Syrians find home in the nick of time
Volunteers from Illinois synagogue sought to help, the way parents had been
CHICAGO — On Friday afternoon, a group of suburban synagogue members clustered at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, waiting to greet one of the last Syrian refugee families to be accepted in the United States, to give them the warmest possible welcome to a country that no longer wanted their kind.
In Washington, the presidential limousine was already speeding toward the Pentagon, where U.S. President Donald Trump would sign a paper officially slamming the door shut on Syrian refugees. But here the volunteers had yellow roses, more warm coats than the newcomers would need and, a few miles away, an apartment ready with a doormat that said “welcome” in 17 languages. “Welcome to chicag Hope you make your selfs at home,” said a sign made by one of the youngest members of the group.
Whatever the new president said about the supposed dangers of Syrian refugees, the volunteers, who knew almost nothing about the family they were about to welcome, instantly identified with them anyway. They had already committed to helping guide and care for the newcomers for six months.
Some of the volunteers were children or grandchildren of refugees. Their synagogue, Am Shalom (“Nation of Peace”) in Glencoe, Illinois, displays a statue depicting members’ families who perished at the Nazis’ hands. The Syrian family, and the president’s orders, were coming on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, some of the volunteers noted with tears in their eyes. A hundred synagogue members had contributed in some way to helping resettle the Syrians: renting an apartment steps from a playground, assembling a vacuum cleaner, lining up juice boxes in the refrigerator.
Some of the synagogue members had signed on instinctually, so the Syrians would be helped the way their own parents or grandparents had been aided when they arrived in the United States.
“The Statue of Liberty has always been our symbol of welcome,” Rabbi Steven Stark Lowenstein, the group’s leader, said at the airport. “It feels like Trump turned off the light.”
Resettlement agencies said that volunteers had been swarming their offices and that even more had surfaced last week when Trump’s specific plans became public. When the International Refugee Assistance Project put out a call for lawyers to help new arrivals in danger of being turned away, it received 3,000 volunteers in four hours, said Becca Heller, the organization’s director.
As the minutes passed at O’Hare, the volunteers checked the time again, tense with the knowledge that Trump was about to commit pen to paper. The family they were awaiting had flown into Washington the night before, meaning they had cleared immigration with less than a day to spare. But the volunteers said they would not be able to exhale until the newcomers landed in Chicago. The flight was delayed, they heard.
As soon as the Syrian family of four stepped into the baggage claim area, the synagogue members surrounded them protectively, offering the flowers and signs, as a resettlement worker translated. Because they spoke no English, the newcomers wore tags around their necks, like Paddington Bear, so if they got lost, they could be identified.
In a moment, the two Syrian children’s arms were laden with gift bags of toys. After hugs and snapshots and many professions of welcome and thanks, the group at the airport dispersed.
The refugees headed to their new home with a few escorts, the synagogue members back to their far more stable lives. Just before they parted, Lowenstein gathered his congregants and gave them a charge.
“If this is the last group of refugees to get in, we will show them the best of America,” he said.
“After the U.S. president’s decision to stop granting visas for Iraqi citizens, it is very likely that Iraq will stop granting U.S. citizens entry visas.” RENAS JANO MEMBER, IRAQI FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE “The needs of refugees and migrants worldwide have never been greater and the U.S. resettlement program is one of the most important in the world.” UNITED NATIONS “When he refuses the arrival of refugees, while Europe has done its duty, we have to respond.” FRANÇOIS HOLLANDE FRENCH PRESIDENT “The United States is a country where Christian traditions have an important meaning. Loving your neighbor is a major Christian value, and that includes helping people.” SIGMAR GABRIEL GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER “This whole notion that somehow we can just say no more Muslims, just ban a whole religion, goes against everything we stand for and believe in.” DICK CHENEY FORMER U.S. VICE-PRESIDENT