Posted on 10/07/2007 9:34:28 AM PDT by AuntB
The Bush administration increased more than fivefold today the number of Near East and South Asian refugees the U.S. can admit as it seeks to accept 12,000 Iraqi refugees during the next 12 months.
Overall, Mr. Bush said that up to 80,000 refugees from around the world can be admitted to the United States in the next year. That's up 10,000 from last year's ceiling of 70,000.
Mr. Bush announced the figure in a memo to the secretary of state, as he does each year after consulting Congress as required by law. The president laid out maximum numbers to be accepted from each region of the globe:
– 28,000 from the Near East and South Asia, up from 5,500.
– 20,000 from East Asia, up from 11,000.
– 16,000 from Africa, down from 22,000.
– 3,000 from Europe and Central Asia, down from 6,500.
– 3,000 from Latin America and the Caribbean, down from 5,000.
The remaining 10,000 can be allocated by the State Department to various regions as the need arises. Last year, the reserve was 20,000.
According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 2 million Iraqis have fled their country. Of these, 1.2 million are in Syria, 750,000 in Jordan, 100,000 in Egypt, 54,000 in Iran, 40,000 in Lebanon. 10,000 in Turkey and 200,000 in various Persian Gulf countries.
The United States admitted 1,608 Iraqi refugees over the past 12 months, but still fell short of its goal for the year despite more admissions during the past two months.
Several days later, administration officials announced that the United States would accept 1,000 Iraqi refugees a month for the next fiscal year beginning this month for a total of 12,000 between Sept. 30, 2007, and Oct. 1, 2008.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
The article I have attached below appears in today's edition of the Washington Times reports on the great increase in the number of refugees that the United States will admit who come from war-torn sections of the Middle East..
As an American Jew, especially as the grandson of a woman who died in the Holocaust during the Second World War, I am certainly sensitive to the need for our nation to provide refugees with a safe haven. My concern is the abysmal track record of USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) to deal with massive levels of fraud in the benefits program that is administered by that beleaguered agency. I am concerned about how the vetting process for these refugees will be conducted to insure that our nation does not inadvertently admit supposed refugees who are actually affiliated with terrorist organizations or who have serious criminal histories.
I can only wonder at how many officials will conduct the interviews of these refugees and what access they will have to intelligence databases to help them with their critically important work. The article also noted that our officials were apparently not receiving all the cooperation (information) they need from the native countries of these refugees. This may also make it difficult if not impossible to determine the true identities of these people we are trying to help.
I would suggest you go to the link below to read the GAO Report entitled: "IDENTITY FRAUD: Prevalence and Links to Alien Illegal Activities." This report served as the basis for a joint Congressional hearing on June 25, 2002 before the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security and the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims, Committee on the Judiciary:
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02830t.pdf
Clearly humanitarian interests have to be dealt with effectively and humanely, I am simply concerned that in our kindness criminals, including members of violent gangs and terrorists, may find weakness thereby gaining entry into our country.
I hope that there is adequate oversight being exercised by the various agencies involved as well as by the Congress that is supposed to represent the best interests of the citizens of our nation as we seek to assist a highly vulnerable population overseas. As it has been said, "Hope is not a strategy!" Therefore I would like to believe that our officials who are charged with this humanitarian mission are not simply hoping that they making decisions that will not compromise our nation's safety and security.
Democracy is not a spectator sport!
Lead, follow or get out of the way!
-michael cutler-
There’s a small town in Texas they should all be sent to.
“There’s a small town in Texas they should all be sent to.”
Ping!
I am beginning to wonder if Gore or Kerry would have been worse.
Well, don't feel like the 'lone ranger'. lol
On 9/11 I was SO happy that Gore wasn't the pres. At least we'd have ALL the republicans fighting these bone headed decisions if a dem was in office.
I don’t remember all of us that were concerned that the Bush Admin. will just get their aliens in one way or another. Looks like that’s the game!
U.S. lets in more immigrants for farms
October 7, 2007
WASHINGTON — With a nationwide farmworker shortage threatening to leave unharvested fruits and vegetables rotting in fields, the Bush administration has begun quietly rewriting federal regulations to eliminate barriers that restrict how foreign laborers can legally be brought into the country.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-farmworkers7oct07,0,7492249.story?coll=la-home-
from the link in post 7:
“Other changes under consideration would simplify the detailed H-2A housing requirements, extend the definition of “temporary” beyond 10 months, and expand the definition of “agricultural” workers to include such industries as meatpacking and poultry processing.”
