On a Bus, On a Stage

It blows my mind when people refuse to show empathy towards people who have immigrated. In the United States, immigrants are being bussed from the border of Southern states up north, to states and cities like New York. Put in busses like cattle: men, women and children, often split up and without basic necessities such as medication, enough food or warm clothing. They are then bussed 30-40 hours to different states, where they are received. Simply received. As an unwanted commodity. 32,000 immigrants have been moved from Texas to New York in the last few months, put on a bus and then placed on a national and international stage.

The discussion and treatment of migrants in Western countries is largely despicable. In the United States, the previous administration and many before it, particularly in a post-9/11 world, demonized the idea of immigration and migrants. This negative judgement is placed especially on undocumented migrants. In this administration, there is little difference in terms of the policies that are still being carried out.

Children are being kept in cages along the border. Families are split up, punished for trying to save themselves. The argument against migrants is deeply flawed. The concept of NIMBY – Not In My Back Yard, has traditionally been about crime and other government programs that may have changed the demographic of neighborhoods. But now, NIMBY is yelled out in reference to migrants too.

From my extremely limited experience with the immigration system and process in the United States, I am often surprised by how ignorant most people are about what it takes to move here. Most Americans believe that they have open and vulnerable borders which promotes easy access to coming to America and suckling on the teat of American welfare. This could not be further from the truth.

It is nearly impossible to move here. The hoops that you have to jump through, the visas and green card applications take years and thousands of dollars. Regular people do not just simply move here. They fight and struggle and wait judgement that is often arbitrary. That is how you have children who are torn from parents, parents who have to make impossible decisions about who leaves and who stays behind. Not because people are looking for an easy way out. But because it is so damn difficult to move here.

And if you know how difficult it is to move here, image how difficult it must be living life in the countries and places where other people have come from.

My first interaction with a general feeling towards the immigrant population was not in the US, but in England beginning in 2015. In 2015, as I was beginning to develop a political consciousness, the Syrian Civil War and the rise of ISIS were two factors that created a catalyst for mass immigration across Europe. One consequence of this period of time was the Brexit vote and crisis that ensued. Essentially, the Brexit platform was built on the xenophobic and overall disdain and fear of migrants.

Crucially, I remember learning about the migrant and refugee crisis, and wondering how people could be so angry when millions of Syrians were being killed, forced to flee their homes, their lives, and fight for survival in a hostile continent who had no interest in truly helping them. The trauma of war, witnessing death and torture, and then having to leave your ancestral history behind to live in foreign countries that are hostile to your language, your culture and your religion is huge. Yet, people did not seem to care. Or at least they didn’t until they believed it was going to affect them personally.

It was around this time that my consciousness was woken up by the many injustices faced by immigrants all over the world. The toxic rhetoric of ‘building a wall’ or putting migrants in caravans to travel, or the migrants at the border at Calais in France is frightening.

I often wonder why people don’t consider what the cause behind migration is. Imagine needing to escape your country so badly, that you are willing to give up everything to move to a hostile country, just for the option of a better life. And yet, on the global stage, when we talk about the issue of immigration we criminalize the victims rather than look at the regimes. Perhaps if the countries that people lived in had access to the same resources, equitable chances at a good life, then people wouldn’t have to put themselves in danger.

The lack of empathy and consideration for the reasons behind immigration speaks to a larger issue. The Western world wants to have their cake and eat it too. We want to have all the resources, technology, safety and freedoms. But in doing so, cannot seem to understand why other people would desire that too.

This is not to say that I believe that the West is best. But historically, the hoarding of resources is used as a way of manipulating countries and populations of people who do not have access to those same resources. This is what I mean by having our cake and eating it too. We hoard the resources and then penalize people who are born into countries that do not have the same access to resources that we do. And then what happens? This cycle is perpetuated, used to oppress the same people who when trying to escape and live better lives.

So what do we do? Responsible for the inequities in the world, yet also responsible for villainizing the people who are forced or chose to move. The immigrant population is put on busses and then placed on the world stage for everyone to pass judgement, yet no-one to actively attempts to help. It is bothersome to me that society demonizes people but makes no movement towards developing a sense of empathy. And it should be bothersome to everyone.

We start by being better. It is true that millions of dollars are being spent to facilitate the drastic increase in immigrant population in New York. It is also true that we do not necessarily have the resources to provide long-term care for thousands of people. But that does not negate the bigger issue – that the rhetoric surrounding immigration is overwhelmingly negative.

More crucially, we should assess why there is so much inherent inequity in the world’s resources and in fair and democratic governments. And why it is that we are so ok with it so long as it is not affecting us. Through educating ourselves and challenging our preconceptions about the immigrant population, there should be a shift in our beliefs. Consider this a call to action. A call to compassion. A call to reevaluation.

— Liora