AI
Thursday, September 06, 2018 9:14:50 PM
President Trump Betrayed My American Dream
"THE SUPREME COURT USED TO OPPOSE DISCRIMINATION. WHAT HAPPENED?"
.. this is a wonderful message from Abdi Nor Iftin ..
Abdi Nor Iftin Michael Lionstar
By Abdi Nor Iftin June 20, 2018
IDEAS Iftin is the author of Call Me American: A Memoir .. https://goo.gl/g3eQbd .
June 20 is World Refugee Day, and my thirty-third birthday. For the world’s 22 million refugees .. http://time.com/finding-home/ , their “special day” is an arbitrary holiday, but so is my birthday. Somalis don’t generally keep track of birthdays—you are born, you die, and in between is herding animals—although my mother knows she was born on the same day as her favorite camel, Daraanle. I know I was born in Mogadishu .. http://time.com/somalis-try-to-hold-on-to-hope-in-mogadishu/ .. in 1985, six years before the start of the terrible civil wars. Seven years before my father disappeared. Eight years before digging the grave for my own baby sister, dead of starvation.
When I escaped Somalia in 2011, I was being recruited by the radical Islamist group al-Shabaab .. http://time.com/3771409/al-shabab-kenyan-cities-run-red-with-blood/ , who wanted to train me to kill infidels and enforce Sharia law. I had no qualifications for this career other than being a young man—by then I was too old to dig graves which was children’s work—but it was the only employment available at the time.
When I won the U.S. Diversity Visa Lottery and got my green card, American officials said I needed a date of birth. So I picked a day in the middle of the year that was easy to remember. I was so lucky to win that lottery, and to choose my own birthday.
But the luckiest people are those who get to be born in free and peaceful countries. And it is definitely luck, since even people who can choose their birthday can’t choose where to be born. To escape the lottery of my birth and a one-way ticket to jihadi martyrdom, I fled to Nairobi, where I lived illegally in a tiny room with my brother. Every day the police would march through our neighborhood, rounding up Somalis and trucking them off to the UN refugee camps in the Kenyan desert. There nearly a quarter million Somalis live in makeshift slums with meager food rations, no work and constant violence from terrorists and gangs. Several generations have been born and raised there.
My brother and I swore we would never go to those camps; we would take our chances on the streets of Nairobi, while studying at a local college and applying for every type of visa we could find. We sold socks on the street to buy food, and risked police roundups and bombs every time we boarded a bus to school.
What kept us going was America.
America was the place I dreamed about—quite literally, every night. I learned English from Arnold Schwarzenegger, himself an American immigrant, watching his movies in a video shack in Mogadishu. Until al-Shabaab blew up that shack and imprisoned its owner, movies like The Terminator were my escape from the real-life bloody chaos of my childhood on the streets.
People with the bad luck to be born in a war zone have always had a chance to become American. We could win the visa lottery, as I did—tougher odds than getting into Harvard—or be accepted as refugees. But when President Donald Trump banned immigrants from seven Muslim countries .. http://time.com/4960624/trumps-travel-ban-escape-judgment/ .. including my own—a ban expected to be upheld this month by the Supreme Court .. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-immigration/supreme-court-appears-ready-to-uphold-trumps-travel-ban-idUSKBN1HW0F8 — the message to millions of people around the world was, your luck has run out.
I understand that every oppressed and starving person in the world cannot move to North America or Europe, nor do they want to; virtually every Somali I know would rather live in a safe and peaceful Somalia than in the wealthy nations of the West.
But they are all inspired by the great free and tolerant nations of the West. It often begins with pop culture—a rap song, a movie, a clothing style—but those are just gateways to deeper appreciation of democracy. After watching every American movie that existed in Mogadishu, I started reading American books. I memorized names of states and dreamed about which ones I would live in. I was proud of every single American president, I did not care about parties or ideologies. On YouTube I watched speeches by Reagan, Clinton, both Bushes and Obama; all made me smile. When George W. Bush invaded Iraq, I was proudly defending America on the streets of Mogadishu when everyone else chanted “Down With America!”
Then came Trump.
Specifically, he came to my city, Portland, Maine, during the presidential campaign, and falsely accused Maine’s large Somali population of increasing crime. (Crime rates are down in Maine cities where Somalis live.) Then he won, and immediately issued his travel ban. A lawyer told me not to leave the U.S. even though I had legal residency; they might not let me back in. This reminded me of being a fugitive on the streets of Nairobi, where the possession of legal documents meant nothing to corrupt police. Then Trump said he wanted to accept fewer refugees from “shithole countries,” .. http://time.com/5101057/donald-trump-shithole-countries-tps-daca/ .. meaning poor black countries like mine. He disparaged the visa lottery .. https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/national-security-threats-chain-migration-visa-lottery-system/ .. as a terrorist pipeline when in reality it is an escape hatch from terrorism.
