Thread: Unreal: W/Ebola Crisis Raging, Obama Admin Streamlining Visas From West Africa

Unreal: With Ebola Crisis Raging, Obama Administration Started Streamlining Visas From West Africa in August



Katie Pavlich | Oct 17, 2014



Not only is the Ebola crisis continuing to degrade, but the optics of how the White House has handled the situation are getting worse by the day too.
A new report published at Breitbart shows the Obama administration started expediting visas from West Africa in August as the Ebola was (and still is) raging out of control with a 70 percent mortality rate. According to the report, the man who died from Ebola in a Texas hospital after visiting Liberia, had his visa approved in the same month visas were being streamlined.

In short, the USCIS has been waiving fees, expediting the immigration process, and allowing extensions of visas for anyone coming from the three designated Ebola-stricken countries, provided that they are in the United States. The Free Republic blog reported that the law firm of Edward W. Neufville, III, LLC, a Washington, D.C. area immigration firm, added a section to their website two days after the USCIS announcement, with more details about how these relief measures would work, including extensions of the time that the foreign national could remain in the United States, additional work permit opportunities, and even forgiveness for failure to appear at required interviews or submit required evidence. According to the Neufville firm, the new USCIS policies mean that "[i]ndividuals from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea currently in the United States may apply for an extension or change in status due to the Ebola Outbreak, even if their request is filed after the authorized period of admission has expired." Otherwise stated, this means that someone from one of those countries who illegally overstayed their visa can now apply for an extension, or someone who arrived illegally can apply to get legal status.

Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who died from Ebola earlier this month, had traveled to the United States after his visa was approved in August, the same month that USCIS announced the new relief measures.

Here is a breakdown of what was happening with the Ebola crisis in August courtesy of Haaretz:

August 2: A U.S. missionary physician infected with Ebola in Liberia is flown to Atlanta in the United States for treatment.

August 5: A second U.S. missionary infected with Ebola is flown from Liberia to Atlanta for treatment. Aug. 8: WHO declares Ebola "international public health emergency."

August 12: WHO says death toll has topped 1,000, approves use of unproven drugs or vaccines. A Spanish priest with Ebola dies in a Madrid hospital.

August 15: MSF says the epidemic will take about six months to control.

August 20: Security forces in Monrovia fire shots, tear gas to disperse crowd trying to break out of quarantine, killing a teenager.

August 21: The two U.S. missionary aid workers treated in Atlanta are released from the hospital free of the virus.

August 24: Democratic Republic of Congo declares Ebola outbreak, apparently separate from larger epidemic. An infected British medical worker is flown home from Sierra Leone for treatment.

August 28: WHO puts death toll at above 1,550, warns outbreak could infect more than 20,000. Aug. 29: Senegal reports first confirmed Ebola case.

The White House has refused to even put travel restrictions on the table as the crisis in West Africa continues. Considering the administration has been encouraging more travel, it's no wonder travel restrictions aren't being considered. CDC Director Tom Frieden said yesterday during testimony on Capitol Hill that his first interest is protecting Americans. If Frieden really meant what he said,the folks over at DHS don't have the same priority and clearly aren't on the same page.

These revelations prompt a whole new set of questions about how the Obama administration is handling this situation and leads one to question whether the government is really doing anything real to protect Americans from a deadly disease. At a time when officials knew Ebola was killing thousands in Africa, they invited more people potentially exposed to that disease, including Thomas Duncan, to come into the United States. At best, this is negligence.
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepa...risis-n1906576

At best, this is negligence.

And at worst, it is treason.

Drudge Report

'DISASTER OF OUR GENERATION'



Obama calls for end to Ebola 'hysteria'
Washington (AFP) - US President Barack Obama told Americans on Saturday not to "give in to hysteria or fear" over the deadly Ebola virus, calling for patience and a sense of perspective.
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Ebola is 'disaster of our generation' says aid agency

By Alice RITCHIE 41 minutes ago

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Obama warns against Ebola "hysteria"

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Obama warns against Ebola "hysteria"


President Obama says Americans should keep their concerns about an Ebola outbreak in "perspective," warning that fear and hysteria will only inhibit efforts to contain the virus.

London (AFP) - Aid agency Oxfam said Ebola could become the "definitive humanitarian disaster of our generation", as US President Barack Obama urged against "hysteria" in the face of the growing crisis.

