As immigration and the rising refugee crisis are becoming more and more a topic of discussion in American media, I thought that for once I would throw my two cents in and explain in no uncertain terms my feelings on the matter.
Before you judge anyone for seeking asylum in a different society, before you smirk at someone relying on a foreign government to supply them with basic resources that all humans have a right to, before you offhandedly tell someone to go back to their country, ask yourself: What would you do to save your family? What would you do to survive when your home is ravaged by war and violent discrimination?
And if that answer isn't everything and anything, then this article isn't for you, because I'm appealing to the humanitarian who values life and the right to live in safety above political policies and borders on a map. After all, there is nothing more constitutional or defining of the United States than the right to the pursuit of happiness and the wish to live life with food, water, shelter and safety.
But lately, I've started to notice that our attitudes toward people in life-threatening situations are dulled by the rose-colored tint of who we voted for in the last election. And I'm here to say once and for all that enough is enough.
I've had the opportunity to work with and volunteer with families around the world that fled the harsh environment of refugee camps for the famed promised land of the US that is a tale as old as time. I've watched people, shell-shocked from stepping out of a refugee camp after 17 years, scared to turn on the stove or sit under a heated blanket because they were scared it would blow up. Even the idea of a shower was novel and frightening. And anyone who doubts the validity of these peoples' right to breathe our same air and live in our same neighborhoods would only have to look in the hopeful but emotionally drained eyes of US refugees to completely change their mind.
In terms of what this means for our country, I don't know all the answers. I probably couldn't answer the hard-hitting questions of how many refugees we should take in monthly or whether illegal immigrants and refugees should be given the same government resources, but what I know is that a human being is a human being, and to value maintaining differences as irrelevant as the languages we speak or the flags we call our own, or even the countries written on our passports shouldn't even be a question.
To quote one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, "If you prick us, do we not / bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you / poison us, do we not die?" As Shylock from "Merchant of Venice" said ever-so eloquently centuries before, are we not all made of the same stuff? Are we not all essentially the same? And as a result, by hurting one another, are we not in reality hurting ourselves?
Are we not the country founded on immigrants from all over the world making arduous journeys to live in a land free of discrimination and judgment and make a better home for their families? Are we not the same culture that proclaims to the entire world, "Give me your tired, your poor..."? If we are still the land of the free and the brave, then we need to start acting like it and help the heroes who give up what little they do have in the hope that there is something better out there for them and their children.
We need to stop using lack of jobs and the economy as our excuse to leave refugees high and dry and start thinking of the mosaic of cultures that they bring to the table, let alone the future doctors, lawyers, social rights advocates and teachers that we are more than capable of taking under our wings.
So next time you think of asking me whether I voted left or right on the last election, I'll tell you without a doubt that none of that matters anymore. Political affiliations do not matter anymore. All that matters is what is good and what can save. And for all I'm concerned, any human life that is lost because of taxpayer hesitancy is a stain on the nation. I could not more vehemently believe that America cannot be "great again" until we value ALL HUMAN LIFE before all else, no matter how expensive or inconvenient it could potentially be.