I felt personally betrayed, but worse was the feeling that Trump had betrayed my dream of America. If this country settled by immigrants could close its doors to the most desperate people in the world, then who would help? Who would set the example of unflinching compassion to other nations? Who would inspire the world’s children of war, like me, to reject violence and strive to raise their own children in peace and security?
An aspiring American with no “real” birthday has no answer to these questions. But on June 20 I will make a wish for the world’s refugees as I blow out the candles on my cake. Because like the rest of us who share this planet, they were born, too.
Iftin lives in Portland, Maine, where he works as an interpreter for Somalis who have immigrated to the
state; this fall, he will begin classes at the University of Southern Maine, studying political science.
http://time.com/5316584/world-refugee-day-visa-lottery-donald-trump-immigration/
See also:
Trump Administration Rejects Study Showing Positive Impact of Refugees
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141776411
ForReal, Trump politicized one single tragedy. Typically for him, with total disregard for any emotional upset he may cause.
.. these two also ..
- MOSTLY TRUE: Undocumented immigrants less likely to commit crimes than U.S. citizens
By Chris Nichols on Thursday, August 3rd, 2017 at 4:04 p.m.
https://www.politifact.com/california/statements/2017/aug/03/antonio-villaraigosa/mostly-true-undocumented-immigrants-less-likely-co/
- [ForReal (my add] great fear speech. heart-tugging. and totally ignorant to the fact that immigrants commit far less crime than citizens do.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141930836
.. linked in here ..
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=143102937
ForReal, it's not that easy, and your insistence on easy solutions (in how many posts now?) is (as has been said) no more than trolling.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141761372
.. ForReal's reply to that one ..
Probably because I am not aware of any of Trump's Central or South American policies that would increase the refugee problem.
I guess I can't know everything. Care to enlighten me as to what policies you are referring to? I am willing to learn.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141761521
.. and my reply to that, in full ..
----------
ForReal, [repeat] on separation of children from families note
The facts about Trump’s policy of separating families at the border
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141653632
and
ForReal, you're wrong. Trump cannot blame policy of separating children on Obama
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141652646
and
mr40, start here - Donald Trump’s Central America strategy is both cruel and incompetent
"Inside Trump’s Disastrous ‘Secret’ Drug War Plans for Central America
"The Border Patrol Was Monstrous Under Obama. Imagine How Bad It Is Under Trump.""
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141713823
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141713987
Just four back in this thread - https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141755413
Seems you are just another troll who doesn't bother to spend time on info given to you. It's easy to feign ignorance, eh.
See also:
I see you have nothing. To assume I have no ideas is your problem. Classic troll action.....
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141753832
Take a break and read more.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141761610
----------
I DON'T LIKE CHEAP SHOTS. BUT I REALLY DON'T CARE, DO U?
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141745876
The Trump administration doesn’t believe in the global refugee crisis
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141713395
The Trump Team's Lies About Immigrants and Family Separation: A Closer Look
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=142050723
Judge Criticizes Trump Administration for Response to Family Reunification Order
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=142206207
Some Trump separated children may lose parents forever.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=142535204
From the Travel Ban to Family Separations: Malevolence, Incompetence, Carelessness
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=142038715
.. and some others linked in that one,
please excuse any repetition ..
Video: Trump’s Claim on Diversity Visas
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=137724740
The facts about Trump’s policy of separating families at the border
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141653632
We need to keep an eye on the statue of liberty, too
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141654628
Inside Trump’s Disastrous ‘Secret’ Drug War Plans for Central America
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141657065
But research shows that the majority of people in the country without permission
are those who overstayed their visas rather than walking across a border.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141761564
ForReal, you're wrong. Trump cannot blame policy of separating children on Obama
down a bit .. https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141761610
President Donald Trump Goes Out Of His Way To Insult US Allies | Morning Joe | MSNBC
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141766331
JimLur, No, Donald Trump’s separation of immigrant families was not Barack Obama’s policy
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141792182
You Can Smell Trump's Fear
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141831690
Amid immigration crackdown, this avocado farmer is struggling to find workers
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141918731
Trump responds to “Abolish ICE” with false claims America is being overrun by MS-13
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141919202
-----
88 reasons Trump is unfit to serve as President, according to an official Democrats resolution
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=139333437
"THE SUPREME COURT USED TO OPPOSE DISCRIMINATION. WHAT HAPPENED?"