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1. Oxfam urges more troops to stop Ebola 'disaster' AFP
2. World bank chief says 'we are losing the battle' against Ebola AFP
3. Ebola must be stopped at source, not via travel bans: World Bank's Kim Reuters
4. Prepare for post-Ebola recovery in Africa Christian Science Monitor
5. IMF 'ready to do more' for Guinea, hard-hit by Ebola AFP

Oxfam, which works in the two worst-hit countries -- Liberia and Sierra Leone -- on Saturday called for more troops, funding and medical staff to be sent to tackle the west African epicentre of the epidemic.
Chief executive Mark Goldring warned that the world was "in the eye of a storm".
"We cannot allow Ebola to immobilise us in fear, but... countries that have failed to commit troops, doctors and enough funding are in danger of costing lives," he said.
The worst-ever outbreak of the deadly virus has so far killed more than 4,500 people, mainly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, but isolated cases have now begun to appear in Europe and the United States.
"The Ebola crisis could become the definitive humanitarian disaster of our generation," a spokesperson for the British-based charity said as it appealed for EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday to do more.

View gallery

Liberian health workers at the Medecins Sans Frontieres Ebola treatment center in Monrovia, on Octob …

Obama's warning about hysteria came a day after the World Bank said the battle against the disease was being lost and as the US president named an "Ebola czar" to coordinate Washington's response.
In Sierra Leone, Defence Minister Alfred Paolo Conteh was put in charge of the fight against the disease as the death toll there rose to 1,200.
In a statement, President Ernest Bai Koroma said the defence minister would "with immediate effect" head a new national Ebola response centre.
A global UN appeal for nearly $1 billion (785 billion euros) to fight the spread of the disease has so far fallen short, but a spokesman told AFP more money was coming in daily.
Out of $988 million requested a month ago, the UN said Saturday $385.9 million had already been given by a slew of governments and agencies, with a further $225.8 million promised.

View gallery

A passenger arrives wearing a face mask at Los Angeles International Airport as fear of the Ebola vi …

"It has been encouraging to see the amount and the speed with which these amounts have been committed," said Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN's humanitarian office (OCHA).
But the total was still some way off, Laerke said. "Nobody's smiling in this crisis, so I'm not going to go out and clap my hands and say everything is going fine, because it's not," he told AFP.
- Panic growing -
As panic and Ebola scares spread worldwide, Obama called for patience and perspective.
"This is a serious disease, but we can't give in to hysteria or fear -- because that only makes it harder to get people the accurate information they need. We have to be guided by the science," Obama said.

View gallery

US President Barack Obama, seen here at the White House on October 16, 2014, said Ebola is "a s …

Friday saw a number of false alarms in the United States as fears grew, including at the Pentagon, where an entrance was closed after a woman vomited in a parking lot. US authorities later found no evidence that she had contracted Ebola.
Meanwhile, US media reported on overzealous action taken by some worried communities, including a group of Mississippi parents who pulled their kids from school because the principal had recently travelled to Zambia -- a southern African country far from the Ebola crisis in west Africa.
The United States -- where a Liberian man died from Ebola on October 8 and two American nurses who treated him have tested positive -- was not seeing an "outbreak" or "epidemic", Obama stressed.
More "isolated" cases in the country were possible, he conceded. "But we know how to wage this fight."
The US president played down the idea of a travel ban from west Africa.

View gallery

Jeff Hulbert from Annapolis, Maryland, calls for a halt of flights from West Africa, as he protests …

"Trying to seal off an entire region of the world -- if that were even possible -- could actually make the situation worse."
- 'Losing the battle' -
Obama's call for calm was in stark contrast to World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim, who warned Friday that "we are losing the battle".
He blamed a lack of international solidarity in efforts to stem the epidemic.
"Certain countries are only worried about their own borders," he told reporters in Paris, as leaders in Washington and beyond grapple for a coordinated response to the outbreak.

