I grew up in anti-immigration, small-town Arizona, and I believed the rhetoric. Then I moved to Minnesota and heard Carmen’s* story.
Now I believe immigration to the U.S. is a humanitarian crisis rather than a national security emergency. How we treat people who are trying to enter our country and whether we let those who are here stay, whatever their legal status, are issues of compassion.
The numbers are staggering. One in every 115 people is a refugee or displaced person. More than half are children. Immigrants are 13.5% of the U.S. population, and they come from nearly every country in the world.