It is a big deal right now for a newly arrived refugee family in American to come forth and be photographed. They took this risk because they wished to thank you for the wonderful – and desperately needed – support and donations – coming in through the Amazon Gift Page set up by the U.S. Committee on Refugees and Immigration. They came to pick up a soccer ball, cooking untensils and a coffee-maker.
You helped fill up the USCRI warehouse and your donations are going out as quickly as they come in. The newly arriving refugees – some coming in as we speak – need everything, and are adjusting to their first North American winter in upstate New York no less.
The challenges facing these families are staggering. Many have endured horrible suffering.
Some have been in crowded refugee camps for years, separated from one another and their families, subjected to rigorous and repeated vetting, driven from their homes by terrorists or soldiers. Some have lost loved ones. They have lost everything and need everything.
The legal immigration experts believe the contest ban on immigration is certain to be upheld ultimately, in one form or another. This is something Presidents have always had the authority to control, say the lawyers. No one knows for how long they will be permitted to come.
Many of these families will never again see their homes, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, mothers or fathers.
Everyone has the right to their own choices. Mine is to support what I believe to be a core American value – welcoming the weary and the oppressed to our land.
My primary goal is to capture – in words and images – the fact that these people are no threat to you, your family, or our country. They are good people, just like you, me, my grandmother, aunts and uncles. We need to see their faces, to not know they only in the way politicians describe them. They are the victims of terrorism, not the perpetrators.
They intend no harm, are here legally and come with few resources. They are eager to work and contribute, many already are.
Every person gets a stipend, quickly used up for food and clothing, and they all have to pay back their airfare. There is nothing left over.
They need the tools of life – and are poignantly grateful for – pots, pans, blankets, comforters, toothpaste, toilet paper, deodorants, English and U.S. Citizenship study guides, and soccer balls and socks for their children. The soccer balls are especially valuable to the refugee children, they remind them of their lost homes and life.
Until the courts resolve the legal conflicts, some refugee families from Syria and elsewhere will be coming, all of them legally and after thorough screening. Our previous donations are being used, these families need support, and also they need to know that many Americans welcome them, support them, and wish them well. It is a frightening and difficult time for them, wrenching to those who are working to help them.
These refugee families – even the children – know fear, loss, tragedy and frustration. We can help them learn the meaning of generosity and welcome as well. Your gifts remind them of the America they have dreamed about. It costs pennies and takes seconds. Here is way to make an instant difference.
In the coming weeks, I hope to introduce more of these people to you. In the meantime, I want to help them get soap and blankets and shopping carts and clothes for their children. This is an inexpensive and easy way to help. If you purchase a gift on Amazon, and check the USCRI box mailing address, you can change lives, almost instantly and speak up for the values many of us share and believe in so strongly.
I thank this family for having the courage to be photographed and thank all of you for what you have done for them.
Thanks so much for helping. More to come.