Tag Archives: immigration

EU Border Policy

Posted on by
Reply

Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission President, says the Paris attack won’t cause the EU to change its strategy for handling the flood of refugees from Syria, North Africa, and elsewhere.

Jean-Claude Juncker…urged citizens and politicians not to confuse the Paris perpetrators with those seeking shelter from war and terror.

It’s becoming apparent that one of the Islamic terrorists entered France legally, via Greece, on a Syrian passport. But that’s just one of the seven, or so, terrorists who butchered so many innocents. How, exactly, does Juncker propose that “citizens and politicians” sort out the terrorists from the refugees (and “ordinary” migrants, legal or otherwise) when they’re all so thoroughly mixed in among each other as the flood crosses the EU’s “borders?” The Paris butchery clearly demonstrates that the EU’s existing strategy is worse than unequal to the task, it’s a signal and tragic failure.

Threats and Returns

Posted on by
Reply

Poland, prior to the recently concluded elections, agreed under EU pressure to accept 4,500 Syrian refugees as its quota, even though the Polish people didn’t want that. The Law and Justice Party, a populist political party, was swept into power in those elections (the refugee item actually was a relatively minor factor in the PiS’ (the acronym for the Polish language name of the party) strong mandate), and they have said Poland will accept no refugees from “war-torn countries such as Syria.”

Eurogroup Chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem is objecting.

Dijsselbloem said that Poland should show something in return for Europe’s largesse. “And if not, we could take a part of the EU’s budget that flows to countries like Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary in the form of subsidies….”

Here are three things Poland does show in return for Europe’s largesse:

  • a growing economy, which is more than southern European countries are showing
  • respect for national sovereignty, which is more than the Know Betters of Brussels (including the Eurogroup) are showing
  • the courage to stand up to Russian threats and outright aggression, which is more than even the powers of the EU—France and Germany—are showing.

DHS and Terrorist Immigrants

Posted on by
Reply

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, an arm of our front-line Department of Homeland Security, has let slip that the Obama administration, under the guise of DHS, has let into the United States over 1,500 persons with known terrorist ties. Over half provided material support to a multiplicity of terrorist or reputed terrorist organizations, and some 200 of these to terrorist groups so designated by our government.

Why?

Jeh Johnson, DHS Secretary, claims these folks provided that material support “under duress.” How would he know the claims of duress are valid? Via his much touted personal interview vetting?

 

h/t Power Line

Update: Corrected a couple of typos.  [sigh]

What’s Their Plan

Posted on by
Reply

…to fix the underlying problem?

Germany’s vice chancellor [Sigmar Gabriel] said his country could take in 500,000 refugees annually for the next several years….

The Hungarians, at the gate to Europe (remember the Ottoman onslaught that overran Hungary and didn’t stop until Vienna?), understand.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned in an interview with Austrian television late Monday that millions of refugees would descend upon the continent if what he called Germany’s “open door” policy continued.

“As long as Europe cannot protect its external borders it makes no sense to discuss the fate of those flowing in,” Orban said.

In what way does anyone in Europe think taking in all comers—however sad their story—will in any way stem the flood? In what way does anyone in Europe think taking in all comers will in any way alleviate the suffering of those who’ve not yet left their home country(s) or, especially, those who cannot leave?

In what way does anyone in Europe think they can absorb the flood without going to the source and correcting the problems there?

Assisting Refugees

Posted on by
2

The surge of refugees fleeing Syria and other war-torn regions is putting immense pressure not only on Europe but also the United States, as the Obama administration faces calls to take a more active role in the humanitarian crisis.

We’re supposed to accept 65,000-ish refugees from Syria and “other war-torn regions.” Congressman Michael McCaul (R, TX), House Homeland Security Committee Chairman, is on the right track:

Despite all evidence towards our homeland’s vulnerability to foreign fighters, the administration still plans to resettle Syrian refugees into the United States. America has a proud tradition of welcoming refugees from around the world, but in this special situation the Obama administration’s Syrian refugee plan is very dangerous.

Indeed. Aside from our inability to afford the expense of the flood and our empirically demonstrated inability to properly house large influxes of refugees, too many of these are unvetted and not refugees at all.

Anne Richard, State’s Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, disagrees.

[T]hese cases are the most carefully vetted of any travelers to the United States, and nobody comes in without having a Department of Homeland Security interviewer agree that they are, in fact, bona fide refugees.

Personally vetted by a DHS interviewer. Yeah—unvetted. And that leaves aside the disingenuousness of applying that claim to a flood of 65,000. With fewer thousands of alien families on our southern border that have been cooped up on that border for months, to the point a Federal judge had to order their release (vetted or not, a problem for a separate writing), because DHS couldn’t figure out how to do that on its own.

No. If Europe, and the United States, really gave a rat’s behind about the plight of these refugees, we’d get out of our comfortable ivory towers and work the problem at its origin: the countries from which these refugees are flooding. Otherwise, the flood will continue unabated.

And refugees and those unable to leave will continue to suffer.