Do we understand what is coming our way?

I had a recent experience that shook me. Being pretty open to new things I have travelled and welcomed broadening experiences. I have been an invited guest into mosques in an Islamic country. But I was unprepared for the strong reaction I felt in a brief interchange I had with a Muslim couple the other day.

The setting was a woman's clothing store. The couple came in with a baby in a stroller. The man was about 30, dressed in a short sleeved tee shirt and running shorts. He looked like the typical young guy you see around town on a Saturday. During the week he could have been a young doctor, or banker. He was open and friendly with a bright intelligence in his eyes.

The woman was in full black burka with only a narrow slit showing her eyes. I focused on the eyes as they provided the only clue to know this woman. I say woman, but I could not prove it. The burka eliminates any form, full length from head to toe. Within the cultural context I assumed it was a woman and mother of the child in the stroller.

Not even her hands were showing. As she fidgeted with the draping covering her lower face I could only see movement under the folds. I do not know if the nervousness or discomfort she was exhibiting was due to the oppressive appearing garment she was wearing on a hot humid day or whether she was uncomfortable because I was breaking cultural norms by speaking and looking at her rather than the man who was doing all the talking.

It was a brief mundane conversation, nothing controversial. When I looked at her eyes to try and make a human connection I was struck how dead and lifeless they seemed in contrast to her husband's expressive eyes. But maybe if I could see her whole face I would have had a different feeling. To me the burka was very dehumanizing. It reminded me of those mesh cages that are used to explore shark infested waters.

When people are kept so isolated from contact with the outside world it could be that they are being protected from influences of a more free society. Islam has very strict prohibitions about behavior. That is Sharia. It tells people how they must behave in every situation. And we know that under Sharia women are not treated as equal to men.

There is not much about Sharia that squares with the U.S. Constitution which is our law of the land. All of the incursions into our culture, including court fights about covering the face for a driver's license picture, to installation of foot baths to accommodate Muslims at the University of Michigan represent the battle plan of Migration Jihad. Patiently and relentlessly chip away at our way of life and desensitize us to what is happening.

I am seeing more and more women in the Detroit metropolitan area wearing the full burka. More mosques are being built. More and more news stories are popping up about Muslims. I would not be surprised if some of the Muslim organizations are using aggressive public relations activities to promote positive stories and bury or attempt to debunk negative news. More and more we are receiving the messages that observant Muslims are holier and more worthy than the typical American. They use their religion as a sword and a shield.

Part of this is for external consumption, but it is also for internal control. Why are second and third generation Somalis in Minnesota more radicalized than their parents? I think one of the reasons is that they are raised in the shark cage and are conditioned to fear the dangers outside their cage. They are conditioned to believe the culture they left is better than the U.S. They would prefer to live in Somalia. It is instructive to take a look at the video linked here.  http://on.rt.com/gdhbs2

Nobody seems to understand that these young Somalis would actually want to wage war against their host country. They want to go and take up arms against us anywhere in the world including our homeland. They have declared jihad. And with all the proof we have here, as well as other parts of the world that have seen turmoil we still have a Refugee Resettlement program. It brings in mostly Muslims from third world countries and it continues to work in secrecy. I would like to see more of an open discussion of this program that seems to be serving as an incubator for terrorists.

Are we importing conflict?

There has been conflict in the Middle East for centuries; everything from the Sunni Shia divide within Islam to conflict between countries and ethnic groups in a region that has long been a powder keg. People from this part of the world have a history of conflict in their own home territory. What would make us think it would be any different here?

In fact, it is not. Look at one of our most established Muslim populations in Southeast Michigan. Dearborn is recognized as having the largest concentrated population of Muslims outside the Middle East. It was originally populated by people from Lebanon who formed a mosque over twenty years ago. As time went on there were developing conflicts between the founders of the mosque who came from Lebanon and more recent arrivals who tended to come from Iraq.  The Iraqi imam's 18 year tenure was marked by tensions. The breaking point came about six months ago, leading to turmoil and a recent parting of the ways between the mosque and the Iraqi imam who is now taking his followers to establish a new mosque in a community outside, but close to Dearborn. There are big plans for not only a mosque, but an education center which will include a university.

One of the complaints about the Iraqi imam centered on an allegation of financial impropriety. In particular, the early Lebanese members questioned  charitable funds being channeled to an orphanage in Iraq connected with the imam's father. There were some members who wanted to see other recipients benefiting from the charitable outreach of the mosque, specifically Lebanese charities.

In another suburban Detroit community in Oakland County there are different offshoots of Islam that
do not communicate with each other even though they are almost in the same neighborhood. There are mosques within walking distance of each other but there is no crossover with the members of the mosque. As the Muslim population increases we are starting to hear more about these rifts.

These are some of the early rumblings we are hearing. So why would we want to throw thousands of Syrians into the mix? It seems to be a very poor idea when we know there is no way to properly vet new Syrian arrivals, or for that matter any of the refugees from war zones. It should be a
clue when we hear that Saudi Arabia is refusing to take Syrian refugees at all. They cite serious security concerns.

