European Migrant Crisis

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Rip
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Rip »

GreenGoo wrote:The Dick Cheney approach.

Bad things will happen sometime in the future and when they do it will be because of this thing I'm railing against now and it will be your fault!
Are we talking about Climate Change now?
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Max Peck »

Maybe Lady Liberty needs a version of The New Colossus for a new age:
"Give me, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Keep your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
I send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed back to thee,
I lift my finger beside the golden door!"
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by GreenGoo »

Rip wrote:
GreenGoo wrote:The Dick Cheney approach.

Bad things will happen sometime in the future and when they do it will be because of this thing I'm railing against now and it will be your fault!
Are we talking about Climate Change now?
Call me when it's thousands of Dick Cheney's, reams of data and the method involved is scientific and not personal opinion as fact.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Rip »

GreenGoo wrote:
Rip wrote:
GreenGoo wrote:The Dick Cheney approach.

Bad things will happen sometime in the future and when they do it will be because of this thing I'm railing against now and it will be your fault!
Are we talking about Climate Change now?
Call me when it's thousands of Dick Cheney's, reams of data and the method involved is scientific and not personal opinion as fact.
So scientifically every bad thing that happens is Climate Change? Hell your beloved Bernie Sanders has even blamed it for the Paris attacks.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by GreenGoo »

Not following. Don't want to follow. Don't have the energy to figure it out today.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Rip »

GreenGoo wrote:Not following. Don't want to follow. Don't have the energy to figure it out today.

Allow me to place you back on the tracks.
In last night’s Democratic presidential debate, a day after the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris, Bernie Sanders stood by his claim that climate change is the greatest threat to national security.

CBS’s John Dickerson, last night’s moderator, asked Sanders : “You said you want to rid the planet of ISIS. In the previous debate you said the greatest threat to national security is climate change. Do you still believe that?”

“Absolutely,” Sen. Sanders replied. “Climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism and if we do not get our act together and listen to what the scientists say, you’re going to see countries all over the world, this is what the CIA says, they’re going to be struggling over limited amounts of water, limited amounts of land to grow their crops and you’re going to see all kinds of international conflict. But, of course international terrorism is major issue that we have to address today.”
http://ecowatch.com/2015/11/15/sanders- ... terrorism/
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by LordMortis »

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/1 ... un-access/

Title
NRA-Backed Legislator: We Can’t Take Syrian Refugees Because It’s Too Easy For Them To Buy Guns
This would be funny.... but it's not...
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Defiant »

I wonder how feasible it would be to set up something like Ellis Island to vet refuges but on a larger scale (so that we could immediately take in lots of refuges running for their lives). Stays would probably have to be longer term (to ensure vetting, to educate them (eg, English, democracy, basic skills if they don't have them), and also if they don't get accepted (eg, because of quotas or whatever) that hopefully enough time will have passed that the crisis they were escaping from may be over.

(Obviously, this wouldn't be a solution for today, since it would take some time to set up)
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Enough »

Rip wrote:
GreenGoo wrote:Not following. Don't want to follow. Don't have the energy to figure it out today.

Allow me to place you back on the tracks.
In last night’s Democratic presidential debate, a day after the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris, Bernie Sanders stood by his claim that climate change is the greatest threat to national security.

CBS’s John Dickerson, last night’s moderator, asked Sanders : “You said you want to rid the planet of ISIS. In the previous debate you said the greatest threat to national security is climate change. Do you still believe that?”

“Absolutely,” Sen. Sanders replied. “Climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism and if we do not get our act together and listen to what the scientists say, you’re going to see countries all over the world, this is what the CIA says, they’re going to be struggling over limited amounts of water, limited amounts of land to grow their crops and you’re going to see all kinds of international conflict. But, of course international terrorism is major issue that we have to address today.”
http://ecowatch.com/2015/11/15/sanders- ... terrorism/
There is actually quite a bit of research that shows increases in temperature result in increased levels of violence.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Enough »

LordMortis wrote:http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/1 ... un-access/

Title
NRA-Backed Legislator: We Can’t Take Syrian Refugees Because It’s Too Easy For Them To Buy Guns
This would be funny.... but it's not...
Maybe there's a nice wedge issue in there to neuter the NRA a bit. Hmmm. :think:
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by malchior »

This is a little like stating the obvious. Violent crime rates in major cities during heat waves...almost always go up significantly.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by GreenGoo »

Rip wrote:
GreenGoo wrote:Not following. Don't want to follow. Don't have the energy to figure it out today.

