Ask why they’re fleeing

I REFER to the Human Writes column by Mangai Balasegaram on June 24 (“People don’t choose poverty”.)

Everyone who is against US President Donald Trump for wanting to stop the influx of immigrants into the United States needs to consider these two pertinent questions:

What have the political leaders of Mexico and the Caribbean and Latin American nations done to build their economies? These countries have been chaotic for so many years.

If our citizens are so poor that they flood into other countries, wouldn’t we feel ashamed and start bucking up?

While Mangai mentioned that “we have not been entirely welcoming to Rohingya refugees”, she didn’t touch on how this country reacted in the 1980s when it was the Vietnamese coming here, escaping persecution after the then newly-ended Vietnam War.

People escaped in dilapidated boats and many drowned at sea. Those who landed at small islands off the coast of Kelantan and Terengganu were forbidden entry into Malaysia and were stranded for years until the United States took them in.

I remember an article in a local daily on June 16, 1979, with the heading “Malaysia Threatens to Shoot Landing Vietnamese Refugees”. That said, I am not saying we didn’t do anything to help, as we did place more than 70,000 refugees in a resettlement camp. What I am saying is, for illegal immigrants to stay permanently is a no-no for many countries.

The United States has already take in many immigrants from many “failed nations” and what the Trump is doing is capping the number. America can’t take in immigrants indefinitely.

Politically Incorrect Bahau, Negri Sembilan