Immigrants, Migrants, Refugees

[Scoop Snoop]

With immigration being such a politically charged subject, I would prefer to focus here on the humanitarian nature of our treatment of these people rather than describing immigrants as either illegals or undocumented. If we carefully do so in this thread, hopefully Rocky will leave it be.

My most important experience with immigrants was with a special class of them-refugees. I discovered the Refugee Resettlement office in Richmond while trying to find employees for the small manufacturing company that I had founded. Too often, I had to deal with employees who were hung over until noon and others who needed frequent supervision, so my decision to work with Refugee Resettlement was a business decision, not a humanitarian one.

My contact was a guy named Guy who brought prospective employees to me and explained the way RR worked. The RR act was passed in 1980 and specifically was designed for people whose personal safety, and often their very lives, were at stake. While RR accounted for a very small percentage of US immigrants, it assisted them with finding employment, offered translation services, walked them through how to use public transportation, assisted in getting the children registered in school, ESL classes, finding housing, and explained temporary government subsidies to help with getting settled into their new country. Volunteers helped with much of this very difficult transition for the stressed, scared refugees. The Feds subbed the administration of RR to independent organizations, frequently to the World Council of Churches or the Catholic Dioceses. Any discussion of religion was strictly prohibited, and the program was sparsely funded with Federal dollars. Without dedicated volunteers, it would have been far less successful.

I think the term migrant is understood to mean Mexican and Central American immigrants rather than the nostalgically remembered European immigrants from whom many of us are descended. In reality, migrants, immigrants, and refugees are often, I believe, simply different words describing people who leave their home countries, cultures and families out of desperation rather than choice.

I am not suggesting that an RR styled program is feasible to handle the massive number of migrants/immigrants/refugees that are currently in the US, but the transparent campaign to dehumanize them? The recently completed huge mural of Lady Liberty in France with her hands covering her face in shame reflects my feelings on the matter.

This post is already very long, and I fear that scoopers will give Rocky reasons to lock it, so I will soon have another very long post regarding my many experiences with migrants/immigrants/refugees. That post hopefully will survive.

 

   

 

[tower912]

God loves the foreigner living among you.

[Jockey]

Maybe someone in this administration should read the Bible.

Immigrants will be demonized when a racist government exists.

[WhiteTrash]

I'm going to pull the pin, throw the grenade and hope it doesn't go off. 

[The Sultan]

This post is already very long, and I fear that scoopers will give Rocky reasons to lock it...

Good luck with that.

Maybe someone in this administration should read the Bible.

Immigrants will be demonized when a racist government exists.

      44 minutes later, one of the usual suspects shows up.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

God loves the foreigner living among you.

"Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

And also, I would note, whatever you TO them.