Allow me to place you back on the tracks.
Well, in all due fairness, Sanders is saying that climate change will produce social pressures that will result in terrorism. While I personally wouldn't call it terrorism, I will call it anarchy. What it's called is sort of irrelevant when strangers are breaking into your home and ransacking it, however.

But yeah, that's totally the same thing as Cheney fear mongering.

Sure. Ok.

If I get Bernie some better advisors will you tell Cheney to shut the fuck up? He had his time in the sun, and all it did was teach us just what a filthy scumbag he really is.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Anonymous Bosch »

An apt politcal cartoon:

Image

(Although Assad ought to have been included on the blade, for greater accuracy).
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by GreenGoo »

Maybe have Assad be a compactor coming down on top of them.

He definitely should be on there though, I agree.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Anonymous Bosch »

Enough wrote:
Rip wrote:
GreenGoo wrote:Not following. Don't want to follow. Don't have the energy to figure it out today.

Allow me to place you back on the tracks.
In last night’s Democratic presidential debate, a day after the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris, Bernie Sanders stood by his claim that climate change is the greatest threat to national security.

CBS’s John Dickerson, last night’s moderator, asked Sanders : “You said you want to rid the planet of ISIS. In the previous debate you said the greatest threat to national security is climate change. Do you still believe that?”

“Absolutely,” Sen. Sanders replied. “Climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism and if we do not get our act together and listen to what the scientists say, you’re going to see countries all over the world, this is what the CIA says, they’re going to be struggling over limited amounts of water, limited amounts of land to grow their crops and you’re going to see all kinds of international conflict. But, of course international terrorism is major issue that we have to address today.”
http://ecowatch.com/2015/11/15/sanders- ... terrorism/
There is actually quite a bit of research that shows increases in temperature result in increased levels of violence.
So what? At most, that'd make it indirectly related. To quote the Politifact Truth-o-Meter on Sanders' claims:
Politifact.com wrote:Our ruling

Sanders said, "Climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism."

We couldn’t find any evidence of a "direct" relationship between climate change and terrorism, though many reports have noted an indirect link. There are, of course, many other factors that contribute to terrorism, including religious and ethnic tensions and political repression.

We rate Sanders' claim Mostly False.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." — P. J. O'Rourke
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Kraken »

Anonymous Bosch wrote:
Politifact.com wrote:Our ruling

Sanders said, "Climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism."

We couldn’t find any evidence of a "direct" relationship between climate change and terrorism, though many reports have noted an indirect link. There are, of course, many other factors that contribute to terrorism, including religious and ethnic tensions and political repression.

We rate Sanders' claim Mostly False.
Tell that to the Pentagon: “Global climate change will have wide-ranging implications for U.S. national security interests over the foreseeable future because it will aggravate existing problems — such as poverty, social tensions, environmental degradation, ineffectual leadership, and weak political institutions — that threaten domestic stability in a number of countries.”"

Bernie's focus on the big picture is legitimate, but the word "directly" sinks his statement. Attributing this specific migrant crisis to climate change is at least as much of a stretch as is linking any particular weather event to climate change.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Enough »

Kraken wrote:
Anonymous Bosch wrote:
Politifact.com wrote:Our ruling

Sanders said, "Climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism."

We couldn’t find any evidence of a "direct" relationship between climate change and terrorism, though many reports have noted an indirect link. There are, of course, many other factors that contribute to terrorism, including religious and ethnic tensions and political repression.

We rate Sanders' claim Mostly False.
Tell that to the Pentagon: “Global climate change will have wide-ranging implications for U.S. national security interests over the foreseeable future because it will aggravate existing problems — such as poverty, social tensions, environmental degradation, ineffectual leadership, and weak political institutions — that threaten domestic stability in a number of countries.”"

Bernie's focus on the big picture is legitimate, but the word "directly" sinks his statement. Attributing this specific migrant crisis to climate change is at least as much of a stretch as is linking any particular weather event to climate change.
Pretty much exactly this.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Max Peck »

This editorial provides some insight into the screening processes already in place for the Syrian refugees that will hopefully be bound for Canada.

