Travel: Pride and Prejudice. My take on the travel ban and immigration

Travel:  Pride and Prejudice  
My take on the travel ban and immigration

Let me begin with a personal story.  When I first moved to North Carolina, my wife and I decided to splurge on a nice dinner at a local restaurant.  After we were seated, Monette looks at me and says, “I can’t believe this”.  I, sadly, didn’t realize at first what she was talking about.  “Look around you, and then look down there”.  We had been put in a side room upstairs from the main floor.  It didn’t take long, then, to see what she had noticed right away.  Every table in the room in which we had been placed included someone of a different ethnicity, while everyone downstairs was white.  For those of you that may not know, Monette is Filipino.  I was in shock;  I’m still in shock.  My first thought was that Monette is more intelligent, talented, and, most importantly, more kind, than the entire staff combined.  Of course, I had heard the stories of segregation and prejudice throughout the years, but you really don’t know what it feels like until it happens to you.  And, this was just sitting at a table in a restaurant.  What makes these people think that this was okay?  It was frustrating and infuriating.  The restaurant didn’t last long and we celebrated when they closed their doors, but that is one experience that will be engrained forever.

Sadly, this way of thinking has come back, just when it seemed like we were past all of that.  I spoke with someone from a northern state this past week who works in a restaurant and they described a depressing tale of the times.  As we were talking about their work, it was brought up that there were problems with the wait staff refusing to wait on people of ethnicity, putting them in corners, or passing them off onto other staff.  This immediately brought back all of those strong emotions of my own experience that I hadn’t thought about in years.  They went on to say that it was an issue all across the area over the past several months.  It should not shock you that it directly coincides with the election.

I get it, those that support the travel ban and immigration policies cite the fact that it’s about the safety of Americans and they truly believe the rhetoric that has been pushed.  Our security is important and finding a way to curb illegal immigration and having a strong vetting policy is essential.  What this president doesn’t seem to get, though, or at least doesn’t want to admit, is that his method of talking about the situation and his actions taken to this point is what is causing this rash of hate, prejudice, and bigotry.  Somehow, countless people now look at Mexicans with disdain.  They see a hijab and feel scared or disgusted.  When you place a ban on only certain countries, especially after saying you want to ban all Muslims, it sends a strong message, even if subliminally, to the base that support you.  When you say that you’re getting ‘bad hombres’ out when talking about deporting millions of illegal immigrants, it has the consequence of some in the public thinking that all immigrants are bad people.  It sends confusion, fear, and uncertainty rippling across citizens of all types.

Yet another personal example of this was when two close friends were having a discussion about the recent raids and deportations a couple of weeks ago and one of them, who I have a lot of respect for, literally said, “good, get them all out of here!”.  And, again, I was recently asked by another person who I hold in high regards if it didn’t make me feel safer that the government was trying to do something by deporting illegal immigrants and wanting to publish their crimes.  While on the face of things that sounds like an easy answer, the truthful answer is a flat out no.  If the methods truly involved deporting those with dangerous felonies, then, sure.  But, the truth is that’s not what is happening and it’s having a very harmful reaction in various aspects.  There is so much misinformation about immigrants and their interaction with our economy that it’s disturbing.  But, that aside, the way that families that have been here for many years are being broken apart and the way foreigners are being treated are simply inhumane in many cases.

I understand the most common argument; they are here illegally, which makes them criminals.  It’s very easy to then say that it’s cut and dry;  they need to be deported.  When you don’t have a face, name, or better yet, a story behind those involved it’s easy to pretend you know what’s best.  I’m fortunate enough to live in an area with a large population of immigrants and refugees.  Let me tell you, they are some of the nicest and most sincere people you’ll ever meet.  Also, many, if not most, of them have tales about why they have come to the US that would break your heart.  Fine, do something to curb the flow of illegal immigration currently happening if we must.  But, there has to be a way to be humane with those that have been settled here with nowhere safe to return to.  To make matters worse, I volunteer in the UNC Emergency Department and they just sent a note out yesterday saying

Due to uncertainty regarding current U.S. immigration policy, patients are signaling their fear of deportation should they seek medical care. We want to make clear that our policy regarding patients and personal information has not changed: UNC Health Care provides medical services to all patients without regard to citizenship, national origin, age, race, ethnicity, color, religion, culture, language, mental and physical disabilities, gender, socioeconomic status, source of payment, sexual orientation, or gender identity. We do not request or require information about anyone’s immigration status. Please share with your colleagues. 

Great statement from UNC Hospitals, but how sad it is that, in this day and age, we have to send this kind of message out from a hospital?!  And, do you know the potential consequences of people in the public not going to the hospital when they are sick, ill, or injured?  We have reverted so far in such a short amount of time because of the top-down, deranged, and dangerous rhetoric.  And, by the way, I volunteer directly alongside an Iranian woman volunteer who is freely giving her time to help in a setting where many citizens wouldn’t imagine helping.  She is incredibly friendly and hard working with a two year-old son at home.  Unbelievably, her family, who is still in Iran, is fearful about trying to come visit due to friends who have been harassed and the uncertainty of the travel bans.  This is so, absolutely, disgusting to me.  I have been fortunate enough in my life to travel fairly extensively throughout the world.  Nowhere, even in places when I went in expecting it, did I feel uncomfortable from the local citizens.  How sad is it, then, that our very own country is the one where people are now fearful of visiting.  Even more sad is that I know some of you reading this are sitting there saying, “Good, we need to put America first”.  Nothing good can come from driving messages of hate and fear.  Even if you don’t think you have those sentiments yourself, hopefully you can see how supporting the current bans and policies have created the atmosphere that we find ourselves in today.

Pride in your home country is great.  America is beautiful and we should be proud to host those from diverse populations and show off what does make us the greatest country on the planet.  Sending a message that we only care about ourselves first and tossing around ideologies of intolerance and fear of other nationalities and religions, on the other hand, is damaging relations inside our very own borders while driving away allies outside of our borders.  It’s easy to have a bully pulpit and say that others need us so we can afford to take a hard stance.  But, what I fear, and what I ask you to think about, is what almost always eventually happens to the school yard bully?  Who ultimately comes out on top?