Bear Pond Conservative Chronicles, Ray Cardello, 8/22/24, Volume 1- 32

Once you start researching NGOs, you quickly realize that they are a complex network designed to disguise their true intentions and how they spend the taxpayer money they are awarded. NGO stands for Non-Government Organizations. The government does not directly control them; their employees are not government employees. Still, these organizations survive by working for the United States government at the federal and state levels. On the surface, these organizations seem like philanthropic angels doing great things for humanity. But when you look at the numbers, NGOs are big businesses receiving big money from the U.S. government. That big money is your money.

From the local to the state and federal levels, Americans are paying a hefty price for the humanitarian crisis at the southern border. In a way, the federal government can hide the actual cost of the border crisis from the public through NGOs.

Most migrants arriving in Maine and every state in the country do so with the help of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) — organizations like charities or religiously affiliated nonprofits.

In the past two years, Border Patrol holding stations have constantly been at overcapacity in dealing with the massive influx of migrants crossing illegally into the U.S. When this happens, Border Patrol releases processed migrants to NGOs to shelter, feed, and coordinate travel for migrants to their final destination.

“Once received, whether it be the adult population or the families, the sites will then work with them, and the general term that we use is we go through a ‘processing.'” John Martin, the deputy director for the Opportunity Center for the Homeless, said. “That processing is to facilitate travel to the destination of their choice.”

There are 1.5 Million NGOs registered in the United States. NGOs receive billions of taxpayer funds from federal departments like the Department of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services.

According to Forbes, the NGO Catholic Charities USA received $1.4 billion from government support compared with $1 billion in private donations. Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service reported more than $93.1 million in U.S. government grants in its 2021 financial statement, making taxpayer-funded grants more than 80% of its total support.

And that number would only climb as the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service would receive $182.6 million in grants in the fiscal year of 2022 from the Department of Health and Human Services.

Another NGO, Church World Services, reported more than $20.5 million in grant funds in its 2022 financial report, making more than 40% of its assets coming from taxpayers.

It is impossible to find the total amount of taxpayer dollars funding NGOs because of the funding levels. There are awards directly from government accounts and sub-awards from government departments such as Homeland Security or Health and Human Services.

In 2023, Maine Gov. Janet Mills signed an executive order intended to establish a new migrant resettlement office, telling the Portland newspaper the administration’s goal is to attract 75,000 new workers to Maine. These migrants, or illegal migrants, are referred to as “New Mainers.” Progressives like Mills designed this euphemism to remove the stigma of migrants, aliens, or refugees. Let’s put that 75,000 into perspective:

From the Maine Wire: The eye-popping 75,000 number is a population much larger than Maine’s largest city, Portland. To put that 75,000 number further into context:

• Piscataquis County had 17,165 residents in 2021.
• Aroostook County had 66,859.
• The population of Bangor is just over 30,000.

Of course, Mills does not state the cost of this initiative or the impact on housing or social services. She just thinks this is a good idea, which is how most Progressive policies are born. Of course, Mills will be out of office and will not have to account for the impact on the state or cities.