After the Last Border
Page 39
No matter the number: “A Budget for a Better America,” Fiscal Year 2020, Budget of the U.S. Government, website for the White House of President Trump: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/budget-fy2020.pdf.
The government branch tasked: Priscilla Alvarez, “America’s System for Resettling Refugees Is Collapsing,” The Atlantic, September 9, 2018: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/09/refugee-admissions-trump/569641/.
CHAPTER 30
A woman on the plane: Jessica Goudeau, “In Trump’s America, Regular People Are the New Freedom Fighters,” Muftah, January 31, 2017: https://muftah.org/american-people-new-freedom-fighters/#.XOLqXi_MzUJ.
EPILOGUE
She and Saw Ku passed: She still cries when she hears that song—I played it for her to make sure I had the right one because she just knew it was something about the United States and freedom (which describes a number of songs) and when we finally got to that one, she teared up immediately.
AFTERWORD
I became friends: That figure came from Russell Smith, director of Refugee Services of Texas, in an interview with the author, October 3, 2018.
In 2015, with the rapid rise: Nancy Flores, “Austin Nonprofits Brace for Further Drop in Refugee Admissions,” Austin American-Statesman, September 18, 2018: https://www.statesman.com/NEWS/20180918/Austin-nonprofits-brace-for-further-drop-in-refugee-admissions.
Greece is swamped by refugees: “Greece,” UNHCR website: https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/greece.html.
Despite the fact that Greece: Steven Zeitchik, “With Jobless Rate Above 50%, Disillusioned Greek Youths Becoming a ‘Lost Generation,’” The Los Angeles Times, June 2, 2015: https://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-greece-youth-economic-woes-20150602-story.html.
They have developed: Nathan J. Mlot, Craig A. Tovey, and David L. Hu, “Fire Ants Self-assemble into Waterproof Rafts to Survive Floods,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108, no. 19 (May 2011): 7669–73.
Further Reading
Abdelrazaq, Leila. Baddawi. Charlottesville: Just World Books, 2015.
Ahmedi, Farah, and Tamim Ansary. The Other Side of the Sky. New York: Gallery Books, 2005.
Barghouti, Mourid. I Saw Ramallah. Translated by Ahdaf Soueif. New York: Anchor Books, 2003.
Beah, Ismael. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Child Soldier. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008.
Bhutto, Fatima. The Shadow of the Crescent Moon. London: Penguin Books, 2014.
Brauen, Yangzom. Across Many Mountains: A Tibetan Family’s Epic Journey from Oppression to Freedom. Translated by Katy Derbyshire. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2011.
Bui, Thi. The Best We Could Do. New York: Abrams Press, 2018.
di Giovanni, Janine. The Morning They Came for Us: Dispatches from Syria. New York: Liveright, 2017.
Dorfman, Ariel. Homeland Security Ate My Speech: Messages from the End of the World. New York: OR Books, 2017.
Fadiman, Anne. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997. Reprinted with a new afterword by Fadiman, 2012.
Fleming, Melissa. A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugee’s Incredible Story of Love, Loss, and Survival. New York: Flatiron Books, 2017.
Gourevitch, Philip. We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998.
Hemon, Aleksandar. The Book of My Lives. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013.
Jones, Ann. War Is Not Over When It’s Over: Women and the Unforeseen Consequences of Conflict. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2010.
Kingsley, Patrick. The New Odyssey: The Story of the Twenty-First-Century Refugee Crisis. New York: Liveright, 2017.
Kurdi, Tima. The Boy on the Beach: My Family’s Escape from Syria and Our Hope for a New Home. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2019.
Malek, Alia. The Home That Was Our Country: A Memoir of Syria. New York: Nation Books, 2017.
Mengestu, Dinaw. The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears. New York: Riverhead, 2008.
Moorehead, Caroline. Human Cargo: A Journey Among Refugees. New York: Henry Holt, 2005.
Murad, Nadia, and Jenna Krajeski, with a foreword by Amal Clooney. The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State. New York: Tim Duggan Books, 2017.