Syrian refugee screening will be a challenge, but one Canada can meet
Canada's screening processes have been tested in recent years by boatloads of migrants arriving from Sri Lanka. The arrival of 492 migrants off the coast of B.C. aboard the MV Sun Sea in 2010 led to particular challenges. In immigration proceedings, the government argued members of the Tamil Tigers might be hidden among legitimate asylum seekers. Refugee claimants were incarcerated for months while their identity was confirmed; eleven were revealed to be members of the Tigers.

A boatload of unknown faces landing on Canadian shores is a very different situation to the thousands of Syrian refugees Canada is expected to draw from refugee camps in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. Many will have already been cleared by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Atkey says the first line of defence in 2015 — as it was in 1979 — will lie with visa officers on the ground, trained to be alive to scuttlebutt, suspicion and rumours within the camps. Many of those refugees will have been waiting for years; their flight from Syria may well pre-date ISIS. Waldman says immigration authorities will have developed security profiles of applicants who demand "enhanced screening" by RCMP and CSIS. The very young and the very elderly may be processed quicker, as well as women with children. Single men are obviously more likely to undergo heavy scrutiny.

To that end, Waldman says the government will likely issue a mixture of permanent and temporary residence permits, because the security checks won't necessarily stop once applicants arrive in Canada. Federal Court files are filled with appeals and battles between the citizenship and immigration minister and refugees accused of membership in groups designated as terrorist organizations. Old associations and memberships are scrutinized, as are friendships, movement and social media activity.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by malchior »

Enough wrote:
Kraken wrote:
Anonymous Bosch wrote:
Politifact.com wrote:Our ruling

Sanders said, "Climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism."

We couldn’t find any evidence of a "direct" relationship between climate change and terrorism, though many reports have noted an indirect link. There are, of course, many other factors that contribute to terrorism, including religious and ethnic tensions and political repression.

We rate Sanders' claim Mostly False.
Tell that to the Pentagon: “Global climate change will have wide-ranging implications for U.S. national security interests over the foreseeable future because it will aggravate existing problems — such as poverty, social tensions, environmental degradation, ineffectual leadership, and weak political institutions — that threaten domestic stability in a number of countries.”"

Bernie's focus on the big picture is legitimate, but the word "directly" sinks his statement. Attributing this specific migrant crisis to climate change is at least as much of a stretch as is linking any particular weather event to climate change.
Pretty much exactly this.
Sort of unrelated but this is why I'm not the hugest fan of Polifact. Their method which amounts basically to taking a sentence, stripping out all the context, and grading it using rigorous-ish logic is silly. What he was saying was most likely accurate in context other than using the word 'direct' versus 'indirect' - which is a tad nit-picky for extemporaneous remarks IMO. And he's right - it is likely the biggest threat facing mankind in general so as a subset our national interest falls somewhere in that realm. :)
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Holman »

Tell us what you really think, Mr. President.
"And so if there are concrete, actual suggestions to enhance this extraordinary screening process that’s already in place, we’re welcome -- we’re open to hearing actual ideas," Obama said. "But that’s not really what’s been going on in this debate. When candidates say, we wouldn't admit three-year-old orphans -- that’s political posturing. When individuals say that we should have a religious test and that only Christians -- proven Christians -- should be admitted -- that’s offensive and contrary to American values."

"I cannot think of a more potent recruitment tool for ISIL than some of the rhetoric that’s been coming out of here during the course of this debate. ISIL seeks to exploit the idea that there is a war between Islam and the West," he continued. "And when you start seeing individuals in positions of responsibility, suggesting that Christians are more worthy of protection than Muslims are in a war-torn land, that feeds the ISIL narrative. It’s counterproductive, and it needs to stop."

Obama then criticized politicians who describe themselves as "tough," noting that they are now afraid of women and children fleeing terrorism.

"These are the same folks oftentimes who suggest that they’re so tough that just talking to Putin or staring down ISIL, or using some additional rhetoric somehow is going to solve the problems out there. But apparently, they’re scared of widows and orphans coming into the United States of America as part of our tradition of compassion," he said. "First, they were worried about the press being too tough on them during debates. Now they’re worried about three-year-old orphans. That doesn’t sound very tough to me."
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Isgrimnur »

:clap:
It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Rip »

Why would we be afraid of women? Not like they would blow themselves up or anything...right?
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by GreenGoo »

Rip wrote:Why would we be afraid of women? Not like they would blow themselves up or anything...right?
I didn't realize you were afraid of women.

