Here's what I know. Nothing is for sure. Everything can change. We are no better than any other country. Our country and its government are not at its most stable and certainly not at its most proud moment in history. Jesus Christ instructs us to love and show kindness and mercy and aid to all people.
I also know deep down to the core of my existence that I will do anything to keep my children safe and healthy. ANYTHING. If that means leaving everything I know behind and trekking across countries, mile after mile, to seek asylum from dangerous people and conditions, I would do it. It would be scary and painful and confusing. It would take immense faith and strength and patience and courage. But it would all be worth it if I knew in my heart of hearts that it was the best…maybe the ONLY…option for keeping my children safe, and I would do it.
I hope you would too.
I think you would.
I bet you love your children as much as I love mine.
So, WHY OH WHY, is this so hard for so many people to understand the plight of these people pouring into the borders after making the very long and difficult trek from their dangerous and unstable homelands?
And how is it possible that not ALL moms and dads (or really ALL people) in the U.S. are not completely outraged at the separation of children and parents and detaining of those seeking asylum at the border. {I do realize that the separation has supposedly stopped, but there are still scores of families who are separated and children facing judges alone.}
These children and parents keep me up at night and fill my prayers and consume my thoughts. The whole of it breaks my heart and makes my blood boil.
And it hurts my heart that I don't see and hear every person in this country in an uproar by all of this purposeful breaking up of families already in peril and in need of love, support and aid.
I realize immigration is a complex issue, but accepting refugees and immigrants into these borders since even before our founding is what has made our country so strong and complex and vibrant and full of innovation and creative spirit and thriving cities and farmlands and communities of all sizes from border to border.
And if one can't see that, then you need to go back to the beginning of U.S. history and study how and why our country came to be. Include in that history how the early settlers disregarded those borders and lands of the people who were already living here, eventually completely disregarding the people too and not just their territories.
Don't forget to read about how we rounded up and kept fenced in the Japanese Americans {mind you, they were American citizens} when we went to war against Japan during WWII.
Of course, a large portion of our history should cover our forefathers, the slaveholders, and the treatment of the Africans kidnapped from their own countries and taken from their own borders and forced into ours. Go on through the Civil War and remember to take special note as to why brothers fought brothers during this most terrible war {Hint: it wasn't merely state's rights; it was really concerning one right: the right to own another human being.}
Look at how we treated the freed slaves and how LONG it took for us to pass laws that made our laws apply to all people within our borders, including African Americans, women, Native Americans and LGBTQ folks.
Make sure to read about all the different points in our history that various groups of immigrants sought refuge through our ports. Of course, each of us have a personal family history to learn from, as well.
After all of the reading and studying and researching to learn and remind and open your heart and mind, I hope you will see how very abundantly we, as a country, have been blessed by all of these cultures and histories and ethnicities blending and sharing and building into one United States of America.
BUT in the end, this particular situation comes back to the only thing that matters right now. Families seeking asylum are being turned away or separated and jailed. This is not right.
I want you to take a minute to realize that this could happen to you. It could. Our country could slide into complete chaos. We could fight a war on our soil. We could become the ones in need of protection and need to leave our country and enter another country's border. Don't kid yourself.
If you can't bring yourself to imagine a bleak U.S. future, then recall that by the grace of God you were born into a free country or had the good fortune to be able to come to this country and become a citizen; that parents in all countries all over God's green earth love their children so much that they would do ANYTHING to protect them; that sometimes you have to risk everything to keep your kids safe, even if that means breaking the law and entering a border illegally, in order to get help and make a new start; that Jesus would help these people and calls upon us to do the same; and that Joseph, Mary and Jesus once were refugees in Egypt, fleeing Herod's murderous rampage inflicted upon young children.
You might be asking yourself, "A bleeding heart liberal and a Christian? Can it be possible?" Oh, yes! Take heart; there are a number of us out there. I'm proud to wear both badges.
If when I die, people say that I stood for love and mercy and justice and always stood up for those who could not speak up for themselves, then I will feel that I have accomplished something in my life.
If you feel so inclined to do something for these families, please check out Raices Texas – pronounced Rah E Cis – standing for Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education. They are a Texas nonprofit organization that works to pair immigration attorneys with the parents and kids in custody, pays for their bonds and is working hard to reunify families and pursue asylum, when necessary.
Over and out…
Anna