Nayeri, Dina. The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You. New York: Catapult, 2019.
Nguyen, Viet Thanh. The Refugees. New York: Grove Press, 2017.
——— , ed. The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives. New York: Abrams Press, 2018.
Pearlman, Wendy. We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria. New York: Custom House, 2017.
Sirees, Nihad. The Silence and the Roar. New York: Other Press, 2013.
Yang, Kao Kalia. The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir. Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 2008.
——— . The Song Poet: A Memoir of My Father. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2016.
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Index
The page numbers in this index refer to the printed version of this book. The link provided will take you to the beginning of that print page. You may need to scroll forward from that location to find the corresponding reference on your e-reader.
Al-Abbas mosque, 50, 88
Abbott, Greg, 258
Abu Adnan, 287–88
Abu Ahmad, 89–90
Abu Khalid, 286–88, 292
ACLU, 276
Afghanistan, 225, 257
Afghanistan War, 230–32, 253
African Americans, 98, 225
Alawites, 25, 35, 52
Aleppo, 24, 154, 159, 209, 239, 256, 272, 293, 305
Algeria/Algerians, 51–52, 163, 225
Amal (Hasna’s daughter), 156, 181–82, 238, 266
brother-in-law detained, 158–59
childhood of, 27–29
in Daraa, 32, 36, 49, 87, 111, 152–53
denied resettlement in US, 287–89
education of, 27–29, 177
interviews for resettlement, 200, 289
in Jordan, 129–30, 136–37, 150, 154, 160, 212–13
marriage of, 29–31, 293–94
moves to Irbed, 177–78
religious life of, 27–28
resettles in Canada, 289–90
seeks resettlement in US, 263–64, 284
America First campaign, 273–75
America First Committee, The, 99, 273, 275
American Indians, 225
American Life, This (radio program), 280–81
Amjad (Hasna’s son), 26–28
Amnesty International, 187, 189
anti-immigrant sentiments, 95–96, 98, 189, 213, 232, 257–58, 272–75, 301
anti-Semitism, 99, 187
anticommunism, 185–87, 191, 226, 229
antiterrorism, 229, 253
Arab nations, 24–26
Arab Spring, 51–56, 254
Arabic-speakers, 53, 102, 169, 179–80, 238–39, 262–63, 266–67, 291
Armenia, 96
Asia, 97–98
al-Assad, Asma, 52–53
al-Assad, Bashar, 154, 156, 177
attacks own citizens, 159, 200, 252–56, 294
curates his image, 52–53
inner circle/loyalists of, 35, 54
opposition to, 53, 71, 76, 253–54, 256
regains control, 278, 303
tortured schoolboys and, 54–56
uses chemical weapons, 178, 253–57
al-Assad, Bassel, 52
al-Assad, Hafez, 25–28, 35, 52–54, 71, 154
asylum seekers, 252<
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Haitians as, 186
Jewish refugees as, 16
“non-refoulement” and, 20, 191, 231, 279
refugee camps for, 232
Syrians as, 256–58, 272
US and, 97, 185, 231, 281–82
Atlantic, The, 272
Austin-Bergstrom Airport, 7–9, 44
Austin, Texas, 304
English classes in, 79, 82–83, 168, 173–74, 213, 300
fair-trade jewelry co. in, 218–23, 300
jobs for refugees, 171–72, 265
Karens resettle in, 62, 64, 80, 82, 113–14, 142, 296–97, 299
Myanmar community in, 167–69, 173
refugee agencies of, 282, 299–300
refugees no longer accepted in, 282
refugees welcomed in, 167–69, 301