That explains a lot.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Rip »

GreenGoo wrote:
Rip wrote:Why would we be afraid of women? Not like they would blow themselves up or anything...right?
I didn't realize you were afraid of women.

That explains a lot.
I am afraid of anything that wraps itself explosives with an intent of exploding such among innocents. Yet I am more afraid of idiots who would discount the danger from the same.

I also find it ironic that someone who is such a big supporter of women in combat would scoff at the likelihood of them being combatants for the enemy.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Isgrimnur »

It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by GreenGoo »

Rip wrote:
GreenGoo wrote:
Rip wrote:Why would we be afraid of women? Not like they would blow themselves up or anything...right?
I didn't realize you were afraid of women.

That explains a lot.
I am afraid of anything that wraps itself explosives with an intent of exploding such among innocents. Yet I am more afraid of idiots who would discount the danger from the same.

I also find it ironic that someone who is such a big supporter of women in combat would scoff at the likelihood of them being combatants for the enemy.
You know who doesn't discount danger? Cheney. He's sure something bad is going to happen if we let refugees in, and when it does, it'll be YOUR fault. He doesn't know what it will be, or when, but it WILL happen. Of that he's sure.

I wrote a whole bunch more but I get tired of addressing you. As far as I can tell you are afraid that doing the right thing will result in bad things happening. Well, that's your right, but NOT doing the right thing because of fear is the exact definition of terrorism working, so fuck terrorists and those that are willing to let themselves be terrorized by them, especially those in positions of power, such as Governors.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Jeff V »

2 Chicago Aldermen Oppose Move to Temporarily Stop Accepting Syrian Refugees
Aldermen insist Chicago must remain a sanctuary city for refugees

NBCChicago wrote:Two Chicago Aldermen are speaking out against a move to temporarily stop Syrian refugees from entering Illinois in wake of the Paris terror attacks.

Ald. Ed Burke, 14th Ward, plans to introduce a resolution at Wednesday's Chicago City Council meeting reaffirming the city’s status as a “sanctuary city” for refugees.
The resolution is co-sponsored by Ald. Carlos Rosa.

Both aldermen are showing opposition to the Gov. Bruce Rauner’s stance on temporarily halting the acceptance of any more Syrian refugees in Illinois. Rauner is joining dozens of other governors who have taken that position.
It remains unclear if governors have the authority to deny entry to anyone granted federal asylum.
I hope Emanuel further speaks out and overshadows the demented ramblings of asshat Rauner.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by hepcat »

Isgrimnur wrote::clap:
Yup, I love it when Obama gets frustrated with politicians who try to take advantage of the moment. Of course he does the same on occasion, I'm not saying he's above reproach. But he's damn good at calling out the bullshit when he's right.
Covfefe!
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Holman »

Once again, it's not like hiding among refugees is the only way ISIS terrorists can get around. ISIS territory is full of volunteers who have flocked there from all over the world, most of them bearing passports from their home countries.

Blocking refugees does absolutely nothing to keep us safe and does everything to compound their danger and misery. It also gives ISIS a huge recruiting tool: "Look how they hate all Muslims!"

Of course, maybe that's not much of an argument when "Look how we hate all Muslims!" will probably be the theme of the next GOP debate.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by malchior »

Holman wrote:Of course, maybe that's not much of an argument when "Look how we hate all Muslims!" will probably be the theme of the next GOP debate.
It might not be openly displayed by them but from the unofficial channels used by the right -- Facebook, Twitter, Radio, etc. there has been an overt intolerance and over-reaction to these events. In my opinion they are all deranged, overly cowed fools, easily whipped into a hysteria by people who should know better. It's fucking depressing. I'd point out to these pinheads that they are *FAR* more likely to be mowed down by a upset teenager TODAY than a terrorist IN THEIR ENTIRE LIFETIME but it would be a waste of time. You can't even talk sense anymore - it is full on lizard brain at this point.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Defiant »

