World Relief Director Addressed Council Committee of Whole but Had Few Answers to Questions.
Citizens asked Greenville County Council during their last two meetings to pass a resolution asking Governor Haley to suspend acceptance of refugees relocated through World Relief until questions regarding security and funding are answered.
Such a resolution has been passed by Pickens County Council, The Greenville County Republican Party Executive Committee and the Greenville County Republican Women’s Club.
Council invited Jason Lee, Director of the Upstate Office of World Relief to address their Committee of the Whole Tuesday, November 3rd.
Lee spoke briefly in general terms and council members asked questions. Councilman Willis Meadows asked the most questions using a brochure from a meeting in Spartanburg as a guide. Meadows and Joe Dill attended a meeting on the World Relief refugee program last month.
Although Lee is in charge of the refugee program in Upstate South Carolina, he either couldn’t or wouldn’t name a church in Greenville County that is sponsoring refugees. He only named First Baptist Spartanburg in that county. World Relief has a public-private relationship with churches that sponsor the refugees.
The refugees are encouraged and are helped to get a Social Security Card upon arrival in this country. They are entitled to all government services, including food stamps and medical care, upon arrival. Lee said all of the the refuges are helped to find jobs and Lee used as an example, one that is working at BMW.
Meadows asked Lee if he did vetting of the refugees to ensure there were no terrorists coming with the groups. He said the vetting is done by Homeland Security. Some of the refugees are coming from countries where there is no American presence and there is no way of finding out who the people really are or what their intentions are other than wanting to come to the United States and be given a welcome superior to that available to any American citizen.
“What are the ages of the 60 refugees already here or the ones coming next year?” Willis asked.
“I don’t have ages,” Lee responded.
“You said that there is no cost to the school district. What is the impact on Greenville County Schools,” Meadows asked.
“I’m more familiar with Spartanburg County,” was the answer.
“What are FI Benefits mentioned in your brochure?”
“I don’t know,” was the answer.
“What is refugee cash?”
“They get cash for the first 90 days. That can be extended for up to 8 months if needed. You would have to ask someone else about extending beyond that. Eight months is the longest we have had.”
Lee said he did not have access to information regarding money spent on the program locally. He said approval of food stamps, medicaid and other government programs is automatic for the first 8 months in country.
Meadows, an insurance agent, said it doesn’t seem fair to American citizens who wait as long as 5 months for medicaid and refugees can get it in 90 days or less.
Councilman Dr. Sid Cates was expected to present a resolution to the committee for a vote, however, he withdrew his proposal because, he said, “We have too much conflicting information. There are several things in the resolution that don’t agree with what we have heard here.”
The proposal was sent to the full council without a recommendation by a vote of 9 to 3.
Councilman Joe Dill asked that someone from the Federal Government be asked to speak to them before making a decision.
The full council voted to table the resolution and take it up at a later date. Based on experiences of citizens in Spartanburg and elsewhere, they will never get satisfactory answers to their questions pertaining to the activities of World Relief and the Refugee Resettlement Program.
By definition, a refugee is: “Someone who has fled from his or her home country and cannot return because he or she has a well-founded fear of persecution based on religion, race, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.”
The Refugees being brought to South Carolina and other states are said to come from camps operated by the United Nations. These camps reportedly have very few Christian refugees because the UN allows Christians to be persecuted molested, raped and terrorized by the majority Muslim population of the camps.
World Relief is using “out of context”Bible verses to persuade vulnerable Christians to believe it is their duty to welcome people – who may intend to kill us – into their homes and communities.
Unfortunately, Governor Haley and other government and church leaders have been persuaded through financial gain and other means to quietly implement the resettlement program without being fully informed or informing the citizens to whom they are responsible.
Pickens County Council, the Greenville County Republican Party Executive Committee and the Greenville County Republican Women’s Club and others across the state have already approved resolutions requesting Governor Haley stop the infusion of questionable refugees until security and other issues are satisfactorily resolved.