There is an article in the Washington Post today which would make valuable front page reading if published in every newspaper in the country. It would be a good reminder that the asylum seekers arrive at the border, scared, exhausted and often hungry – and they are victims.
The writer of the article is Sister Norma Pimentel describes the Humanitarian Respite Center she and her fellow Sisters of the Missionaries of Jesus helped to initiate and operate. It is located in Brownsville, Texas on the southwest border and focuses on helping incoming immigrants who arrive at the border seeking asylum.
She frames the article in the form of a welcome letter to Trump on his reluctant visit to the border today. She urges Trump to stop by the center and describes what he would see on the visit. Pimentel gives a rundown of the twenty -four hours the refugees typically spend starting with the time they arrive.
Welcomed with smiles and a nourishing bowl of soup, they take showers, pick through donated clothes,, learn where they will be sent next to await their hearings, eat another meal, and then are given clean bed rolls for a decent night’s sleep. Most often, they leave in the morning after a solid breakfast to their next stop to wait out the time before their scheduled hearing.
Sister Pimentel’s paints a picture of kind and compassionate care-giving at the center.. Understated in her narrative is that these people are innocent victims. They are fleeing their homeland because it no longer can guarantee their safety or their children’s. Desperation drives them to leave all they have ever known. Trump has fomented fear and disgust for these refugees. In her letter, Pimentel underscores their humanity.
Regarding the U.S. government response – of course, lawmakers should pass thorough immigration reform. Included in that policy should be considerations for the human plight for the illegals who have made a home here, the Dreamers who were promised they could stay and the refugees and asylum seekers who flee for their lives. The U.S., the richest country in the world, must not allow its immigration policy to be dominated by those who hate and resent ‘the other’.
Sister Pimentel and her fellow sisters’ humanitarian actions serve as a reminder that the most important piece in all of this palaver about terrorists and the wall are the humans who seek only safety and a chance at a decent life.. Thank you, Sisters for your work. May your compassion and kindness become the standard for how to treat the immigration issue going forward. Empathy, not cruelty and hate, is this country’s only way forward to greater unity and personal happiness.
(Breaking news just revealed that Trump will meet with Sister Pimentel some time today).Enjoy the article.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/01/10/welcome-border-mr-president/?utm_term=.cc6da23e6f61