Rep. Trey Gowdy must go beyond questions about refugee resettlement in his district to help other towns grappling with refugee overload
Rep. Trey Gowdy says he has no role in the resettlement process occurring in his district:
“…. our office does not have a role under the law in the implementation of such a [resettlement] plan….”
He, above all other Members of Congress, does have a role when it comes to who is resettled in American towns and from where they hail!
Gowdy has taken a good first step, but he can do much much more as he sits in the ‘catbird seat’ as chairman of the subcommittee responsible for overseeing the entire Refugee Admissions Program
Gowdy is chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security and he could hold oversight hearings tomorrow and help other struggling towns by helping concerned citizens get answers as to how and why the secrecy surrounding resettlement plans for the last 35 years.
And, indeed, he and all members of his Judiciary Committee and those on the Senate Judiciary Committee have the opportunity (requirement!) UNDER THE LAW to review the Presidential Determination Letter and supporting documents that are submitted to Congress every September by the White House/US State Department.
Here is the one submitted for FY2015. And, here is the full report submitted to Congress for FY2015. (This is the 78-page document in pdf format.)
I wonder did Mr. Gowdy ever even lay eyes on these documents?
I asked once if I could attend the submission of the Presidential Determination Letter to Congress, but was denied. And, my best guess is that there isn’t even any formal presentation to attend because Congress has a history of rubber-stamping it!
In fact, we have heard from reliable sources that Congress NEVER makes a change to what the President asks for, and I will bet a buck no one even seriously examines the plan for the country.
Did anyone in Congress ever question the large numbers of refugees coming now from countries where the people hate us or are sympathetic to the Islamic State—from Somalia, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Bosnia, Burma (yes, we are taking Muslims from Burma!) and now Syria? Many of those ethnic groups were mentioned in the Presidential plan over the years.
There are two good articles this morning on the latest from Rep. Trey Gowdy’s office.
Gowdy did hear back from the US State Department with answers to his original set of questions and has now responded with a new set.
It is a lot of information, but serious students of the UN/US State Department Refugee Admissions Program should read carefully, first, Richard Falknor’s post at Blue Ridge Forum:
Trey Gowdy Has An Oversight Duty For Refugee Programs
And, then Leo Hohmann’s latest at World Net Daily:
Congressman seeks to unlock secret refugee program
There are two points that interested me that I don’t believe were mentioned in either of those two excellent articles.
Where was Senator Tim Scott? Was he invited?
Although, as we learned from the State Department, Senator Lindsey Graham’s office was asked to participate in meetings over a year ago to discuss the “plan” for Spartanburg, there is no mention of South Carolina’s other US Senator Tim Scott. What? Since Graham was a known quantity on immigration as one of the infamous Gang of Eight promoting amnesty….
…did the US State Department think maybe the more conservative Scott should be kept out of the process?
And then in the last line (question 17) of the US State Department’s response to Gowdy we learn this:
PRM requires that the local affiliates [their name for subcontractors–ed] convene a community consultation to plan for submission of this proposal.
The Bureau of Population Refugees and Migration in the US State Department is telling us that there is supposed to be community consultation before the ABSTRACT we told you about here is sent to Washington. Where is the consultation in the over 190 cities and towns where federal resettlement subcontractors are working?
Everyone concerned with refugee overload in your town, or the possibility of refugees being resettled in your town anywhere in a hundred miles of one of those subcontractor offices listed here, should call the subcontractor and ask for their most recent ‘abstract’ and ask when they will be holding the next COMMUNITY CONSULTATION so that you can attend!
Call Gowdy and tell him to HOLD HEARINGS! 202-225-6030!
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