October 13th, 2018
“You see, you don’t have to live like a refugee
(Don’t have to live like a refugee)” – Tom Petty
The Chicago Tribune published this letter from me yesterday.
“The Trump administration has decided to limit the number of refugees entering the United States each year to 30,000 people. That is astounding. We have over 300 million people in our country. Thirty-thousand refugees represents only .01 percent of our nation’s total population. That is one refugee for every 10,000 inhabitants of the U.S.
Why so few? Are we not prosperous enough to help more than just 30,000 people, all of whom are coming to America because they fear for their lives? Are we frightened of them? The United States has a massive military budget, and we spend more on national security than on almost anything else. Don’t we have the personnel to vet these immigrants? Why are we trying to keep refugees out?”
I work with a Syrian refugee family. I help tutor the children in that home. These people have gone through enormous suffering to come to America, and they just want to be a part of our country. They work hard. The parents put great emphasis on their children’s education. They are trying to learn English as fast as they can. We want people like this in the United States. We need more of them, not less.”
Frank is Emptiness 