In the park last February, I talked with a man whose leg was broken just above his ankle. I struggled to get his story with my rusty French but he was patient. He had been tortured by soldiers in his home country of Guinea. The soldiers had beaten him until he passed out and then threw him into a pit. That was when he broke his leg—unconscious, he’d landed badly. He was arrested and punished for taking part in a peace march by former soldiers who objected to the 2022 military coup.
This guy, Kergala, had made it to the U.S. by somehow traveling to Morocco and then Turkiye, flying from Istanbul to Central America and finally making his way, via horse and bus and car, to the Mexican border. He’d walked on crutches the final three days to get to the crossing point. Clearly staying in Guinea was not a viable choice.
Under President Biden’s newly announced migration policy, would this guy be able to cross and apply for asylum? Or would we simply deport him back to violence? What about the family of Afghans who came to the U.S. primarily for their kids, because the Taliban won’t let girls study beyond sixth grade? What about our Ecuadorian friend Maria who recognized the violence ahead for her young teenage sons and gave up everything to travel overland to the U.S. to give them a better life? Would their stories be heard or would they be turned back?
Let me be clear: People will die because of this new border system. They won’t die on American soil but we will be partly to blame for their deaths regardless.
President Biden, here are some potential alternatives to this policy:
- Use the money you’ll spend deporting potential asylum seekers to instead assign new judges to hear their asylum cases and the cases that are currently stalled in the system
- Move left, not right. Stop seeking votes from people who will NEVER support you.
- Tax the rich. Use that money for good not evil. Invest in affordable housing and job training and social programs that will help people rise.
- Stop worrying about alienating pro-Israel voters and instead look clearly at what Netanyahu is doing to the people of Gaza. Use that moral compass, Joe.
- Also tax the rich.
- Don’t turn your back on kindness, please.