By Where has humanity gone? A question that is on most of our minds. When we talk humanity, we think of compassion, helping hands, open arms. As humans, it is our natural instinct to survive. Unfortunately, survival means something different depending on where you live. Imagine finally getting the courage to flee danger, whether it’s a war-stricken country, poverty, or threat of violence, and making it to the United States. The home of the American dream. The home of freedom and equality. Only to be told you’re not allowed in. Why? Simply because you’re a refugee, an immigrant, and in the eyes of Donald Trump an other, a burden. Suddenly, compassion is thrown out the window. His helping hands are reserved for whites only, and open arms mean something entirely different to him.
Trump has gone against every value that America prides itself on. He remains arrogantly oblivious to the fact that this is Native American land to begin with, and the rest of us are all immigrants here. His policies are solely in line with his white supremacist ideology. Everything he has done while in office is to feed that logic, and empower white supremacists. He constantly claims immigrants are criminals who are here to steal jobs from Americans, and his actions indicate that the Americans he is referring to are white Americans only. This may be news to him, but all the statistics debunk his fabricated numbers.
The United States of America was always open to refugees and immigrants. It wasn’t until Trump took office that we’ve seen a shift in the values that were once seen as the foundation of this country.
According to the New York Times, “In 136 metro areas, almost 70 percent of those studied, the immigrant population increased between 1980 and 2016, while crime stayed stable or fell.” This proves, beyond a reasonable doubt that his abhorrent border wall and Muslim ban are nothing more than an extension of his white supremacist agenda.
There are countless examples of refugees and immigrants coming into a country and contributing positively to the economy. Let’s take Canada, for example. Canada has become the safe haven for refugees. They have taken the values that Trump has destroyed, and put them into action. Canada has opened its arms to many refugees. Kameel Nasrawi and his family fled war and violence in Damascus and settled in Canada, where he created the first Syrian and Arab community newspaper, “The Migrant”. “As a newly settled refugee back in 2016 with his wife, Arij, and two children, he had nothing but his savings — but Nasrawi felt it was his mission to help inspire other refugees after having endured many difficulties with language barriers,” CBC reported.
If the president of the “Land of the Free” won’t uphold these values, it’s our job as citizens to share these stories of triumph and kindness, and lend our own helping hands.
Karina Hayat and her family fled Guatemala as political refugees 20 years ago, as reported by CBC. She was able to build a multimillion-dollar online marketing company called Prizm Media. As per CBC, “Karina hopes to give others the same opportunity as she launches the FIT-Youth program, an employment program for immigrant IT graduates under 30.”
James Madhier came to Canada through the World University Service of Canada’s Student Refugee Program, and is currently studying at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs in the Peace, Conflict and Justice Studies program. After winning a competition in 2016, James was able to fully pursue his idea of implementing a solar-powered irrigation system throughout South Sudan. According to CBC, “He’s aiming to make it as local as possible by providing volunteer placement programs to empower and instill ownership within South Sudan’s farming communities.”
This is what humanity is all about. These are the real stories that Trump refuses to listen to. The most beautiful thing about these stories is the fact that they each made an effort to pay it forward. So Mr. Trump, if these are crimes, then we’re not quite sure what to call what you’ve been doing, and masking as “border security”. The only security that Trump is concerned about is the security of the white race. Period.
The United States of America was always open to refugees and immigrants. It wasn’t until Trump took office that we’ve seen a shift in the values that were once seen as the foundation of this country. If the president of the “Land of the Free” won’t uphold these values, it’s our job as citizens to share these stories of triumph and kindness, and lend our own helping hands.