So why would we entertain such folly when we do not even have a handle on our own experience with Refugee Resettlement? We are learning it is not open and transparent and we have very
little say in an agenda that is set by the UN. We do not know if 25,000 Syrians are coming. At this stage it may only be a trial balloon. But the problem is that in this secrecy shrouded program we will not know until they are here. And that is a problem.

The suggested action item for the week is to have conversations with your local, state, and federal
lawmakers. Ask them what they know about Refugee Resettlement and tell them what you think.
Read and share Ann Corcoran's excellent blog, www.refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com. This is a conversation we must have, and soon!

Michigan is Number1

I was looking at the numbers of refugees received by the USA in Fiscal Year 2014 and while Michigan is within the top five states for new arrivals,  it is only by comparing the arrival numbers to the population of the receiving state that we see that Michigan has the highest concentration of refugees.

Fiscal Year 2014   Top refugee receiver states
1.   Texas.       7214
2.  California   6108
3.   New York  4082
4.   Michigan   4006
5.   Florida.      3519

State populations for US Census 2013  ranking
1. California.    38,332,521
2. Texas.           26,448,193
3. New York.    19,651,127
4. Florida.         19, 552.860
9. Michigan.        9, 895,622

So if we figure out how the states rank based on how the new refugees fit into the receiving population, Michigan becomes the clear winner with the highest degree of refugee concentration
1. Michigan        has one refugee for every 2470 people
2. Texas              has one refugee for every 3666 people
3. New York       has one refugee for every 4814 people
4. Florida            has one refugee for every 5556 people
5. California        has one refugee for every 6275 people

So I want to know why Michigan is Number 1. Who beyond the UN is making the decision? Do our
elected officials have any input? I suspect not much if someone as influential as Congressman Trey Gowdy cannot even get his questions about South Carolina answered by the State Department.

It is clear that we are prevented from having open discussions on this program that lacks transparency and maintains a wall of secrecy. Information can only be gathered after the fact in most cases. And now the idea is being floated the the U.S. Should take in 65,000 Syrian refugees which I believe may be in addition to the regular allotment. There is even a suggestion from the NewYork Times that Detroit should take 50,000 Syrian refugees.

The current population of Detroit is under 700,000 but even using that figure it would mean there would be one Syrian refugee for every 14 Detroiters.

Detroit, once the wealthiest and most sophisticated city in the Midwest crumbled in part due to social engineering and bloated entitlements. And now the New York Times wants to suggest how Detroit should take on 50,000 new refugees. The NYT does not have skin in the game. Maybe it is up to Detroit and Michigan to have an open discussion about this before the refugees start arriving.

The action item for today is to contact Gov. Snyder's office as well as our state and national elected representatives. Tell them we want to know more about this RR program and we want to have open discussions about the social and financial impact on our Michigan citizens. Until we can do this we should ask for a moratorium on all RR activity.

     

Getting started

I follow current events and I keep up with news from many sources in a quest to have informed views. I share my thoughts with my close friends, but had not considered doing a blog until reading Ann Corcoran's Refugee Resettlement Watch. Ann is a prolific researcher and writer. I admire her dedication and courage. So when Ann said we must do things like blogging I sat up and took notice. With Ann as my inspiration I will be writing to see if I can make a difference.

I live in Michigan. We are one of the top 5 states for Refugee Resettlement. We do not receive the most refugees per year, but based on our smaller population than states like Texas and California the resettlement impact is more concentrated in Michigan. I will be reporting on this in more detail tomorrow.

And, the formal Refugee Resettlement program is not the only way refugees come here. There are also asylum programs and special visa programs.  There is also internal migration. Even if people land in another state it is possible that they could move to Michigan to be closer to family members or other members of their ethnic group.

Once the refugees arrive they are settled in by placement contractors. This just covers the very beginning of the stay. Once they have housing and help with looking for a job the original contractor is out of the picture. If there are further needs they are met by Michigan taxpayers for food stamps, Medicaid, and various subsidy programs. Some refugees can make a go of it on their own, but some need help on an ongoing basis. I am finding it challenging to locate the numbers that show the financial impact of RR in Michigan.

Who decides which refugees come to the U.S. and Michigan? The answer is the UN. There is sign off on the numbers by our president and congress but how much individual vetting is done is open for questioning. Many of the refugees come from war torn lands where records are scarce and we also know of many abuses in UN programs over the years. There is a "pay to play" mentality from the oil for food scandals of the past to one I just heard about this week where refugee women were forced to pay for food and baby supplies by providing sexual favors to UN workers.

There is a lot of information out there. It is just difficult to access. It is not a very transparent program. In fact, it is one cloaked in a certain level of secrecy. Most places would be concerned if they knew about an influx of people who would be likely to cause a financial drain on taxpayers for increased services cradle to grave. And information, particularly advance information is not forthcoming.

There is growing feeling in this country that the UN is not doing a good job. In fact in a recent poll 57% of Americans said just that. There is a current bill in the House of Representatives authored by
Congressman Mike Rogers of Alabama called the American Sovereignty Restoration Act which aims to have the US get out of the UN. If you are in favor of it call your congressman and build the momentum.