Human Rights
Being a Human Being
The intense vitriol against immigrants is overwhelming.
--
It’s almost a daily occurence now.
I am watching the news or reading a clip on social media. In some part of the story, ugliness towards an immigrant and their family at the border is shared. The southern border, that is.
Sometimes the ugliness is from a politician, words used to stir the anger among those who elected them. The politician is looked upon as the one who will save them from the hoard of criminals coming for them.
The ugliness isn’t only on the shoulders of those in power or those seeking power. It has become part of every day thought and talk in our country.
I think most of this comes from some type of fear. Perhaps a fear of losing what one has: their job, their way of life, their wealth? Some of it comes from racism. Some of it comes from just being anti-immigrant.
I can’t relate to any of this. I don’t understand the hate against those seeking asylum, or towards immigrants in general.
This is a good point to acknowledge that I am not an expert, or even close, in immigration.
Also to acknowledge that my purpose of this article is not to get you to change your mind on immigration policies, rather to think about them in a different way, and about the human beings affected by those policies.
I am a person whose grandparent immigrated here, who believes in the value of every human being, and who believes that the vast majority of immigrants, especially those at our southern border, are fleeing violence that they believe will take them and their family.
They believe that if they stay, they will be in harm, including the possiblity of being murdered. Or executed. Or trafficked.
They leave to save their children.
Just like my mom would do. She would have done whatever it took to ensure her three children were safe. For her that meant working her ass off to provide food and shelter. She never had to face the thought of walking a thousand plus miles to beg for a little mercy.
