I don't think I have ever been through a more antipodean evening than the other night. I went to a dinner sponsored by the Immigrant Welcome Center here in Indianapolis. An organization that is funded to help support the settlement of immigrants and refugees in Central Indiana. Run by a friend and amazing woman Terri Morris-Downs, who will soon be retiring, the organization has made life alerting and affirming opportunities happen for people who chose the United States as a place to live out their dreams. The coalition in the room included business leaders, community service providers, religious representatives and a few political folks. We heard about the importance of the immigrant communities to the greater Indianapolis area and what is being done by such diverse people as the CEO of the Indiana Fever, the Mexican Consul General and a Eli Lilly Scientist. We also got to see the real work of the organization as many people thanked Terri for her years of dedication to making Indianapolis a welcoming place for people from around the world. The entire evening was a tribute to the ideal that is so important to our nation, that we are a place of hope for many and many of us who are here now and established owe a sense of gratitude to those ancestors of ours who chose to leave their home to journey to a new world and create a life that led to the future we share that they envisioned in their dreams.
So I came home in time to watch some news only to see Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of Citizen and Immigration Services (CIS) at a Congressional hearing. Cuccinelli is only in the acting role because even though he is a Republican, he would not have the votes to become the permanent director because of his draconian stance on many issues. Today he was trying to defend and deflect from a policy change that he, himself, helped create that would end Medically Deferred Action Program (MDAP). This program allows for immigrants in this country to remain to get life saving medical treatment if being deported would result in them not getting that treatment in their native country. Basically, CIS sent letters to families earlier this year that gave them a month to leave the country or be in violation, in some cases this would mean a death sentence to a child getting life sustaining care in the US. In some cases the reason that the family was here was to help develop protocols for treatment for rare disorders. Meaning that the doctors sought out and brought children to the US to try new ways to keep children alive with a disorder that was so rare that treatment was slow to come. Now Cuccinelli and his boss President Trump wanted to just kick them out of the country and if they die, well that is the nature of things. It was sickening.
Good reporting and a parade of people who are alive because of MDAP testifying on Capital Hill had them change their mind and to my knowledge none have been deported. However the very notion that we, as a country, would send young people off to certain death, for no reason but that some people thing the only good immigrant comes from a northern European country turns my stomach. It appears that much of the rhetoric around the idea of illegal immigration and refugees is just cover for an attempt to make all immigration suspect. These children and young adults who are here to stay simply alive are no threat to anyone. They aren't taking jobs, they aren't a drag on the economy, they aren't terrorists, but still the government, IN OUR NAME, tried to send them back. That is wrong on every level.
There always have been hard and sometimes bad choices made about immigration. Stories can be told of the people whose families had barely lost their own accents attacking the idea of boats coming to THEIR AMERICA with immigrants who don't speak the language or quickly assimilate. I wonder if the first Cuccinelli would have been welcomed with open arms by a country that was skeptical of those coming from Italy in the early 20th century. But we have always found a way to settle new populations and they add something to the wonder that is American culture.
The other night I found myself morally raised up by the notion of a diverse community of people committed to the idea that we can welcome people in without fear and trembling that they will somehow ruin what we have. Immigrants have only ever added to the greatness of who we are. I also found myself struggling that we have allowed the voices of hate and bigotry to get enough power that we have to shame them on a national level before they stop trying to deport children to certain death.
Of course we need comprehensive immigration reform, of course we need to have a sense of who and why people are coming to the United States, but we can do it without risking the lives of so many to appear to look tough. In Jewish folklore there are two voices that whisper to us. The Yetzer Harah, the evil inclination and the Yetzer Hatov, the good inclination. I felt both yelling at me the other night in the form of Ken Cuccinelli, a man who seems to despise others and Terri Morris Downs, who seems to love others. I know who I will listen to, I hope you will too.
So I came home in time to watch some news only to see Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of Citizen and Immigration Services (CIS) at a Congressional hearing. Cuccinelli is only in the acting role because even though he is a Republican, he would not have the votes to become the permanent director because of his draconian stance on many issues. Today he was trying to defend and deflect from a policy change that he, himself, helped create that would end Medically Deferred Action Program (MDAP). This program allows for immigrants in this country to remain to get life saving medical treatment if being deported would result in them not getting that treatment in their native country. Basically, CIS sent letters to families earlier this year that gave them a month to leave the country or be in violation, in some cases this would mean a death sentence to a child getting life sustaining care in the US. In some cases the reason that the family was here was to help develop protocols for treatment for rare disorders. Meaning that the doctors sought out and brought children to the US to try new ways to keep children alive with a disorder that was so rare that treatment was slow to come. Now Cuccinelli and his boss President Trump wanted to just kick them out of the country and if they die, well that is the nature of things. It was sickening.
Good reporting and a parade of people who are alive because of MDAP testifying on Capital Hill had them change their mind and to my knowledge none have been deported. However the very notion that we, as a country, would send young people off to certain death, for no reason but that some people thing the only good immigrant comes from a northern European country turns my stomach. It appears that much of the rhetoric around the idea of illegal immigration and refugees is just cover for an attempt to make all immigration suspect. These children and young adults who are here to stay simply alive are no threat to anyone. They aren't taking jobs, they aren't a drag on the economy, they aren't terrorists, but still the government, IN OUR NAME, tried to send them back. That is wrong on every level.
There always have been hard and sometimes bad choices made about immigration. Stories can be told of the people whose families had barely lost their own accents attacking the idea of boats coming to THEIR AMERICA with immigrants who don't speak the language or quickly assimilate. I wonder if the first Cuccinelli would have been welcomed with open arms by a country that was skeptical of those coming from Italy in the early 20th century. But we have always found a way to settle new populations and they add something to the wonder that is American culture.
The other night I found myself morally raised up by the notion of a diverse community of people committed to the idea that we can welcome people in without fear and trembling that they will somehow ruin what we have. Immigrants have only ever added to the greatness of who we are. I also found myself struggling that we have allowed the voices of hate and bigotry to get enough power that we have to shame them on a national level before they stop trying to deport children to certain death.
Of course we need comprehensive immigration reform, of course we need to have a sense of who and why people are coming to the United States, but we can do it without risking the lives of so many to appear to look tough. In Jewish folklore there are two voices that whisper to us. The Yetzer Harah, the evil inclination and the Yetzer Hatov, the good inclination. I felt both yelling at me the other night in the form of Ken Cuccinelli, a man who seems to despise others and Terri Morris Downs, who seems to love others. I know who I will listen to, I hope you will too.
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