Migrants are human beings, not stereotypes. I know because I’ve met them (Your Letters)

Migrants wait to be processed by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol after they crossed the Rio Grande and entered the U.S. from Mexico on Oct. 19, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas. Starting in March, Texas will give police even broader power to arrest migrants while also allowing local judges to order them out of the U.S. under a new law signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

Migrants wait to be processed by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol after they crossed the Rio Grande and entered the U.S. from Mexico on Oct. 19, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas. Starting in March, Texas will give police even broader power to arrest migrants while also allowing local judges to order them out of the U.S. under a new law signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.Eric Gay | The Associated Press

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To the Editor:

Recent polls indicate that a substantial number of Americans agree with the sentiments of the former president, who says immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of this country.

If you agree with him, I have two questions for you:

1. How many immigrants have you actually met?

2. How many recent migrants or asylum seekers have you taken the time to get to know as human beings?

These are important questions, because they force you to reckon with your conscience and your heart, to question the very beliefs that guide your day-to-day existence.

But are your beliefs based on vast experience, or just vague, unexamined feelings rooted in fear, disinformation or a lack of exposure to people who don’t look like you?

Here’s a trigger word — fentanyl.

Did you know that the conservative Cato Institute and other organizations have published findings that most of the fentanyl coming into the U.S. is brought in by American citizens at official ports of entry? Not by migrants.

My two questions also force you acknowledge whether you see migrants, asylum seekers and refugees as human beings, or as mere abstractions and stereotypes.

How many migrants have I met, you ask?

Hundreds, actually, in my nine trips to the US-Mexico border since 2019, and in my volunteer work with farm workers and other laborers who live among us in Central New York. I have had the privilege of befriending many immigrants and asylum seekers who have fled unspeakable horrors in their home countries.

What are “they” like?

They are human beings just like us. They just didn’t win the birthplace lottery like you and I did. I’m not implying you should feel guilty about that. Just fortunate.

If you agree with the dangerous “poisoning” rhetoric, and if this letter has raised your blood pressure, I challenge you to do one of two things:

Either go to the U.S.-Mexico border and see for yourself the courage, resilience and gratitude of these human beings, or simply allow me to share my experiences with you.

I have given presentations in libraries, churches and art galleries. I don’t care if it’s just you and some neighbors in your living room, I will come and do my best to show you the humanity of the migrants I have met from all over the world … people who are now here in America, seeking humanity from us.

You can reach me at jamesmckeever3@aol.com.

Jim McKeever

Fayetteville

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