When the news of the contentious Executive Order broke, I was as appalled as any believer in freedom, justice and the pursuit of happiness could be. To add a certain poignancy to my personal feelings, I too am an immigrant. I am a Green Card Holder, married to an American wife and raising three American children. I have a job, pay taxes and like college football. I thought my position here was stable and relatively certain, but this “first step” in the new Republic did give me pause for thought, as well as filling me with horror and shame that those directly and immediately affected were being so shabbily treated.
I have other friends who are immigrants, their lives too became a little less sure this weekend.
Imagine then my feelings when, on Saturday, the following message appeared on my Facebook Newsfeed.
This was written by a personal friend who I will not identify. It is published here with his permission. I put the entirety of my reputation, built over four hundred plus Diaries and twenty thousand comments, that every word is copied faithfully, and is a true reflection of a man I am proud to call a friend … as indeed are so very many others who know him personally:
“In case you feel the need to defend or explain your position on whatever, allow me to be your token friend. After all:
I am not American.
I was born in a country where the royalty and majority of the population is Muslim.
I was raised in and remain a citizen of a country where Islam is one of the major religions.
I was a member of a foreign military.
I know many different ways to kill.
English is not the native language of my race.
I have an accent.
My race is one that is often associated with communism.
I am a foreigner on a work permit who has less rights in this country than the prison inmates I serve.
I am a non-Christian and doubting sinner, I am not in a straight relationship, I do not ride conventional motorcycles, I was raised on a different form of English, the metric system and Centigrade, and my people still drive on the other side of the road.
Next time you find yourself in some kind of debate, now you can say you know at least one person who is different, so your arguments can carry more weight. After all, you know ME, right?
In case you don't fully understand the point of all this, keep in mind that I have not left the USA since 2004 because I have always been terrified that I will not be allowed back in. If you think this is an irrational fear, I was threatened with deportation in 2004 by customs officials who didn't like the fact that I said I'd like to remain in this country after I finished graduate school. It didn't matter to them that I was returning from my honeymoon with my American wife. They didn't care what I was studying or what I do for a living. All they cared about was that I was a foreigner who had the audacity to want to live and work here.
I love my friends and my work and my life here. I'd like to think some of you actually like me too. I wrote all this because it scares me to hear what some of you say and what some of you believe. You do have the right to your speech and your beliefs; it isn't my place to tell you any different. However, I am scared because I am not like you in many ways and every statement I made above is true. Those who don't really know me would probably only see those things above and make all sorts of negative assumptions based on their beliefs and fears. They also would fail to realize that some of those statements, while true, do not even begin to describe me at all.
I just hope you consider what these times might be like for those like me who don't fit in with the majority. Thank you for your love and time.
P.S. I do understand the fear of unknown people who want to harm us. That's the reason I wrote the statements the way I did. Someone who doesn't know me might only perceive things from a paranoid mindset. It's something most creatures are generally hardwired to do because we innately want to protect ourselves, especially from the unknown.
Some of you might have read "I know many different ways to kill" and immediately formed the assumption that I am speaking about my military experience. ANYBODY who has watched TV and movies or read books knows many different ways to kill! The only thing my military experience taught me specifically about killing (that I would not have already known) is how to operate a rifle. That's it. I was never even trained how to shoot to kill or maim or whatever Hollywood stuff the idea of military service might conjure up in people's minds. Someone who doesn't know me that well might have read that statement and assumed I was a soldier trained in the art of war; I was the clerk for the military mental health clinic and I never fired my rifle after basic training (which I couldn't even complete because of back problems).
The only things I actually kill are bugs, time, fuses, fairing panels, batteries, plastic pop rivets, and space mutants on my phone!
The truth is not always quite as enlightening as you might think.”
The writer of the above statement is a warm, caring, articulate and highly educated man. He is a Clinician, with a PhD earned in this country. He is a professional and contributes positively to the society he has chosen to call home. My fear is that his fears are well founded.
For my own part, I don’t share the same fears of deportation. He has an H1B visa, I have a Green Card. I have a statutory claim to residence, he does not …. yet ….
I am a Socialist and an Atheist. I am not particularly quiet about my beliefs, to the chagrin of some and loud support of others. I don’t physically take part in demonstrations, something I have taken part in, in my home country, since I was in diapers. I don’t take part because I fear that one arrest could mean that my Green Card might not be renewed, and I would have to leave my family or uproot them and they would have to leave their country.
So I am reminded that …. first they came for the Muslims …
… and I would like there to be someone left for support, when they come for me.
That’s why we said, “You came for the Muslims, and we said “Not today. Motherfuckers!””