Let compassion guide city’s immigration policy
I was 3 when my family and I immigrated from India to the United States.
My family fled our home after the Delhi riots, in which Sikhs were removed from their homes and killed, began in 1984. My family hid in our neighbor’s home.
The United States represented all that we did not have, especially freedom and opportunity. We will never forget the day my parents passed their civics test and we became U.S. citizens. It’s been 30 years, and we remain grateful every day.
In September, my team and I toured the Migrant Resource Center, or MRC, which is in District 1. We wanted to see for ourselves the process and the experience of refugees receiving services. And we were trying to understand the challenges faced by the staff.
The day we visited, the shelter was at capacity.
I kept thinking, “How bad could the living conditions be for families with young children to drop everything and embark on a three-month journey to make it here?”
I heard the all too-familiar stories of families fleeing violence in their home countries.
Seeing the gratitude from refugees being handed a fresh pair of clothes and a warm meal was heartwarming. Visiting a prayer room where messages left by other refugees shared hope and inspiration for future visitors was touching.
America is a proud nation of immigrants, enshrined in the Constitution and referenced by former President Ronald Reagan in his farewell speech as “the shining city upon a hill.”
“And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here,” Reagan said.
I believe San Antonio is that compassionate city, open to anyone with the heart to get here. However, I’ve been dismayed at the anger and hate by some aimed at asylum-seekers passing through the MRC. I know that’s not who we are as a community. San Antonio is a city strengthened by our diversity, not weakened by it.
This is not to say we shouldn’t take appropriate measures to support residents and businesses impacted by the asylum-seekers at the MRC. When the MRC is at capacity, the refugees who don’t have travel arrangements are seeking shelter behind businesses along San Pedro Avenue, causing an increase in loitering and trash.
It’s clear that our immigration system is broken and has been for many years. Congress must act and, at the very least, pass an emergency aid package that would provide muchneeded funding for Catholic Charities and the city of San Antonio to support safe passage to the final destinations for these immigrants.
In the interim, the city has increased trash pickup and police patrols in the immediate area and placed a tent on the MRC campus to provide additional shelter from inclement weather.
During a recent trip to visit my family in Washington, D.C., I met Reina, a woman from Honduras who spent months finding her way to the U.S. to escape violence and reconnect with her brother in Washington. She spent one day at San Antonio’s MRC.
Meeting Reina and other refugees reaffirm the support we must offer them. We need to work together to find reasonable solutions for the thousands of asylum-seekers who want nothing more than to achieve the American dream, much like my family did more than 30 years ago.