet September 15 was a welcome one: CHAIN MIGRATION cannot be allowed to be part of any legislation on Immigration! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2017 Although the brief tweet could have been clearer, we assume the President meant that “Chain Migration categories cannot be allowed to continue in any immigration legislation.” That would be consistent with his repeated support over the last year for the concept and legislation to reduce overall legal immigration, primarily by ending Chain Migration categories for extended family members beyond spouse and minor children. Majorities support all parts of the ‘RAISE Act’ The scientific survey of 1,000 likely midterm voters conducted by Pulse Opinion Research found strong majorities supporting all parts of the RAISE Act, which the White House stated Friday afternoon…

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Nashville Mayor Megan Barry Praises Muslims and Globalism at Saturday Luncheon at Mosque

Wendy Wilson

Mayor Megan Barry praised Nashville’s Muslim community and spoke about the “gift of globalism” in her speech Saturday at the Islamic Center of Tennessee in Antioch. Barry made her comments at a luncheon to celebrate the third annual Standing up for Justice and Muslim Community Day. The event was sponsored by the American Muslim Advisory Council. A progressive Democrat, Barry has faced criticism from conservatives who portray her embrace of immigration as a heedless one that doesn’t seriously examine the challenges posed by linguistic, cultural and religious diversity. Barry issued a proclamation Saturday honoring Muslims in which she calls them “an increasingly important thread in the tapestry of America” and calls their presence in Middle Tennessee “historic” even though their presence did not become notable until recent years. In her speech, Barry said promoting diversity has been a critical issue for her since taking office. Nashville is home today for many newcomers from all over the world. Barry noted the 120 languages spoken by families whose children attend Metro Nashville Public Schools. “What a gift to have a multilingual community,” she said. “We need to make sure that the folks who are speaking their first language continue to speak that…

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Tennessee Sues Feds Over Costs Of Refugee Resettlement

Wendy Wilson

Tennessee filed a lawsuit Monday suing the federal government over costs of the federal refugee resettlement program, becoming the first state in the nation to take such action. The lawsuit was filed by the Thomas More Law Center on behalf of the State of Tennessee, the Tennessee General Assembly and State Sen. John Stevens (R-Huntingdon) and State Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver (R-Lancaster). The suit challenges the constitutionality of the federal refugee resettlement program as it is currently operating in Tennessee, based on the 10th Amendment, which says that powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states. The Thomas More Law Center is a national nonprofit public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that defends and promotes America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and a strong national defense. The center filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. “President Trump through executive action has reversed the overreaches of the Obama administration in numerous ways. I trust President Trump in this regard. However, he needs our help,” said Sen. Stevens in a news release issued by the Thomas More Law Center. Tennessee officially withdrew from the refugee resettlement program in 2007, but the federal…

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In Nashville, Leftist Immigration Activists Oppose Revised Travel Ban While President Trump’s Supporters Back It

Wendy Wilson

The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition is condemning President Trump’s executive order issued Monday, which TIRRC is calling “Muslim Ban 2.0.” The revised executive order, which revokes an executive order from January 27,  places a temporary 90-day ban on immigration from residents of six Middle Eastern countries (Syria, Sudan, Somalia,  Iran, Libya, and Yemen) whose Muslim populations total 167 million, or about ten percent of the 1.6 billion Muslims in the world. President Trump’s plans to enforce immigration laws, fight terrorism and reduce refugee flows, however,  have broad support among his supporters who elected him to office in November. At Saturday’s large pro-Trump Spirit of America Rally in Nashville, there were signs reading “Close the Borders,” “Freedom Isn’t Free. Security. Law-Order. Sovereignty,” and “Veterans Before Refugees,” and several speakers vigorously supported the president’s plans for greater vetting and screening of all immigrants. In a news release, TIRRC acknowledged that the new executive order removes Iraq from the list of countries affected by the ban, Syrians will no longer be indefinitely banned but are subject to the same 120-day moratorium as other refugees, and green card holders will not be affected. “However, the intent and impact of this sweeping executive order remains…

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‘Day Without Immigrants’ Not For Everybody in Nashville

Wendy Wilson

Stay open or close? The managers at Fresh and Fresh International Market went back and forth before deciding they’d stay open on the “Day Without Immigrants.” It was business as usual Thursday at the Nolensville Road market, despite nationwide protests that saw many ethnic stores and restaurants close to protest President Trump’s immigration plans. Many immigrant workers and students stayed home or took to the streets for rallies and marches. By their absence, immigrants hoped to make Americans aware of how much they contribute. But there also were many, including in Nashville, who chose not to participate. Rosa Bernal, an assistant manager at Fresh and Fresh, said the store stayed open to serve its diverse customer base, which includes both immigrants and non-immigrants. The store sells Hispanic and Asian groceries and recently has started adding Middle Eastern fare. Some employees, however, did not come to work. “We respect their decision,” Bernal said. Bernal said some customers Thursday were happy the store stayed open so they could buy things they needed. Others questioned the decision, asking employees if they supported President Trump. Bernal said employees didn’t respond to those inquiries because they didn’t feel they had to justify their decision to…

