Dear Editor:

Regarding the Oct 19 letter to the editor about the work of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services and resettlement plans for Cayce: the recent resettlement effort in Cayce was not the first to be changed by the State Department.  Holyoke, Mass was taken off the list of resettlement sites due to citizen concern. Also, Senator Sam Brownback, at one time chair of the Senate immigration subcommittee, stopped an initial resettlement plan of Somali Bantu to his state of Kansas saying ""I oppose any resettlement of Somali Bantu refugees in the State of Kansas…Our office has contacted the Department of State asking them to not resettle any Somali Bantus in Kansas…Simply put this should not occur".

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS) would be taken more seriously if it devoted its own resources to its causes.

During the 90's the U.S. State Department offered a program, known as the Private Sector Initiative,  under which refugee sponsoring organizations such as LIRS could bring over refugees if they paid all costs associated with resettlement. Like all the other refugee agencies, LIRS refused to use this program, preferring instead the model under which they actually make money by bringing in refugees.

LIRS makes money from the refugee program in many ways:

1. A per capita grant from the U.S. State Department for each refugee it sponsors.

2. 25% of every transportation loan it collects from refugees it sponsors.

3. LIRS receives up to $2,000 dollars for each refugee by participating in a DHS program known as the Matching Grant Program. To get the $2,000, LIRS needs only provide $200 in actual money plus 800 dollars worth of donated clothes and furniture.

4. All expenses and administrative overhead for its Washington area headquarters are paid by the U.S. government.

5. Money is available from an array of other federal and state grants as well.

One may well ask why LIRS should get any form of government assistance as the refugees it sponsors are eligible for all forms of welfare within 1 month of arrival.  After 4 months LIRS has no legal responsibility towards the refugees it brought over. 

The Good Samaritan returned to the Inn where he brought the man who had been beaten by robbers.  He paid the expenses that had accumulated to that point and promised to pay future expenses.

He didn't leave the bill to others while claiming the moral high ground for himself.