View gallery

Employees of the emergency medical service at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Paris check for si …

Airports in several countries were taking passengers' temperatures in a bid to detect Ebola carriers, although experts have expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the checks.
France on Saturday started carrying out health checks on Air France passengers arriving from Guinea, where the epidemic began in December, while a cabin crew union called for a halt to flights from Conakry altogether.
One 40-year-old passenger was taken to a Paris hospital with a suspected fever but officials later said she was not suffering from vomiting or diarrhoea.
Meanwhile, a woman was taken to a military hospital close to Paris on Saturday suffering from abdominal pain and fever, but there was no confirmation of her condition.
The United States, Britain and Canada have already launched screenings at airports for passengers from Ebola-hit zones. The EU is reviewing the matter.
As of October 14, 4,555 people have died from Ebola out of a total of 9,216 cases registered in seven countries, the World Health Organization said.

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http://news.yahoo.com/obama-calls-en...110006011.html

Laura Ingraham

VIDEO: Watch Charles Krauthammer eviscerate Obama’s choice to make Ron Klain as the Ebola czar!
Do you agree with Krauthammer? Is this a blatantly political maneuver?




Krauthammer SLAMS Ebola Czar: Appointment 'A Farce,' 'A Public Relations Maneuver'
video.lauraingraham.com

Video at the page link:

http://video.lauraingraham.com/Kraut...3#.VEMujDp8O1v

Always follow the money. the Remitance transfer fees for the World bank are 12% in africa, they only get 5% from all of the other countries. It travel is stopped, the illegals from Africa can't get here to send money home and pay those fees. So is the administration putting the American people's lives at risk to fatten the pockets of the IMF, the world Bank and the the governments of those countries? the globalist Obama administration is not only embracing the UN agenda on "migration" as a tool for international redistribution of wealth it is trying to be the leader of the pack.

From the IFAD
Africa


In all of Western Africa...70 per cent of payments are handled by one money transfer operator

Migration

The African continent has over 30 million people in the diaspora. Of all the world’s regions, however, Africa’s predominant migration is the most intraregional. The fluid migration within Western Africa, for instance, is partly due to the region’s status as a geopolitical and economic unit, but also to a common history, culture and ethnicity among many groupings. There is also significant international migration to former European colonial powers such as France, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Netherlands and Italy, among other countries.

Remittances

Remittance flows to and within Africa approach US$40 billion. Countries in Northern Africa (for example, Morocco, Algeria and Egypt) are the major receivers in the continent. Eastern African countries depend heavily on these flows, with Somalia standing out as particularly remittance dependent. For the entire region, annual average remittances per migrant reach almost US$1,200 and on a country-by-country average represent 5 per cent of GDP and 27 per cent of exports.

Rural remittances

Remittances to rural areas are significant and predominantly related to intraregional migration, particularly in Western and Southern Africa. The mobility of Africans within these regions has been followed by the sending of regular amounts of money. Two thirds of West African migrants in Ghana remit to rural areas in their countries of origin.

Market and financial access

When compared with other regions, money transfers to Africa are among the most problematic, mainly due to the two major challenges faced by the continent: high rates of informality, particularly within the continent, and a regulatory environment that favours monopolies. Consequently, transfer costs are higher and remittance senders obtain less value for their money. Most African countries restrict outbound flows of money unless used for trading and money transfers to banking depositary institutions.

As a result, informality emerges as a solution to the need to remit. Another effect, however, is the persistence of monopolies on transfers by banks and the few money transfer operators (MTOs). In all of Western Africa, for example, 70 per cent of official payments are handled by one MTO, which demands exclusivity in money transfers of the banks.

Nigeria is a case in point: nearly 80 per cent of transfers are handled by one MTO, which expects exclusivity and prevents other MTOs from contracting agreements with those banks that are the sole remittance payers in the country. Since banks are the only entities allowed to pay money transfers, all official flows end up being handled by a small group of financial institutions that rely on less than four MTOs. Migrants in South Africa are also faced with significant regulatory restrictions on sending money, and thus rely on informal networks. Because regulatory environments often prevent other nonbanking financial institutions from making transfers, or restrict outbound transfers, financial access is also a casualty. As few institutions participate in the transfers, and banks do not cater to lower-income individuals, financial access among African senders and recipients is relatively low. In some countries, for example South Africa, barriers to entry relate to legal status, thus disenfranchising migrants. Other countries, for example Kenya, are seeking to increase financial access by leveraging remittance transfers through the use of mobile telephony.

Source: IFAD
http://www.ifad.org/remittances/maps/africa.htm