.. this is a wonderful message from Abdi Nor Iftin ..
Abdi Nor Iftin Michael Lionstar
By Abdi Nor Iftin June 20, 2018
IDEAS Iftin is the author of Call Me American: A Memoir .. https://goo.gl/g3eQbd .
June 20 is World Refugee Day, and my thirty-third birthday. For the world’s 22 million refugees .. http://time.com/finding-home/ , their “special day” is an arbitrary holiday, but so is my birthday. Somalis don’t generally keep track of birthdays—you are born, you die, and in between is herding animals—although my mother knows she was born on the same day as her favorite camel, Daraanle. I know I was born in Mogadishu .. http://time.com/somalis-try-to-hold-on-to-hope-in-mogadishu/ .. in 1985, six years before the start of the terrible civil wars. Seven years before my father disappeared. Eight years before digging the grave for my own baby sister, dead of starvation.
When I escaped Somalia in 2011, I was being recruited by the radical Islamist group al-Shabaab .. http://time.com/3771409/al-shabab-kenyan-cities-run-red-with-blood/ , who wanted to train me to kill infidels and enforce Sharia law. I had no qualifications for this career other than being a young man—by then I was too old to dig graves which was children’s work—but it was the only employment available at the time.
When I won the U.S. Diversity Visa Lottery and got my green card, American officials said I needed a date of birth. So I picked a day in the middle of the year that was easy to remember. I was so lucky to win that lottery, and to choose my own birthday.
But the luckiest people are those who get to be born in free and peaceful countries. And it is definitely luck, since even people who can choose their birthday can’t choose where to be born. To escape the lottery of my birth and a one-way ticket to jihadi martyrdom, I fled to Nairobi, where I lived illegally in a tiny room with my brother. Every day the police would march through our neighborhood, rounding up Somalis and trucking them off to the UN refugee camps in the Kenyan desert. There nearly a quarter million Somalis live in makeshift slums with meager food rations, no work and constant violence from terrorists and gangs. Several generations have been born and raised there.
My brother and I swore we would never go to those camps; we would take our chances on the streets of Nairobi, while studying at a local college and applying for every type of visa we could find. We sold socks on the street to buy food, and risked police roundups and bombs every time we boarded a bus to school.
What kept us going was America.
America was the place I dreamed about—quite literally, every night. I learned English from Arnold Schwarzenegger, himself an American immigrant, watching his movies in a video shack in Mogadishu. Until al-Shabaab blew up that shack and imprisoned its owner, movies like The Terminator were my escape from the real-life bloody chaos of my childhood on the streets.
People with the bad luck to be born in a war zone have always had a chance to become American. We could win the visa lottery, as I did—tougher odds than getting into Harvard—or be accepted as refugees. But when President Donald Trump banned immigrants from seven Muslim countries .. http://time.com/4960624/trumps-travel-ban-escape-judgment/ .. including my own—a ban expected to be upheld this month by the Supreme Court .. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-immigration/supreme-court-appears-ready-to-uphold-trumps-travel-ban-idUSKBN1HW0F8 — the message to millions of people around the world was, your luck has run out.
I understand that every oppressed and starving person in the world cannot move to North America or Europe, nor do they want to; virtually every Somali I know would rather live in a safe and peaceful Somalia than in the wealthy nations of the West.
But they are all inspired by the great free and tolerant nations of the West. It often begins with pop culture—a rap song, a movie, a clothing style—but those are just gateways to deeper appreciation of democracy. After watching every American movie that existed in Mogadishu, I started reading American books. I memorized names of states and dreamed about which ones I would live in. I was proud of every single American president, I did not care about parties or ideologies. On YouTube I watched speeches by Reagan, Clinton, both Bushes and Obama; all made me smile. When George W. Bush invaded Iraq, I was proudly defending America on the streets of Mogadishu when everyone else chanted “Down With America!”
Then came Trump.
Specifically, he came to my city, Portland, Maine, during the presidential campaign, and falsely accused Maine’s large Somali population of increasing crime. (Crime rates are down in Maine cities where Somalis live.) Then he won, and immediately issued his travel ban. A lawyer told me not to leave the U.S. even though I had legal residency; they might not let me back in. This reminded me of being a fugitive on the streets of Nairobi, where the possession of legal documents meant nothing to corrupt police. Then Trump said he wanted to accept fewer refugees from “shithole countries,” .. http://time.com/5101057/donald-trump-shithole-countries-tps-daca/ .. meaning poor black countries like mine. He disparaged the visa lottery .. https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/national-security-threats-chain-migration-visa-lottery-system/ .. as a terrorist pipeline when in reality it is an escape hatch from terrorism.