Call it what you want, it’s stealth AMNESTY.
Related:
Ridge: From Homeland Security to Travel Booster
http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=3
“People I think have a sense that they’re not quite as welcome in America as they were on September 10th, 2001, and that’s the furthest thing from the truth,” Ridge told NPR. “So we have to dust off the welcoming mat and we just have to promote America.”
Ridge was the nation’s first Homeland Security secretary, heading the agency until 2005. Now, he’s been hired by the travel industry to help speed up visa applications for foreigners and make other changes that encourage travel. Ridge said he will not apologize for all the security measures put in place after Sept. 11, 2001, but acknowledges that “not all of them are being as effectively communicated … (or) as effectively administered as I would like.”
“But there’s no inconsistency between adding … additional security and trying to stay as connected as possible to the rest of the world,” he adds.
That’s the message hundreds of travel industry representatives want to convey this week as they gather in Washington. They are trying to get Congress to approve a $200 million a year campaign to promote travel to the U.S., something that is not being done now.
Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said that while surveys show that foreigners understand the need for security, what they do not understand is why it can’t be done “efficiently and in a welcoming and friendly way.”
So the industry has pushed for more customs agents at the 20 largest airports, to help smooth the process. Experts from Disney and Universal Orlando are working with the government to make the experience more pleasant as well - things as simple as a friendly hello.
The industry is clearly pouring tons of money into the campaign, although it will not say how much.
Michael Cutler, a security expert at the Center for Immigration Studies, thinks things have gone too far. He is especially concerned about a new, industry-backed law that would expand the number of countries whose citizens don’t need visas to enter the U.S.
“The visa requirement, I think, is a critical link in the chain of security,” Cutler said.
He believes it provides a good first-check overseas of who’s trying to visit the United States. If anything, he said, the number of countries whose citizens do not need visas - now 27, mostly European nations - should be reduced.
“What I find remarkable is that as American citizens, we take our shoes off before we get on board an airplane and do these other things because Richard Reid was the shoe bomber,” Cutler said. “In point of fact … he was able to get on board that airplane without first applying for a visa” because he was a British citizen.
Cutler thinks travel executives are more concerned about profits than security, although they deny that. [snip]
It’s obvious that Bush wants the nation, as we know it to cease to exist. Flooding the country with truly alien cultures will have no intention of assimilating.
I heard a tidbit on our local radio that no one seems to mention.
The ‘gateway cities’ that attract illegals get the illegals included in their census and it keeps congressional seats and/or makes more even though the illegals aren’t registered voters.
There is an article from the other day about that. It's quite insane, isn't it??
I missed that one. I get so many pings...Did you ping me to it? I’ll look for it tonight.
Here’s a good way to send bad messages:
Such as
1. Cut and run from Iraq...boost your chance of getting into the
USA legally
2. No need to Stand And Fight for your own country, let the Americans bleed
for that task.
(yes, I understand need for admission for persecuted Iraqi Christians and
other minorities, and DEPENDENTS of Iraqis that have put their families
at risk helping the Coalition)
Bush will boost flow of Iraqi refugees
Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau ^ | Sep. 23, 2007 | RICHARD S. DUNHAM
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1900633/posts
” expand the definition of “agricultural” workers to include such industries as meatpacking and poultry processing.”
Call it what you want, it’s stealth AMNESTY.”
Not even stealth!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1905831/posts
Illegals Could Cost Congressional Seats
Posted by VU4G10
On News/Activism 10/03/2007 6:29:30 AM PDT · 35 replies · 293+ views
Oh you are wonderful. Thank you!
Ping to me for when I’m back online!
Bush loves Islam and Muslims. Wonder if he has secretly converted to Islam? I wouldn’t be surprised. Muslims are logic impaired and Bush is also logic impaired. Perhaps he has been a closet Muslim all along?
He doesn't need to convert. His top trade/immigration advisor, Grover Norquist, did that and brought "home the islamic vote' for Bush.
http://towncriernews.blogspot.com/search?q=Grover+Norquist
“Bush loves Islam and Muslims. Wonder if he has secretly converted to Islam? I wouldn’t be surprised. Muslims are logic impaired and Bush is also logic impaired. Perhaps he has been a closet Muslim all along?”
Well Imam Bush DID concede to the Democrats on the appointment of John Bolton to be our UN ambassador and guess what, he appointed a Muslim who’s a naturalized US citizen, Zalmay Khalilizad to take Ambassador Bolton’s place.
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