Isgrimnur wrote:Enlarge Image

Enlarge Image

WaPo

Five years later:
April -- Gallup poll shows 70% of Americans approve setting up emergency refugees camps in the U. S.
But I'm not sure either is directly comparable to sentiment now, given that we're days after a horrific terrorist attack that no doubt shifted some peoples views.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by LordMortis »

hepcat wrote:
Isgrimnur wrote::clap:
Yup, I love it when Obama gets frustrated with politicians who try to take advantage of the moment. Of course he does the same on occasion, I'm not saying he's above reproach. But he's damn good at calling out the bullshit when he's right.
It's great when you agree with him but he uses the same tools no matter the agenda. Like when Warren was posturing and being a politician advancing her career for speaking out against fast tracking the TPP. He's already used these tools to try and do stand up for the republican response to the NBC debates, which I thought was about at the bottom of the barrel. He used up my ability to rally for his frustration a long time ago, even when he's essentially on the money. He comes across like the same kind of dickhead that Bill Maher is and that's a terrible thing to think about a president.

In short, I can agree with him but I can no longer celebrate his tirades.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by hepcat »

In this case, I can. The only "tool" I see being used in this "tirade" is the honest truth. That's something I can wholeheartedly celebrate.
Covfefe!
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Kraken »

Holman wrote:Once again, it's not like hiding among refugees is the only way ISIS terrorists can get around.
There is some speculation that the terrorist "refugee" may have held a fake passport intended to provoke exactly the reaction that it brought.

I would think that the people who are fleeing ISIS would be better than anybody else at ferreting out rats.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by naednek »

I keep hearing in the news that taking in refugees is a year or two process. What is that process? Are these people held\detained for that time until they are cleared? Just curious, don't need it to be detailed, just generally wondering how it all works.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Pyperkub »

Defiant wrote:
Isgrimnur wrote:Enlarge Image

Enlarge Image

WaPo

Five years later:
April -- Gallup poll shows 70% of Americans approve setting up emergency refugees camps in the U. S.
But I'm not sure either is directly comparable to sentiment now, given that we're days after a horrific terrorist attack that no doubt shifted some peoples views.
And the middle east is already a war zone which looks like it could easily get bigger before it gets smaller?
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Also: There are three ways to not tell the truth: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Holman »

naednek wrote:I keep hearing in the news that taking in refugees is a year or two process. What is that process? Are these people held\detained for that time until they are cleared? Just curious, don't need it to be detailed, just generally wondering how it all works.
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Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Isgrimnur »

CNN
Potential refugees first apply for refugee status through the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the international body in charge of protecting and assisting refugees.

The UNHCR essentially decides who merits refugee status based on the parameters laid out in the 1951 Refugee Convention, which states that a refugee is someone who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country."

If it's demonstrated that the refugee in question meets the above conditions, the applicant may be referred by the UNHRC for resettlement in a third country, such as the United States, where he or she will be given legal resident status and eventually be able to apply for citizenship.

After the UNHCR refers a refugee applicant to the United States, the application is processed by a federally funded Resettlement Support Center, which gathers information about the candidate to prepare for an intensive screening process, which includes an interview, a medical evaluation and an interagency security screening process aimed at ensuring the refugee does not pose a threat to the United States.

The average processing time for refugee applications is 18 to 24 months, but Syrian applications can take significantly longer because of security concerns and difficulties in verifying their information.
...
Much attention has been focused on the security vetting refugees must go through before they come to the United States, particularly after it was revealed that one of the terrorists in the Paris attacks entered Europe through a refugee processing center.

Several federal agencies, including the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Department, the National Counterterrorism Center and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, are involved in the process, which Deputy State Department Spokesman Mark Toner recently called, "the most stringent security process for anyone entering the United States."

These agencies use biographical and biometric information about applicants to conduct a background check and make sure applicants really are who they say they are.

The applicant is interviewed by a DHS officer with training in this screening process as well as specialized training for Syrian and Iraqi refugee cases.

And refugees from Syria actually go through another layer of screening, called the Syria Enhanced Review process.
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According to senior administration officials, more than half of the Syrian refugees admitted into the U.S. so far are children.

"Single men of combat age" represent only 2% of those admitted and the elderly comprise another 2.5%. The male/female breakdown is "roughly" 50/50.

