If you’re a taxpayer – in New York or anywhere in the United States – you’re getting ripped off by groups like United Way, Catholic Charities, and the Central American Refugee Center (CARECEN). You might think these are charities. The truth is that these groups take millions of taxpayer dollars – your money – through government contracts to facilitate illegal immigration.
It’s money laundering. Democratic politicians want to maximize illegal immigration, but they don’t want to put their fingerprints on it. The remedy: pay so-called charities to do the work for them. Who is in this scam? President Joe Biden and politicians across the country including Governor Kathy Hochul, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and our very own Mayor Eric Adams.
Even before crossing the border, migrants still in Mexico are given debit cards loaded with $800 a month to pay for their necessities. The gift cards are distributed by the nonprofit Organization for Migration, with money provided by the US Department of State.
After crossing and surrendering to US border agents, many migrants are directed to Catholic charities, which provide them with hotel rooms, meals and clothing, and sometimes pay for their bus or plane tickets to destinations of their choice. Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, explains that the mission is simply to “give a cup of water in the name of Jesus.”
Who can argue with that? Except that the money doesn’t come from the Sunday collection basket. Sister Pimentel admits that her organization is reimbursed by the federal government. This comes from the taxpayers, who have no idea that they are supporting this operation.
Texans such as Congressman Lance Gooden blame these organizations for “fueling the drastic increase in illegal immigration across our southern border and across the country.”
Texas and Arizona transport migrants to the nation’s capital. Meeting the buses are staff from CARECEN, a far-left group funded almost entirely by government contracts, and Catholic charities. These groups distribute gift cards and food parcels, direct migrants to shelters or hotel rooms, or help them buy tickets to other destinations. Who pays for all this? FEMA – the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a government agency that channels money through nonprofit organizations.
The board of FEMA’s Restoration and Emergency Services program includes Catholic and United Way charities, which funnel the money to local nonprofits serving illegal immigrants. FEMA has already provided $2.2 million in humanitarian funding for this purpose in the DC area.
In the New York area, where the Biden administration transported illegal immigrants on charter flights in the dead of night. After those flights land, usually at Westchester County Airport in White Plains, migrants board chartered buses and head to destinations in the area, including several Catholic charity facilities.
Catholic charities and CARECEN are funded largely by government contracts, not private donations. Their financial statements reveal that Governor Hochul supports both of these organizations through her Office for New Americans.
The stated mission of CARECEN is particularly revealing. This includes voter registration and civic engagement. Translation: Add to Democratic Party voter rolls.
On Tuesday, Mayor Eric Adams lamented the influx of illegal migrants entering the homeless shelter system. But don’t take Adams’ protests seriously. This is the theatricality of the Democratic Party.
New York is required to provide shelter to anyone – from anywhere – who has no other place to sleep. This is thanks to lawsuits filed by non-profit organizations such as the Coalition for the Homeless. Who funds the Coalition? New York and New York State. The Coalition is a quasi-governmental actor posing as a charity. It is the city that pursues the city. The losers are the taxpayers, who foot the bill for the charade.
And Americans already there who need a helping hand, like Jeffrey Harris, a 56-year-old veterinarian living in one of the shelters. “If we can’t take care of the homeless here, how can we take immigrants,” he fumed.