Thursday, March 09, 2017

March 7, 2017
By the Journal Star editorial board

Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon (click here) apparently wants state employees to do homework for people who want to demonize the refugees that church groups and other good-hearted Nebraskans are trying to help.

In the name of transparency, Brewer has introduced a bill that would require the state to collect information and compile it into a report.

But Brewer wants to collect only negative information -- nothing positive about the contributions that refugees make to Nebraska, and nothing about the horrors they are fleeing. And he wants to make that cherry-picked negative information easily accessible on a state website.

If senators think that state resources ought to be used for that purpose, they ought to at least require the legislation to undergo major revision so that it presents information in an even-handed fashion.

Brewer’s bill (LB505) would require resettlement agencies to report the number, age, gender, family status and nation of origin for all refugees settled in Nebraska.

Apparently Brewer didn’t do his own homework, because much of that information is already available....

Sponsorship of refugees into the USA has been ongoing for decades. I don't expect much will stop it and that goes for immigrants that are undocumented as well. There are churches that actively look for and advertise for any undocumented that needs sanctuary.


Rev. Emad, Shireen, Samer, and Steve with members of Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Omaha.

POBLO International (click here) is seeking volunteers to assist at our International Friendship Centers at Atonement Lutheran Church in Dearborn, MI and St. Florian Convent in Hamtramck, MI. In particular, we are looking for volunteer teachers/assistants for our sewing classes and English classes....

This is Iceland, but, there are churches in the USA just as obvious regarding immigrants.


August 24, 2016

JUDY WOODRUFF: (click here) But, first: Anti-immigrant sentiment is on the rise in Europe, and it has spread to Iceland, one of the more unusual destinations for refugees from the war in Syria.
But many people on this island nation in the middle of the North Atlantic welcome the prospect of their traditionally white, Christian country becoming more multicultural.
Special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports from the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik.

MALCOLM BRABANT, Special Correspondent: Outside Iceland’s tiny Parliament, pro-refugee supporters outnumber and encircle a group from a new party called the Icelandic National Front, which objects to recent legislation relaxing rules on immigration.
One of their standard-bearers is nurse Maria Magnusdottir.

MARIA MAGNUSDOTTIR, Icelandic National Front: We do not want people that are not adapting to our culture, like, for example, Muslims. I’m not saying that all Muslims are bad people. But, unfortunately, they are not adapting to cultures. So, like, in Europe, we can see two cultures in most of those countries. And that is what we are afraid of....