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.
Why are the Snyder Administration and their Refugee Resettlement partner, Lutheran Social Services, operating in the “shadows” of secrecy regarding the placement of another batch of unaccompanied illegal children “magically transformed into refugees” somewhere near Southfield, MI?
ReplyDeleteThe 2015 Refugee State Plan provided by Michigan Refugee Coordinator, Al Horn, contains 7 pages of bureaucracy-correct general information but no reference to a specific plan to bring unaccompanied minors to the Southfield area (or any other specific area) this year.
In response to a request for information on their 2015 plans, Lutheran Social Services’ Cheryl Kohs claimed in an email two weeks before the Southfield announcement, “…we do not craft the plan for the state, nor do we craft a separate one. “ She advised me to check with Mr. Horn.
So Lutheran Social Service did not have a Plan that they could share with citizens regarding the place of illegal unaccompanied minors near Southfield two weeks before the announcement. Why the secrecy?
Does anyone who lives near Southfield know about the Plan or care? Lutheran Social Services provides needed support for the Michigan foster children program. Why would they divert their scarce resources to partner with the State Department and the UN to move refugees here? Maybe we should ask Rep. David Trott who sits on the House Subcommittee on Immigration what’s really going on.