The approval rate for Syrian refugees so far is a little over 50%, although the official noted that those not included in this pool include both rejected cases and pending cases, so the approval rate is expected to go up.
It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Anonymous Bosch
Posts: 10512
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 6:09 pm
Location: Northern California [originally from the UK]

Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by Anonymous Bosch »

The flaws in the Syrian refugee vetting procedues, according to a retired INS / ICE official with thirty years of immigration law enforcement experience:
Dan Cadman wrote:There are three critical ways in which our vetting procedures make us vulnerable:

"Flying under the radar". As I have noted before, our vetting is heavily oriented toward electronic systems — databases with biographical information about known or suspected terrorists, sometimes with biometrics (fingerprints or photos). But what do you do if they aren't known and have no fingerprints of record in any U.S. system? Why, then you look at the documents they present to you for clues.

What happens if they don't have any documents to present? Media stories about the "migrant flood" are replete with articles about the hundreds of identity and travel documents discarded on the pathways these aliens are using in their trek toward Europe. The answer is that they will assume whatever identity and nationality they choose to provide to the refugee resettlement agencies responsible for developing, under UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) supervision, the queues of applicants our officers will be asked to vet.

Using bogus documents is easy and no disqualifier. Then there is the ease with which fraudulent documents are being procured throughout the migrant pathways into the heart of Europe right now — some of them legitimate, but altered to accommodate the new bearers; others excellent counterfeits. According to BBC News, they are being used with remarkable success to pass through border and airport checkpoints and are readily available, as one of their own undercover investigations revealed.

Although there is certainly some chance that such documents would be discovered by U.S. officers who have available to them an outstanding Forensic Document Laboratory (FDL), it may surprise readers that use of phony documents doesn't make you ineligible for refugee or asylum status. This is something government officials don't like to discuss in public forums such as the Judiciary Committee hearing, where they would have us think of the screening process as an impenetrable iron wall to national security threats.

The principle behind overlooking use of fake documents is firmly embedded in both international and domestic law, for the most noble of reasons. Think of Raoul Wallenberg, who saved many Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe by providing them Swedish passports without regard to their real nationality. Even so, the stakes for the American people are extraordinarily high if the individuals using those fake documents aren't in fact refugees in distress, particularly since, according to the UNHCR, 68 percent of the nearly 600,000 who've made the journey as of October 2015 are adult males.

It's also important to understand that not every applicant's documents are examined by the FDL — the workload would be too crushing. They only examine documents upon official request by a suspicious immigration agent or officer. Nonetheless, assuming our officers were able to detect the fraudulent documents (no sure thing), how would they readily discern between a legitimate refugee using a fake passport in desperation to survive and flee vs. an anti-western Islamist hoping to insinuate himself into the United States with malintent? Given ground realities, that is a near-impossibility, and failing the ability to establish legal disqualifiers to entry, the decision will inevitably be to grant status and admit. That is what refugee officers do.

Identity theft and blank passports can be an unbeatable combination. Finally, and worst of all, media stories are also replete with articles reflecting the ease with which "migrants", apparently including jihadists, are able to obtain perfectly legitimate Syrian documents they will ultimately present to interviewing refugee officers from every country, including the United States. This is because many Syrian government offices have been overrun in the chaos of war, leaving their trove of blank documents — passports, national identity cards, driver's licenses, etc. — behind for extremist groups and criminal gangs to take advantage of.

It is easy enough to steal the identity of a dead man (or woman) to insert into the blanks — or even, for that matter, a foreign jihadist's own identity even though he may not be Syrian at all; he need only be unknown to the West. In such circumstances, there is no one that U.S. officers can turn to in order to verify the identity of the person who presents these facially legitimate documents. Not only have birth and death records been destroyed during this civil war, but even when they are still available to the Syrian government, there is no reason for authorities of the Assad regime to cooperate with officials of a government in Europe or the United States, when that government wishes to see him deposed.

That this is happening now is beyond dispute. The British Daily Mail carried a lengthy and detailed article last month outlining how one of their journalists purchased an entire package of Syrian documents created from legitimate blank stock, tailored to him, for a shockingly small $2,000.

According to the journalist, the vendor in Turkey who sold him the documents said such blanks were already being prepared on behalf of, and used by, Islamic State terrorists intent on infiltrating the West using as cover the ongoing mass migration crisis.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." — P. J. O'Rourke
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GreenGoo
Posts: 42239
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 10:46 pm
Location: Ottawa, ON

Re: European Migrant Crisis

Post by GreenGoo »

Ok. I don't think this is a surprise to anyone. Knowing the specifics isn't exactly shocking or eye opening.

What does he recommend we do about it? Presumably he's got some ideas beyond "don't help refugees".
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