I felt personally betrayed, but worse was the feeling that Trump had betrayed my dream of America. If this country settled by immigrants could close its doors to the most desperate people in the world, then who would help? Who would set the example of unflinching compassion to other nations? Who would inspire the world’s children of war, like me, to reject violence and strive to raise their own children in peace and security?
An aspiring American with no “real” birthday has no answer to these questions. But on June 20 I will make a wish for the world’s refugees as I blow out the candles on my cake. Because like the rest of us who share this planet, they were born, too.
Iftin lives in Portland, Maine, where he works as an interpreter for Somalis who have immigrated to the
state; this fall, he will begin classes at the University of Southern Maine, studying political science.
http://time.com/5316584/world-refugee-day-visa-lottery-donald-trump-immigration/
See also:
Trump Administration Rejects Study Showing Positive Impact of Refugees
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141776411
ForReal, Trump politicized one single tragedy. Typically for him, with total disregard for any emotional upset he may cause.
.. these two also ..
- MOSTLY TRUE: Undocumented immigrants less likely to commit crimes than U.S. citizens
By Chris Nichols on Thursday, August 3rd, 2017 at 4:04 p.m.
https://www.politifact.com/california/statements/2017/aug/03/antonio-villaraigosa/mostly-true-undocumented-immigrants-less-likely-co/
- [ForReal (my add] great fear speech. heart-tugging. and totally ignorant to the fact that immigrants commit far less crime than citizens do.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141930836
.. linked in here ..
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=143102937
ForReal, it's not that easy, and your insistence on easy solutions (in how many posts now?) is (as has been said) no more than trolling.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141761372
.. ForReal's reply to that one ..
Probably because I am not aware of any of Trump's Central or South American policies that would increase the refugee problem.
I guess I can't know everything. Care to enlighten me as to what policies you are referring to? I am willing to learn.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141761521
.. and my reply to that, in full ..
----------
ForReal, [repeat] on separation of children from families note
The facts about Trump’s policy of separating families at the border
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141653632
and
ForReal, you're wrong. Trump cannot blame policy of separating children on Obama
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141652646
and
mr40, start here - Donald Trump’s Central America strategy is both cruel and incompetent
"Inside Trump’s Disastrous ‘Secret’ Drug War Plans for Central America
"The Border Patrol Was Monstrous Under Obama. Imagine How Bad It Is Under Trump.""
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141713823
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141713987
Just four back in this thread - https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141755413
Seems you are just another troll who doesn't bother to spend time on info given to you. It's easy to feign ignorance, eh.
See also:
I see you have nothing. To assume I have no ideas is your problem. Classic troll action.....
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141753832
Take a break and read more.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141761610
----------
I DON'T LIKE CHEAP SHOTS. BUT I REALLY DON'T CARE, DO U?
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141745876
The Trump administration doesn’t believe in the global refugee crisis
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141713395
The Trump Team's Lies About Immigrants and Family Separation: A Closer Look
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=142050723
Judge Criticizes Trump Administration for Response to Family Reunification Order
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=142206207
Some Trump separated children may lose parents forever.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=142535204
From the Travel Ban to Family Separations: Malevolence, Incompetence, Carelessness
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=142038715
.. and some others linked in that one,
please excuse any repetition ..
Video: Trump’s Claim on Diversity Visas
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=137724740
The facts about Trump’s policy of separating families at the border
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141653632
We need to keep an eye on the statue of liberty, too
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141654628
Inside Trump’s Disastrous ‘Secret’ Drug War Plans for Central America
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141657065
But research shows that the majority of people in the country without permission
are those who overstayed their visas rather than walking across a border.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141761564
ForReal, you're wrong. Trump cannot blame policy of separating children on Obama
down a bit .. https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141761610
President Donald Trump Goes Out Of His Way To Insult US Allies | Morning Joe | MSNBC
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141766331
JimLur, No, Donald Trump’s separation of immigrant families was not Barack Obama’s policy
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141792182
You Can Smell Trump's Fear
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141831690
Amid immigration crackdown, this avocado farmer is struggling to find workers
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141918731
Trump responds to “Abolish ICE” with false claims America is being overrun by MS-13
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=141919202
-----
88 reasons Trump is unfit to serve as President, according to an official Democrats resolution
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=139333437
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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