Syrian refugees resettle in, 213–14, 235–42, 260–67
Syrians not welcome in, 289, 294
women’s cooperative in, 167–68, 173, 218, 300
See also Karen Baptist church (Austin, TX); Mu Naw; Refugee Services of Texas (RST); al-Salam, Hasna
Australia, 10, 180
Austria, 98, 164–65
Bangkok, 7–8, 67–68
al-Banin schoolboys, 53–56, 129, 256, 304
Baptists, 61–62, 169, 195, 234, 269–70, 296–97
Belgium, 16. See also Brussels
Bin-Laden, Osama, 230
biometric data, 249–50
bipartisan politics, 192–93, 225, 301
Blitzer, Jonathan, 279
Bob (Austin church volunteer), 82–84, 119, 122, 142, 168–72, 302
Boehner, John, 255
Bosnia/Bosnians, 225, 227–28
Bouazizi, Mohamed, 51
Brackenridge Hospital (Austin, TX), 143–46
British Parliament, 255
Brown Lloyd James, 53
Brown, Oscar Jr., 274
Brown, Peter, 53
Brussels, 257, 272
Buck, Joan Juliet, 53
Budapest, 164
Buddhists, 2, 10, 61–62, 66
Bureau of Populations, Refugees, and Migration (PRM), 283
Burmese, 62, 116, 296
junta, 2, 303
language, 57, 60, 83, 173
refugee artisans, 300
resettle in US, 114, 168–71, 234
target ethnic minorities, 2, 66, 142
Burundi, 79, 114, 169, 225, 234
Bush, George H. W., 224, 226–27, 229, 249, 281
Bush, George W., 259
compassionate conservatism of, 233–34
immigration policies of, 224, 231, 249, 281–82
Karen Christian refugees and, 253
and Sept. 11, 2001, 228–30, 234, 275
suspends refugee admissions, 229–30, 275
Bush, Laura, 234
Cambodians, 10, 187–89, 225, 234
Cameron, David, 255
Campaign Against Torture, 189
Canada, 10, 201, 278, 289–90
Cantor, Eric, 255
Carter, Jimmy, 189–91, 232
cartoons, political, 95–96, 273
caseworkers, 38, 57–60, 80–84, 168–72, 190, 193, 241, 251–52, 262, 280–82, 291, 302
Castro, Fidel, 185
Catholic Church, 234, 251, 282
Central America, 231, 281
Central Presbyterian Church (Austin, TX), 79, 85, 174
Chace, Zoe, 280–81
Chad, 276
chain migration, 275–76
chemical weapons, 178, 253–57
Chemical Weapons Convention, 255–56
child abuse, 170–71
Chile/Chileans, 187
Chin people/state, 2, 61–62
China/Chinese, 62, 95–97, 163, 185, 191
Chinese Cultural Revolution, 163, 185
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, 95–96, 273
Christians, 2, 10, 51
Karen people as, 43, 61–62, 85, 234, 253, 297
of Myanmar, 61–62, 66, 234, 253
in Syria, 35, 253, 285
welcomed in US, 234, 253, 275, 278
church groups
aid Karens in US, 12–13, 81–82, 114, 139
aid refugees, 167, 234, 251
and Bush’s conservatism, 233–34
offer English classes, 79, 140
See also specific churches
citizenship, 20, 52, 96, 290, 295–96
Civil Rights Act, 184
Civil Rights movement, 166, 184, 189
Clinton, Bill, 224, 227, 229, 249, 281
Clinton, Hillary, 267
Cold War, 25, 163–64, 226, 229
communism, 163–65, 185–87, 191
compassionate conservativism, 233–34
concentration camps, 16, 18–19, 99
Congo, 225, 234, 278
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, 19
crimes against humanity, 19–20, 227
Cruz, Ted, 258
Cuba/Cubans, 16, 184–88, 191, 231, 259
Cuban Adjustment Act, 186
Dabaab refugee camp, 233
Damascus, 24, 47, 52, 56, 72–73, 76
attacks on, 159, 178, 254, 256
college in, 35–36
men carried off to, 88, 101, 105, 110
men imprisoned in, 126, 128
Daraa, Syria, 178, 294
ancestral relations/feuds in, 54
barrel bombs used in, 202–3, 256
