RR Watch - Do you live in an all-elected-officials-shut-out Wilson-Fish 'refugee' state? - Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Idaho ...

https://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com/2015/11/30/are-you-in-a-wilson-fish-state-zip-zero-nada-states-rights-for-you/

Posted by Ann Corcoran on November 30, 2015

In so-called Wilson-Fish states the federal refugee resettlement program completely leaves out state elected officials and is run exclusively between the feds and a non-profit resettlement contractor (Volag).

That means that Catholic Charities among others is choosing who comes to your state/how many, and thus who you will educate and otherwise care for with your tax dollars!

So, if you live in one of the twelve designated Wilson-Fish states you have even less states’ rights than the others (and there is very little power for the governor in the others either).  When crafting the original Refugee Act of 1980, Senator Ted Kennedy made sure the law was written in such a way as to give very few rights to state elected officials and virtually none to Congress (except the power of the purse!)

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley is one of 12 governors who need to reclaim their states’ rights and get the heck out of the federal Wilson-Fish program.

I have way too much to do today and am not wading into W-F. But, I urge all of you who live in these 12 states and one county to begin to research what this means for you and find a way to push back.

I was reminded of W-F this morning when I saw this Breitbart story posted yesterday.  See ‘what you need to know about W-F’ here.   And, this is what the Office of Refugee Resettlement says about it,click here.

States can opt-out of the refugee program, but beware!

For all of you in other states, remember that if your state decides to withdraw from the program—yes, it legally can withdraw as we reported on the law here in 2009—but remember this!    Waiting in the wings are the resettlement contractors/feds eager to find a “replacement designee” to turn your state into a Wilson-Fish state and run the program without any state involvement at all.

Is your state a Wilson-Fish state?

This is from the Breitbart story, and comes directly from the federal guidelines on W-F.  P.S. to Wyoming, watch out for your governor to allow the feds to set up a W-F program for WY (the only state in the nation which has no official program, although no refugees went to Montana in recent years).

This federal government website describes the program, as well as the VOLAGs in the 12 Wilson Fish states where they operate with virtually no oversight by the governments of the local states. Those VOLAGs, by state, are:

Alabama: USCCB – Catholic Social Services

Alaska: USCCB – Catholic Social Services

Colorado: Colorado Department of Human Services

Idaho: Janus Inc. (formerly Mountain States Group), Idaho Office for Refugees

Kentucky: USCCB – Catholic Charities of Louisville, Kentucky Office for Refugees

Louisiana: USCCB – Catholic Charities Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana Office for Refugees

Massachusetts: Office for Refugees and Immigrants

Nevada: USCCB – Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada

North Dakota: LIRS – Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota

San Diego County, CA: USCCB – Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego

South Dakota: LIRS – Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota

Tennessee: USCCB – Catholic Charities of Tennessee, Tennessee Office for Refugees

Vermont: USCRI – Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program