Asylum- We did not choose where we were born: Nor did they

A Texas opinion published in The Monitor - Let’s be rational on immigration

What should we think about immigration? It’s complicated. Are there some who might be criminals? Research shows, it’s very few.

Far more likely, the following describes who’s coming. People avoiding extreme violence, persecution, starvation and more.

These are the people at the border. They are seeking safety. Seeking life. Seeking asylum. Coming to a border where the law, both U.S. law and international law, guarantees them the right to cross over, to ask for asylum and to stay while their stories are verified.

But it’s not happening. Our young parents, our farmers, are greeted by a high fence and tear gas. We did not choose where we were born. Nor did they.

Some are seeking asylum. 

U.S. laws and a treaty we have signed requires the U.S. attorney general to grant asylum if an individual has suffered persecution or has a well-founded fear of future persecution based on “race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.”

People don’t uproot their lives and set out for distant lands for trivial reasons. Our ancestors did not. We need a comprehensive immigration policy that will protect our borders from criminals, but one that will also grant to those who are fleeing terrible conditions the same privilege that our ancestors were granted, the privilege of contributing to our society by hard work, and by bringing their food, traditional dress and their arts that will further enrich the lives of us who are already here.

Let’s demand that our politicians compromise and settle on a rational and humane policy for immigration.

From- Virginia Gelineau, Palmview Texas