White House, Silicon Valley Unite to Help Syrians; Americans Need Not Apply for Similar Assistance

An imposing line-up of well-funded, influential pro-amnesty and pro-open borders allies have teamed up to use their money, sway and skills to rush to assist Syrian refugees. Their actions could accelerate the Syrian influx into the United States.

Hungry, poor Americans struggle amidst wealth of Silicon Valley.

Jason Goldman, who holds the newly created position of White House Chief Digital Officer, and his right-hand man, Joshua Miller, responded quickly to President Obama’s request that they coordinate fundraising efforts among their tech-savvy friends and colleagues. Goldman had once worked for Twitter and Google; Miller, for Facebook. Obama wants to resettle 10,000 Syrians by 2016. Goldman and Miller’s presidential assignment was to create donation platforms that they could share with Kickstarter, Airbnb and others in Silicon Valley to facilitate fundraising on behalf of Syrians.

According to a Bloomberg story, shortly after Obama’s September speech to the UN General Assembly and the tech outreach launch, Kickstarter had partnered with UNHCR to launch a first-of-its-kind nonprofit campaign using the newly developed platform. Obama and Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, kicked in videos to accelerate the giving.

More than $1 million was raised in less than 24 hours. Instacart also worked with UNHCR to create an online option for its shoppers to purchase meals for refugee families. Airbnb pledged housing credits to aid workers in the region and matched any donations made by its online followers.

As admirable as it is to raise meal money for refugees, it’s disappointing that the same talents the tech community applied to Syrian fundraising couldn’t be used for hungry Americans. According to the website Feeding America, one in seven people struggles to get enough to eat, including 5 million senior citizens, 15 million children and millions of food-insecure African-Americans.

Sadly, putting Americans first isn’t trendy enough to attract the attention of the rich and powerful.