So what are these “proprietary documents” the US State Department is talking about (and denying you)?
We are the taxpayers. We are paying for all of this refugee resettlement. Other than perhaps the individual names of the refugees, why should any of the documents be “proprietary,” but that is what staff for Secretary of State John Kerry is telling Rep. Trey Gowdy, here.***
“Funding proposals to PRM [US State Dept. Population, Refugees and Migration] are proprietary documents.”
Responsible for the Refugee Admissions Program are Sec. of State John Kerry being whispered to by Asst. Sec. of State for Population Refugees and Migration, Anne C. Richard formerly a Vice President with one of the contractors. The revolving door between government agencies and contractors is alive and well!
A couple of weeks ago we reported, here, on the “Abstracts” each resettlement subcontractor must prepare each year in preparation for getting a new batch of refugees—it’s kind of a wish list for how many refugees they want to bring to your town, where they might come from, and what amenities your town has to offer the refugees (the “seedlings”—Obama Administration word). It also contains information on what it will cost and what the subcontractor will contribute. Their allotment of refugees and their funding will be based on these reports to Washington. Why would such documents be “proprietary?”
Editor’s note: I worry daily about how far readers want to get “into the weeds” on the inner workings of the Refugee Admissions Program, but will continue to post information like this for those of you who enjoy wandering in the weeds!
Here (below) is a page from an abstract we posted (this is from Memphis), and the bit of information I want to leave you with is this:
The Refugee Act of 1980 (Senators Kennedy, Biden and Pres. Jimmy Carter) envisioned a public-private partnership with these contractors. However, increasingly, over the years the contractors don’t have much in the way of cash to supply so they count up all the used furniture they get and the hours and miles their ‘volunteers’ accrue and count that as their contribution to the cost of the program.
So, this is also why it is so important for them to find “church” groups and other groups to volunteer because their “volunteer” man-hours represent cold hard cash—the contractors share of the public-private partnership (they really have a racket going!).
In this sample page from Memphis, TN for FY2010, Catholic Charities is projecting that they will contribute $50,000 in Volunteer hours/Miles, the same as the previous year, but I will bet these are only guesses at best!
Please go here and find a resettlement subcontractor close to you and ask them to send you their most recent “abstracts.” I suggest you ask for several years going back from FY2015 (they are working on 2016 now). Assuming the agency gives you what you are asking for, I think you will be surprised to learn what amenities your town has to offer the “new Americans!”
*** For readers arriving here for the first time today, see our initial post on Spartanburg, SC with updates on Rep. Trey Gowdy’s involvement, click here.
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