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World Relief Refugee Agency Closes Down Nashville Office

Chris Alto

Refugee resettlement contractors are blaming President Trump’s temporary suspension of the program for forcing them to reduce staff, close local offices or put local offices in jeopardy of closing. World Relief explained the five local resettlement offices closures including Nashville: “As a direct result of the recent decision by the Trump Administration to dramatically reduce the number of refugees resettled in the U.S. throughout fiscal year 2017, World Relief has been forced to make the difficult decision to layoff 140+ staff members across its U.S. Ministry and close local offices in Boise, Idaho; Columbus, Ohio; Miami, Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; and Glen Burnie, Maryland. Collectively, these five offices have resettled more than 25,000 refugees over the past four decades.” WR’s Nashville website says it has a staff of 30 and the Memphis office has 13 employees. The last available data from fiscal year 2012 shows the Nashville office proposing to resettle 708 refugees. World Relief (WR), based in Baltimore, is one of nine national refugee resettlement organizations that sign a “Cooperative Agreement” with the U.S. State Department for the “Reception & Placement”(R&P) grant.  This is taxpayer money allocated for each refugee. Some of the money is used to provide basic necessities…

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Commentary: Refugees and Students of Middle Eastern Descent Fueling Anti-Semitism on Tennessee Campuses

Chris Alto

Shortly after fall 2016 classes started at UT Knoxville, The Algemeiner, an online Jewish newspaper, posted a lengthy article describing a “ring of anti-Israel students” at UTK they claim has “created a ‘cesspool’ of antisemitism and racist behavior” initially discovered by an investigative group called “Canary Mission.” Students were identified mostly through their tweets spreading extreme racist and anti-Jewish messages through two campus groups – Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the Muslim Students Association (MSA). SJP is described by the Anti-Defamation League as the “primary organizer of anti-Israel events on U.S. college campuses.” The SJP chapter at UTK was started by Amira Sakalla born in the U.S. but describes herself as a Palestinian-American. The SJP chapter at Vanderbilt University was started by Arkansas native Hytham Al-Hindi whose father immigrated from Jordan to the U.S. Tweets from current and former students at MTSU, Memphis University and Southwest TN Community College were also discovered with messages like “Israel is a terror state we need a new Hitler”, “May Allah annihilate the Jewish dogs” and “contemplating if we should get another Hitler to put you in concentration camps and wipe you all out.” Some of the students were members of their…

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Some Evangelicals Object to Refugee Restrictions

Wendy Wilson

A group of 100 evangelical leaders and pastors published a full-page ad in The Washington Post on Wednesday objecting to President Trump’s executive order on refugees. The ad featured an open letter to President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence and criticized the moratorium placed on the national refugee program and reduction in the number of refugees to be allowed into the U.S. this year. Parts of the order, which also temporarily blocks visas from seven Muslim-majority countries, are held up in court, but the yearly cap on refugees is not affected. World Relief, a national Christian refugee resettlement agency with a large presence in  Nashville, coordinated the letter. Signatories included nationally known writers and ministers such as Tim and Kathy Keller, Bill and Lynne Hybels, Ed Stetzer, Ann Voskamp and Max Lucado. Scott Sauls, pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, also signed the ad. Sauls previously served under Tim Keller at a church in New York City. Christ Presbyterian is affiliated with the conservative Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). “As Christians, we have a historic call expressed over two thousand years, to serve the suffering,” the letter said. “We cannot abandon this call now. We live in a dangerous…

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Nashville Immigration Activists Strengthen Ties with Left

Wendy Wilson

For immigration activists, the fight against President Trump kicked into high gear in December before he took office. That’s when Nashville was the host city for the annual National Immigrant Integration Conference, drawing groups from across the country to the Omni Hotel. Speakers at the event made repeated calls to unite with other progressive causes in the name of social justice. The list of allies they highlighted included Planned Parenthood, LGBT activists and activists for racial and ethnic minorities. The conference was co-hosted by the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA). The conference featured a screening of Forbidden, a documentary about a young undocumented gay man growing up in the rural south. Moises Serrano, the Mexican-born subject of the film, is involved in the UndocuQueer movement and his mission is “to unite the immigration and LGBTQ movements, seeing them both as a struggle for human rights.” That human rights continuum also includes a progressive version of racial justice. An activist with the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) said that African-Americans are still fighting for full citizenship in the U.S., making immigrants their natural allies. The group’s website says, “Everyday, people of color in the United States are being criminalized…

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