Refugees: Un-American to slam our door shut

It is un-American and hypocritical to shut the door on war refugees.

If your ancestors were English, German, Italian, Jewish, Polish, Russian, Cuban or Vietnamese, they would quickly become fire-forged friends with Syrian refugees, bonding over the experience of fleeing war, poverty and hardship to seek a better life in America.

Because my grandma immigrated to the U.S. at 17, fleeing a poverty-stricken Switzerland, and didn’t receive citizenship until I was 5, I grew up thinking everyone had a mitigating voice or presence somewhere in their family reminding them that we all came from somewhere. I thought everyone was consciously reflective of the fact that we are a nation of immigrants and refugees. I was wrong.

Today I am reminded that not everyone has a close relative who saved up for a year for a ticket in steerage. So let me remind you that we all have a country of origin, and it’s not “America,” unless you are of native ancestry.

How silly and cruel are the calls to halt Syrian refugee resettlement to the U.S. Especially when the real threats to our safety, If history is to be a guide, are anti-immigrant activists; pro-life Christians; and gun-toting, anti-government extremists.

This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 10:24 AM with the headline "Refugees: Un-American to slam our door shut."