365 Days Later

Three hundred and sixty-five days is eight thousand seven hundred and sixty hours. It is five hundred and twenty-five thousand and six hundred minutes. It is the amount of time that has passed since President Trump signed that first Executive Order that knocked the air out of me. It’s hard to believe that all of the chaos and disappointment was one whole year ago. Sometimes I can be really good at compartmentalizing things. I often find myself placing the hard times behind a triple-dead bolted door, so that they never get out to hurt me again. Then I go on ignoring them for quite some time. But this week as I contemplated how to remind folks of such an impactful time I found myself delving into old articles, social media posts, news releases. And I found myself consumed.

I can read things I wrote one year ago and feel the very same pit in my stomach; the very same fear, hopelessness and desperation; the same desire to reach the world with the truth of this matter. This time last year I had my eyes glued to social media, I made myself read through hurtful, hateful, misunderstanding and lies comment after comment on news articles and social media posts. I did something that I always prided myself on avoiding; I hit “reply” to their comment, I fed into one of the many social media debates – the ones where people hide behind their screens and say hateful things. I did my best to respectfully provide truth, love and education. I was consumed by the spread of misinformation and a need to teach people the truth. I remember feeling overwhelmed with emotions.

On January 27, 2017 I wrote this: “In the past couple of weeks, life for those of us who have been touched by refugee resettlement (whether that be via work like myself, volunteering, internships, church involvement or personal refugee status) has been a whirlwind of uncertainty, anguish, fear and frustration. It has been filled with prayer, advocacy, sleepless nights, education and executive orders. Sometimes we are speechless and other times we feel like we have so much to say that we might burst. Yesterday President Trump signed an Executive Order which will have profound negative impacts on the work that I do, the families that we serve and the families that have yet to be served. (This EO includes: A 120 Moratorium on refugee resettlement, cutting America's number of refugees for the year down to 50,000 - from 110,000 and banning refugees from some of the most vulnerable countries among other things)
In all of this chaos, A few things remain certain:
1. Though we are dismayed with the presidential administration's Executive Order and the multitude of negative ways in which it will affect our work and the people we love, Still We Stand. Still we stand with the thousands of refugees who have been resettled and those who hope to be resettled. Our commitment to the vulnerable doesn't end just because our leaders chose an irresponsible and inhumane course of action.
2. Though I'm hurt and frustrated with the leadership of my country I am also impressed and humbled by the sheer amount of support and love that the world has continued to pour out since the day we received news of possible EOs affecting resettlement. Agencies, strangers and political leaders have rallied together to express their support for refugee resettlement. The strong, dedicated and selfless people that I work with have continued to give their all to the clients we serve. While their futures are uncertain they stay focused on serving and loving refugees. I am proud to call them friends.
3. God is on the move. Though we may not know his plans, we can trust that they are in motion. When things seem hopeless, we can trust in his love for us.”

            In the weeks following the Executive Order our staff spent evenings and weekends holding community meetings with each of our refugee populations. With uneasy stomachs and sadness in our hearts, we described the Executive Order, what it meant for them and their family and friends overseas, and answered any questions. Our refugee friends had fled war and conflict for peace and safety in America, now many of them feared America may become unsafe for them.

After I held one such meeting on February 3, 2017 I wrote this: “I just held a meeting for a group of refugees that my work, World Relief Fox Valley has been serving for the past 5 years. During this meeting we discussed the different ways in which President Trump’s Executive Order signed on January 27th will impact them. These people, sitting in this room with me are hard-working, kind, honest and loving. They had each, on numerous occasions, welcomed me into their homes without hesitation, offered me tea, and laughed with me. I had to explain to them that for a minimum of the next four months (likely longer) they won’t see the family members they have been expecting to arrive to America. (One man had been expecting his family possibly by the end of this month). I had to tell them that even though they fled persecution, political unrest, terror and violence, and even though they know people fleeing the same, America’s leadership had recently cut the number of refugee’s accepted this year more than in half. I had to express that I don’t have all of the answers. I had to tell a group of people who are feeling the weight of being unwelcome that they are welcome, and that we love them. Then, afterwards, as I wearily grabbed a bag of tea to calm my stressed out stomach, I read this message, “It is not talking of love, but living in love that is everything.” And all at once I wished that I could tell my fellow Americans, my fellow Christians, just how true this is. I have felt the weight of this political decision since before it was signed into effect. I’ve seen the tears of the refugees hearing this news and anticipated their fear before it was signed into effect. I know how easy it is to ignore a problem that isn’t right in your face. I know how easy it is to say that the advocacy, the marches and the campaigns protesting the profound injustice of this Executive Order are “Anti-Trump” and “Political”. But I cannot, with a sound mind and a peaceful heart, sit idly aside and watch the implications of this EO without a fight. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this isn’t a political issue. This isn’t an Anti-President issue. This is a human issue and we are humans. Cornel West said, “Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.” So I beg you to publicly declare your love for ALL of God’s children and join this fight for justice. “Millions of displaced people, desperate for hope yet reviled and feared by many, will decide what they think of Jesus based on how His followers throughout the world respond to this crisis.” Respond with love. Respond with justice.”

This year I desire to make sure that the impact these many Executive Orders has had on refugees and other immigrants is not forgotten. Time has a funny way of clouding our memory; urgent matters come up in our personal lives, other worthy causes are threatened, and the once-front-page-news of refugees like Alan Kurdi are just foggy memories. The fact is that we in America have the luxury of allowing this to become said foggy memory. The reality is that impact of these Executive Orders looms over those of us in this work daily. But even more so, it looms over the families we have resettled who are missing friends and family back home, left in war torn countries or dreary refugee camps. It looms over those very individuals trying to survive in conflict zones and attempting to build lives off of a few rations and a tent provided in a camp.

We saw the immediate effects of chaos in airports, families separated and stranded, resettlement office closing (World Relief alone was forced to close five offices). World Relief President, Scott Arbeiter, reminded us that though we have survived so much chaos we should continue to be troubled by the long term effects of this Executive Order. Refugees and immigrants need our help now more than ever.

 

In the last 12 months refugees and immigrants living in the U.S. have seen:

• Refugees: A drastic reduction in the number of arrivals of refugees to the U.S. Last year’s executive order set the number at 45,000 In reality less than 30,000 were actually allowed to resettle here.
• Dreamers: Roughly 800,000 young people losing their right to work lawfully in the U.S. due to the expiration of DACA.
• Separated Families: The deportation of some immigrants back to countries where their lives are in immediate danger due to religious or political persecution.

 

If you have the luxury of allowing the growing refugee crisis to slip to the back of your mind, then you most certainly have the responsibility of preventing this exact thing. It is your responsibility, my responsibility, our responsibility to insure our voices are heard so that the voices of those impacted can be heard. What happened one year ago is as real as it gets. What is still happening in the very countries that our government is trying to keep away is as real as it gets. If you have the luxury of fearing a rebel force might infiltrate your country and wreak the same havoc it is wreaking on the people of its own country, then you have a moral obligation to fight for the rights of those innocent citizens: children, mothers, families fleeing for their lives. It is both your ability and responsibility to welcome these individuals with open arms; to give them something to hope for.

You have every opportunity to make your voice heard on this matter. It is my belief that your voice matters and is required. Do not be so naïve to think that your voice has no weight and that things can change without you. This belief only supports the efforts of anti-refugee and anti-immigrant work. Indecision is a decision. Lack of action is, in fact, action. Keeping quiet says so much. Use your voice to advocate for refugees and immigrants this year. Don’t allow passing time, self-consciousness, or geographical location to prevent you from advocating for the vulnerable. I am calling on you to make a difference.