After myself and two colleagues testified last Wednesday before the SD Senate Committee on State Affairs in which we pointed out nothing but facts about the dark side of refugee resettlements of migrants into the Dakotas, Minnesota, Ohio, and several other states, the largest newspaper in South Dakota, the Argus Leader, put out a very fair story that laid out the testimony of both sides, for and against the continuation of these resettlements.
The article actually used a quote from myself as the featured headline. It read, “You don’t want to know the truth!” This was what I said directly to committee chairman Bob Ewing when he told me to wrap up my testimony half-way in.
At least I am told the story was fair. I never got to read it. The story only lasted about 40 minutes online before it was pulled down and rewritten with an all new headline. The reworked version scrubbed all mention of the three of us who testified in favor of Sen. Neal Tapio’s bill — a bill that was designed to rein in the resettlements. It went from giving details of what we said in front of the committee to not even mentioning our names. It’s like it never happened. Down the memory hole. Only the positive aspects of the refugee program were included in the rewrite.
Did the reporter get back to the newsroom and write up an honest report of what happened, only to post it prematurely before her editor got hold of it? Or did the editor post it, only to get a phone call from some powerful state legislator? I don’t know, but something happened to change a well-reported story into an incomplete and deceptive one.
The new headline was the much less attention-grabbing: “Citing concerns of discrimination, S.D. panel shelves refugee resettlement ban”
But in the editor’s rushed and sloppy attempt to revise away the original reporting, he forgot to change the original headline’s url, which you can still see below:
Did somebody place a call to the Argus Leader? If so, I can hear the conversation now…
“What in the hell are you guys doing publishing a story that makes those guys look like they knew what they were talking about?!!”
I can honestly say that those of us who testified for the bill, myself, economist James Simpson and former Homeland Security officer Philip Haney, definitely did know what we were talking about, and South Dakota cannot say it wasn’t warned.
The Argus Leader isn’t the only paper providing cover for the refugee program in South Dakota. When a Somali refugee was convicted of attempted rape of a mentally-disabled woman at a group home in Aberdeen in January 2017, the newspaper in that town, the News American, ignored the story. I reported it for WND.com after calling the local newspaper editor, J.J. Perry, and asking him why he felt the attempted rape of a disabled woman in his city wasn’t worth reporting. He was shamed into running the story but buried it on an interior page and left out key details, like the fact that the convicted sex offender was a Somali refugee.
The Minnesota media also routinely covers up Somali crimes in cooperation with the local police departments. The most recent example was the case involving Somali refugee Mahad Abdiaziz Adbiraham, who stabbed two men at the Mall of America. The cops and media said it was a failed robbery attempt, but Adbiraham spoke up publicly at trial and admitted he carried out the attack for Allah.
It was a heroic thing to do on Tapio's part - but there is nothing he could have done since we a Wilson Fish State. It is UP TO THE GOVERNOR TO JOIN Tennessee's Law suit with Thomas Moore Law Center paying for it. No brainer to me....why hasn't Daugaard done it? By LAW we MUST allow Lutheran Social Services to control our immigration. If you really want to get rid of fake immigration...get me elected....
Posted by: Lora Hubbel | February 28, 2018 at 01:04 PM
Lora, you have zero chance of winning the earth hater primary. If you were serious about getting people's attention you'd leave the earth hater party and run as a third party or unaffiliated race for governor.
Posted by: larry kurtz | February 28, 2018 at 02:39 PM
Lora, The State of South Dakota could reclaim handling the resettlement program, which would remove the administration of it from LSS & properly return it to the State to handle. That would give us more control right away while we could still join the Tennessee law suit.
Reference: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/resource/wilson-fish-alternative-program-guidelines which says in part:
C. Procedure for a WF Program to Revert to a State-Administered RCA or PPP Model
Once a WF program has been established in a state that has withdrawn from the refugee program, and absent any statutory or regulatory requirement for a WF program to revert to a state-administered RCA or PPP model upon request by the State, it is ORR’s policy that the following requirements be met for ORR to support the State’s request:
The State and the current WF agency (and collaborative partners if applicable) come to an agreement that facilitates the transition from a WF to a state-administered or PPP model (or)
The State provides justification that the change is in the best interest of the ORR-eligible clients, with a plan ensuring that services to ORR-eligible clients will continue uninterrupted and be coordinated with all of the resettlement agencies, (and)
The State provides justification that the change is cost effective, and ORR concludes it is in the best interest of the federal government to effectuate a change.
Posted by: JimHoliway | February 28, 2018 at 04:58 PM
For clarity “us” means white male Republicans.
Posted by: larry kurtz | February 28, 2018 at 05:45 PM