Panhandling by Refugee from Bosnia in Irving (Dallas, Coppell: apartment, lawyer)

[neal.pressley]

Panhandling by Refugee from Bosnia in Irving
In the parking lot of Target, North Irving, TX, a modestly and nicely dressed woman with head gear in her forties reaches out to me along with her little kid and asks for money citing she has kids and she needs money for food and groceries. Though I do not support panhandling, considering women with kids, I intended to give her a few dollars but when I reached out to my wallet, I could not find a smaller bill and ended up giving her $20. Not sure if that made her expect more but she asked if I could give her $100 as she needed to buy groceries and diapers and her husband is in a wheelchair and can not work . I tried to say I do not have much money but she kept insisting and then I started interrogating her, she said she came from Bosnia on a visa 4 months ago and she is living near the Islamic Center of Valley Ranch Irving. She said she can not work as she does not have social skills but she does cleaning sometimes to make money. I asked her where she lives on which she says she has an apartment for which she pays $450. Her English was fine with few urdu words and so I asked where she learned English and she told me she learned before coming here. She mentioned she has a visa for 12 months but she is talking with her lawyer so that she does not have to go back. I again and again asked her if she has any family or so but she said no but she mentioned people help her to come to Target parking lot so that she can ask money from people. I told I do not have enough money and I can not help but insist that I can come with her to Target and help her in getting stuff. I found her extremely pushy and she made me pay another $20 before she could leave me.
I am posting here the experience to see if any organized panhandling thru refugee is taking place. She seems to have had good help available else a 4 months old in the US won't be that smart to push a stranger in a parking lot and pay her that much money.
Also another big question is if we bring refugees from other countries, what plan do we have? Are we going to leave them on the streets to beg and create nuisance for others? Biden wants to increase the cap on refugee intake from current 15K to 125K /year. If we do not have jobs and infra to assimilate these many people in mainstream, we will see more of such uncomfortable experiences on the street.

[Pinkett]

Are you bashing this woman or refugees or helping her?? You aren’t required to help anyone. If you do out of goodness, you’ll come post here that she was nuisance? If she was bothering you so much, you could’ve simply walked away then questioning her. Jeez

And for the record, when refuges are brought here, they are provided minimum support they need to survive. We aren’t required to help them. They also get plenty of community support.

[suzy_q2010]

Originally Posted by Pinkett

Are you bashing this woman or refugees or helping her?? You aren’t required to help anyone. If you do out of goodness, you’ll come post here that she was nuisance? If she was bothering you so much, you could’ve simply walked away then questioning her. Jeez

And for the record, when refuges are brought here, they are provided minimum support they need to survive. We aren’t required to help them. They also get plenty of community support.

I think the point is that refugees should be provided with enough resources that they do not need to panhandle. Letting them in obligates us to support them until they are self sufficient.

[Katana49]

This seems more suited to a generic section of the forum vs the Dallas forum, as it's really commentary on refugees and panhandling. The location means nothing.

[NTXPerson]

I wanted to point out that many African cultures are more pushy and blunt than American cultures. What we may see as coming across as rude is just how they communicate and interact with each other.

Yes, refugees aren’t given a lot of assistance when they come here. However. I don’t see a lot of refugees around here panhandling. I primarily see white Americans panhandling.

[20Hope20]

Always keep few bags of food or other essential items to give away if approached. Do donate time and money to charitable organizations who help locals and refugees and give their cards to ones who need help. It’s not a good idea to encourage begging or panhandling in your town so avoid giving cash. We should help other humans when they are down, anyone of us can be on receiving end with one bad stroke of luck.

[jaysan89]

Originally Posted by neal.pressley

Panhandling by Refugee from Bosnia in Irving
In the parking lot of Target, North Irving, TX, a modestly and nicely dressed woman with head gear in her forties reaches out to me along with her little kid and asks for money citing she has kids and she needs money for food and groceries. Though I do not support panhandling, considering women with kids, I intended to give her a few dollars but when I reached out to my wallet, I could not find a smaller bill and ended up giving her $20. Not sure if that made her expect more but she asked if I could give her $100 as she needed to buy groceries and diapers and her husband is in a wheelchair and can not work . I tried to say I do not have much money but she kept insisting and then I started interrogating her, she said she came from Bosnia on a visa 4 months ago and she is living near the Islamic Center of Valley Ranch Irving. She said she can not work as she does not have social skills but she does cleaning sometimes to make money. I asked her where she lives on which she says she has an apartment for which she pays $450. Her English was fine with few urdu words and so I asked where she learned English and she told me she learned before coming here. She mentioned she has a visa for 12 months but she is talking with her lawyer so that she does not have to go back. I again and again asked her if she has any family or so but she said no but she mentioned people help her to come to Target parking lot so that she can ask money from people. I told I do not have enough money and I can not help but insist that I can come with her to Target and help her in getting stuff. I found her extremely pushy and she made me pay another $20 before she could leave me.
I am posting here the experience to see if any organized panhandling thru refugee is taking place. She seems to have had good help available else a 4 months old in the US won't be that smart to push a stranger in a parking lot and pay her that much money.
Also another big question is if we bring refugees from other countries, what plan do we have? Are we going to leave them on the streets to beg and create nuisance for others? Biden wants to increase the cap on refugee intake from current 15K to 125K /year. If we do not have jobs and infra to assimilate these many people in mainstream, we will see more of such uncomfortable experiences on the street.

I saw a family similar the one you described in front of the Sprouts in Coppell when I was there sometime in the summer of 2019. There was a woman, who looked like she might have been from Bosnia, with a couple of small kids who was holding a sign and trying to get money from people.

[20Hope20]

Originally Posted by jaysan89

I saw a family similar the one you described in front of the Sprouts in Coppell when I was there sometime in the summer of 2019. There was a woman, who looked like she might have been from Bosnia, with a couple of small kids who was holding a sign and trying to get money from people.

No matter who they are, they are obviously struggling, no one likes to stand in front of shops with their kids to beg to suspicious strangers. Don’t be rude, help in any way you can but just please don’t give cash, that’s what attracts organized panhandling groups who manipulate needy refugees as well as charitable locals.

As most refugees don’t understand language and system, it’s tough for them to find ways to help themselves. It would be nice to give them guidance or connect them with government departments or NGOs who can make it easy for them.

[nsumner]

I've never met a Bosnian that speaks Urdu. Are you sure you didn't get scammed by the gypsies?

[elan]

Urdu is what they speak in Pakistan isn't it?