Guest Blogger, Hani: Thanksgiving Message to Immigrants
I always love having guest bloggers. In fact, I am soliciting aspiring writers and activists to contribute to the yasminareality.com independent platform on topics such as immigration, hate crimes, Standing Rock, Flint water crisis and other ideas you might have.
This blog comes to you from Hani on the topic of immigration. Thank you, Hani! Happy Thanksgiving to all – and let’s keep the Sioux Tribe at Standing Rock at the forefront of our minds, prayers and pocketbooks (consider donating) this Thanksgiving! ~Yasmina
guest blogger, Hani
What makes America great?
If I told a Trump supporter that it is immigration, they would shake their heads and argue about how immigration (legal and illegal) increases our crime rate, takes our jobs away, and changes our culture. That is the rhetoric that won Mr. Trump his presidency. Speaking about the wall and about a Muslim registry and mass deportation earned him the most applause at his rallies.
Why then would he care to be politically correct?
Trump’s base is ethnic nationalists. Now more than ever, he is convinced that by speaking to their fear, he can continue to put more demagogues like him on top. As the ACLU and other civil rights organizations vow to challenge him on his unconstitutional practices, Trump lives in an alternate reality and keeps appointing more and more White supremacists to his cabinet.
And here we are, children of immigrants, born Americans or naturalized because our parents brought us here at a young age. Not white, yet patriotic like the Founding Fathers. This is the only country we know. Our parents told us stories of their struggles to immigrate here- and how much they cherish the notion that we live here freely. We became our parents’ American dream. We contribute to society. We take top-notch jobs. Our kids are becoming the faces of ivy-leagues.
On some level, this threatens the White supremacist.
And so, he is passionately aroused by the anti-immigration promises of this amateur politician. On the surface, it’s about security, economy and culture. On a deeper level, there is a fear. A fear so real that it penetrates into the heart of America and challenges its core values.
The truth is that first-generation immigrants move to the United States for a better life, not to commit crime and be deported. They contribute to our economy. They are what enriches the culture of America. Data proves my points yet, when the darkness of fear trumps the ability to separate facts from fiction, we must arm ourselves with Constitutional rights.
As Trump moves towards changing his rhetoric into policies, let us celebrate this Thanksgiving as a reminder of the immigrant culture of America. Let us protest his divisive policies and speak against him as the United States Constitution allows us to. If you are not a Muslim, be prepared to stand in lines if they actually start a registry. Civil disobedience may take you to jail, but it is the very tool that our Founding Fathers used during the Boston Tea Party to earn our independence.
If you are an immigrant who is afraid of detention or deportation, first know that there are always loopholes in a law. In Lennon v. US, a technicality was used to halt the deportation of the famous couple, and the same technicality was used for Obama administration to build its Deferred Action for the Childhood Arrivals Program (which allowed young, undocumented immigrants who grew up in the United States to stay in the country.)
As Muzaffar Chishti, Director of the New York University School of Law office of the Nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute notes, “just because someone is deportable under the law, doesn’t mean you have to deport him.” Yet, this administration may change all of that.
So we must use our constitutional weapons;and, along with faith, must take action. One way is to volunteer or donate to CIVIC, a movement to stop isolation and detention for immigrants.
Oh immigrants, take heart and do not lose hope. This Thanksgiving, let us take pride in our American values along with our heritage, and cook our turkey with a touch of our “old world” spices. After all, just like our spices, immigrants are part of the unique flavor that makes America great.
Supporting Data:
Facts and stats on why Trump is wrong about immigrants and crime:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/07/02/surprise-donald-trump-is-wrong-a
bout-immigrants-and-crime/
The Hamilton Project: Economic facts about immigration—the real effects that new
immigrants have on wages , jobs , budgets, and the U.S. economy
http://www.hamiltonproject.org/papers/ten_economic_facts_about_immigration/
The Contributions of Immigrants to American Culture
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3856769/
Other research:
Lennon case and quote:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/you-may-say-hes-a-dreamer-john-lennons-immigration-c
ase/
Immigration history, discussion of the evolution of 14th amendment
http://immigrationtounitedstates.org/447-us-constitution.html
Trump’s challenge to Birthright citizenship
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/the-problem-with-challenging-birthright-citize
nship/403147/
Stats that immigration claims by DT wrong
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/07/02/surprise-donald-trump-is-wrong-a
bout-immigrants-and-crime/
Stop Detention/ Deportation, Reference to CIVIC
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/we-can-stop-trumps-deportation-force-heres-how_us_5829
31ace4b02b1f5257a5af
Serious approach to stopping the registry:
Stopping The ‘Muslim Registry’: A Serious Approach
About the Author
About the Author: I'm a Writer, Speaker and Muslim Activist. I'm a former Board Member of the #MyJihad Public Education Campaign.
Follow my blog at yasminareality.com or follow me on Twitter: @yasmina_reality. I'm also now on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YasminaReality
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