Idaho’s Refugee Resettlement Program Gears Up
Picture from Idaho Office for Refugees
The Federal government has settled nearly 12,000 foreign refugees in Idaho with the willing participation of a government-non-profit complex. More are on the way.
Many cities across the country, including Boise, have a refugee resettlement program. Here is how the general process works. First, refugees present themselves to Department of Homeland Security (usually coming through the border illegally) where a refugee status determination interview is conducted. (A vast array of interest groups helps refugees prepare favorable applications.) Once DHS approves refugee status, a State Department outfit called the Refugee Processing Center transports refugees to a one of the nine national refugee resettlement agencies. Then, these resettlement agencies coordinate with willing “local partners” to manage the refugee’s cases.
In Boise, one such local partner is the Idaho Office of Refugees. Since the year 2000, over 11,800 refugees have been settled Idaho’s cities mostly to Boise, Twin Falls, and Pocatello. Anyone living on the Boise bench, among other areas, has noticed the spike in foreigners.
Recent countries of origin include Iraq, Bhutan, Burma, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Sudan, Ukraine, and Iran. The languages these people speak are Farsi, Swahili, Ukrainian, Pashto, and Kibembe.
But wait, Idaho Office for Refugees…is this a wing of the Idaho government? The name leads you to think that. In fact, however, IOR is funded by an extra-governmental, non-profit called Jannus. In 2021, Jannus had nearly 13.5 Million in support and revenues in grant money. These non-profits then use federal grant money to create a vast infrastructure of worker bees paid to bring in more migrants to our cities.
IOR is just another example of private-public partnerships formed through government grants and the non-profit world. It is hard to tell where the government ends and these non-profits begin.
The City of Boise recently hired Eulalia Gallegos, whose stated ambition for the city is “to formalize language access and create an inclusive environment that fully embraces and centers the voices of Indigenous, im/migrant, and refugee communities.”
Another group is a local affiliate of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a big player in the refugee resettlement business. IRC has settled refugees from Congo, Burma and Somalia to Boise with the formal consultation of the State Refugee Coordinator, which is, of course, the Idaho Office of Refugees.
Idaho has a shadowy public-private partnership running refugees into the state without any input from public officials. They are covering their tracks and hiding the numbers. Public officials have made the entire project outside of their control precisely to bring Idaho more and more refugees. They create a need and then suddenly the City of Boise has to hire a Language Access Program Manager, our first ever! If the people of Idaho knew, they would recognize the problem and demand that our government stop the inflow of refugees.
These local affiliates are so proud of their work that they do not update it or present honest reporting about it until it is too late. The Twin Falls CSI Refugee Center has
information from 2013 on its website.
Many Idahoans complain about refugees from California. On a casual walk along the Boise Greenbelt will display “Go back to California” graffiti all over the walls. It appears CaLiFoRnIans have cultural differences with Idahoans that upset the locals. But how much more is this the case when your kids’ classmates speak Swahili or worship Allah?
Another dinner table topic parents are experiencing with your young adult children is affordable housing in the area. Parents are right to worry how their kids will afford a home and live near them as they age. Others must consider moving elsewhere or renting a smaller property, even as their family grows. Yet foreign migrants from countries you couldn't spot on a map have federally-funded outreach officers working to ensure they have an affordable place to live.
Perhaps you are a young parent who is struggling to find a job that will provide you with a middle-class income. Well, take comfort, IOR has an army of professional “economic opportunity” counselors working to ensure migrants get well-paying jobs, so they can secure permanent residency in YOUR state.
Aside from these material causes, the influx of so much diversity is liable to fray a country's social fabric and to sow distrust and dishonesty into a community.
Anyone living in Idaho should be asking these questions right now. Did I vote for this? Is this accelerating influx of refugees something I’d want to see in my state if I could avoid it?