When Bernard Madoff was defrauding investors, do you imagine he gave a thought to the refugees he was going to harm? Human Rights First, formerly Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, has a refugee protection program that advocates on behalf of, among others, Iraqi refugees (HRF also gives free and very able legal representation to Iraqis and others, including a few people I know, in asylum cases). The refugee protection program was funded by the late Picower Foundation, at $250,000 a year. All of that money is gone. Between Picower and another now-defunct foundation, JEHT, which was also conned by Madoff, HRF is looking at a shortfall of over a million dollars this year. If you want to help this excellent organization, you can.
Meanwhile, here’s hoping prosecutors get Madoff’s bail revoked so he stops sending diamond necklaces and jeweled watches to his relatives. When his net worth is totalled up and parceled out among his victims, wouldn’t it be nice if Iraqi refugees get something more than twenty-five-dollar cufflinks and two-hundred-dollar mittens?
