A country of immigrants | Inside Politics
Published 3:55 pm Thursday, December 3, 2015
The world has been in a state of outrage in the wake of the terrorist attacks on Paris. Sadly, but predictably, that has been followed by an unrealistic fear to close our borders by use of the paper fences of admission restrictions on refugees from war-torn geographies such as Syria.
Syrians are fleeing those who would do them harm. It already takes almost two years to get through the current process and, since 2011, only about 2,500 total refugees have resettled in the United States. Most have settled elsewhere. Half are children and a quarter are over 60 years of age, yet they are seen as a threat. Congress just passed a bill requiring impossible affirmations to make the process so impractical it would stop refugee entrance. Although likely unconstitutional, that is clearly the goal. Forgetting that the first amendment protects religious liberty, one candidate for president wanted a Muslim registry, others wanted to ban Muslim refuges all together, and some state governors followed suit. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee stood his ground and was attacked after stating that Washington would welcome refugees. Congressman Adam Smith sounded a tone of inclusion and rational discourse.
As I sat in church recently, safe and secure from the dangers those refugees face, my mind wandered off the topic, as it occasionally does when the pastor hits a topical nerve. Her message of support for the plight of local homeless expanded into a much bigger question to me.
What do we stand for? Certainly we should care about the homeless and those in need in our own community. But finding them a shelter actually proved harder than expected as some residents wanted the homeless to provide proof of attachment to Federal Way, as if their needs could be dictated by a city limit. But Muslim refugees were dodging bombs, not the rain or cold our homeless worry about.
Has a country founded by immigrants searching for political, and personal freedom and an escape from religious intolerance drifted so far from our historical dreams and foundation that we could seek to deprive others of the very freedoms we live by? Do we still believe in the American dream, or have we become more concerned about ourselves and less about the democratic principals we espouse to the rest of the world?
Do we remember our most famous gift from France and its meaning to us as Americans? Do we remember the promise it holds to those fortunate enough to enter our country through New York Harbor and gaze upon Lady Liberty and revel in the thought that they could live free? That they could practice their religion as they wanted? That they would have a fresh start in the land of opportunity? As we sit protected by allies on our northern and southern borders and the oceans to our east and west, have we become so traumatized by 9-11 that we selfishly want to protect only ourselves?
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, send these the homeless, tempest-tost to me,” reads the most famous reminder on the Statue of Liberty.
There are over 100 different languages spoken in our little corner of the world called Federal Way. Many stores have directions printed in several different languages. We are in the season of giving thanks for all that we have, and being with those we love. Not everyone shares our fortune.
Maybe to those to whom we can offer a better life away from the violence of their war-torn homeland we should make it easier, rather than harder to move here. Maybe helping those in need, no matter their religion or birth place, should be higher on our list of priorities. Maybe we should return to our roots and take our responsibility as seriously as our immigrant forefathers did.
Should we not still be the beacon of light to those whose darkness is a daily fear? We are all ancestors of immigrants, we should welcome those in need.
Federal Way resident Bob Roegner is a former mayor of Auburn: bjroegner@comcast.net.
