Some thoughts... about refugees...

Those who know me would not be surprised that I am feeling pretty passionate about the issue of refugees...  I get infuriated by the news stories of rich, white, republican men saying that 'allowing' refugees into OUR country...is wrong...
I wasn't going to put much on here about my thoughts on the matter, but then this video showed up in my facebook feed... and it hits close to home... in a lot of ways...

These... 'refugees' are kids... kids who need a safe place to grow up, to live, to learn, to experience life... and for people (mostly white men) to say we will or will not allow people into this country... I think... YOUR white ass ancestors were not 'allowed' tom come to this country... they forced their way here, forced religious beliefs on people, and bringing violence and bullying... OUR country? A country that refuses people in need, people who are escaping violence and oppression, is not MY country... so because preventing refugees from coming to America is not what every American believes... it is not OUR belief... MY country and YOUR country believe in different things... so the idea of OUR...just doesn't fit.  Stop saying that you are speaking for all Americans...

About a week and a half ago I took one of my students to an appointment.  He is 18 and needed to see a lawyer.  He is a student who struggles to get to school on a regular basis... he is here... in Maine... alone... and is meeting with lawyers to get his green card... this kid, MY student... is one of the kids who made headlines in 2014 who left his Central American country to come to the United States.  He left his parents and siblings... so get here... he has one older brother here, which is why he has been allowed to be here... how did he get here? he walked.  He WALKED... for three months... He said he saw people along the way dead on the ground... people he was walking with fall, pass out, and some die...just to get here...
His English is SO much better than my Spanish... which is actually his second language... and as we drove to the appointment and waited to meet with the lawyer, we talked... about our families... about where we grew up... he misses his country... but talked about how scary it was there... how much violence there is... how he worries about his siblings and his parents who are still there... and here, his priority... is to work, to get paid... to be able to send money to his family to support them... he is not here to do harm... he is less harmful than most politicians including Maine's governor... and some of the presidential candidates... yet HE is the one who should not be 'ALLOWED' to be here? BULLSHIT. 
I walked a couple of half marathons.. have walked some 10ks and 5ks... but I did so with knowing this was a choice, and it would end after, at most, a few hours... this kid walked for 3 months... he is so polite... so grateful for the help we give him... and for those cynical people, the help I am referring to is not financial ... it is support, emotionally... and for welcoming him... His face lights up when he sees me now.. after we had that time that day to get to share a bit of our lives with each other... I showed him photos of my family, of Mt. Katahdin... and when he saw my mountain he said how beautiful it was, that its lushness reminded him of home and said he and I had things in common because we appreciate that kind of beauty... I showed him a picture of a moose and he now wants to see one in person...
When the lawyer asked if he wanted me to be listed as a contact he said no because he said, I have done so much for him already and he didn't want me to have to do more... He calls the town in which he lives, HIS town... he attends OUR school... and he said, he doesn't know why people in Maine are so nice and so helpful and care so much for him...but that he loves it and is so thankful... 
Isn't THAT what will end terrorism? Caring for each other?
Maybe I am being Polyanna-ish about it... but... The kids who are in my school, SEVERAL who are labeled refugees... are part of our community... They enhance the community and culture... in so many ways... students (not labeled refugees) come to me... to make sure that our refugee students are eating, understanding the meal plans at the cafeteria, reporting hate that they hear and wanting to make sure there are efforts to end that thinking... (Fortunately we have few incidents of hate to report...)  having these students, these kids, these 'refugees'  in our school, allows our other students to be compassionate, to learn about acceptance, about different areas of the world...

It makes me so sad to think that these kids and for some of them, their families, would not be allowed to be here...
I take my student back to see the lawyer later this month... and I think he will have to go to court in Boston eventually... I doubt I will make that trip with him, but... if he needs someone to go... it really isn't that far...