Free Syria Army founded in, 203
full-scale attack on, 128–33, 135, 137
“Great Friday Protests” in, 128–29
looters in, 155, 175–76, 178
men rounded up in, 77–78, 87–89, 108, 129
mukhabarat officers of, 50, 54
protests in, 49–56, 71–72, 102, 154
recaptured by government, 303
residents flee from, 124–25, 205
schoolboys tortured in, 53–56, 129, 256, 304
sheikhs of, 27–28, 48, 50, 54
siege of, 89–93, 101–12, 124–25, 175–76
war escalates in, 112, 149–50, 152, 154, 159
wedding customs in, 31–33
women in, 106–9, 130
See also Omari mosque (Daraa, Syria); al-Salam, Hasna
Declaration of Human Rights, 190, 227
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, 278–79
Deh Deh, 80, 83, 85–86, 173, 243–44
Democratic Party, 94–95, 165–66, 226
displaced persons, 303
lack of assistance for, 163–64, 187
of Southeast Asia, 187–88
US and, 21, 91, 165, 187, 190, 226, 283
WWII and, 14–20, 100, 163, 228
See also internally displaced persons (IDPs); refugees
Displaced Persons (DP) Act, 14–15, 19–20, 94
Displaced, The (Nguyen), 303
Druze, 253, 285
Duvalier, Jean-Claude, 186
economic
migrants, 186, 187–89, 231, 257
recession, 29, 189, 252–53
Egypt, 36, 51–52, 149, 156, 274
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 164–66, 279–80
England, 16, 52, 98, 178, 184, 255
Eritrea, 231
ESL classes, 83, 218, 285, 300. See also Austin, Texas: English classes in
ethnic cleansing, 188, 227
eugenics, 97–98, 163
Europe, 163
anti-immigrant sentiments in, 257–58
conflict in, 97–98
displaced people in, 14
–21, 100, 163
Hungarian refugees in, 165
immigrants from, 97–98, 184–85, 189
postwar, 19, 232
refugee meme and, 272
refugees resettle in, 180, 256–58, 305–6
European Union, 257
“Executive Order Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” 275–78
Facebook, 136, 178, 200, 204, 254, 267, 307
fair-trade jewelry, 218–23, 300
family reunification, 200
and Immigration Act of 1924, 186
and Immigration Act of 1965, 185–87
Trump opposed to, 275–76, 283
valued by US, 180, 206, 240, 264
family separation policies, 279
Farook, Syed Rizwan, 274
FBI, 250, 279
Federal Refugee Resettlement Program (FRRP), 191–93, 224–26, 230, 258, 278–79
Florida, 16, 98, 186, 280
foreign aid, 15–17, 19, 163–65, 186, 225, 232, 249
foreign policy, 17, 253
on displaced persons, 163–64, 225–26
Jewish refugees and, 187
of President Carter, 189–92
on refugee resettlement, 192, 224, 279, 283
and Syrian crisis, 255, 253
visas and, 185–86
France, 16, 154, 178, 257, 272, 274
Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) reviews, 250
Free Syria Army, 135–37, 154, 177, 203, 209–10, 272
Friday prayers, 36, 47–50, 55–56, 103
G20 Summit, 255
Gaddafi, Muammar, 51
Garden City, Kansas, 280–82
gender, 20, 191
genocide, 19–20, 96, 100, 188, 225, 227
Genocide Convention, 225, 227
George, Caren, 300
Germany, 14–20, 98–100, 184, 225
Ghouta, Syria, 178
Golan Heights, 26
Goodchild, Peter Lee, 272
Grant, Madison, 97
Great Depression, 98, 189, 253
Greece, 98, 272, 290, 305–6
green cards, 264, 290
Guatemala, 221–22
Gulf War, 226
Haiti/Haitians, 95, 186, 279
Hama, Syria, 26–27, 52, 71, 154, 256
Hamad (Laila’s daughter), 214
and Daraa, 175, 181–83
escapes to Turkey, 208–12, 284
and father’s detention, 158–60
in Jordan, 149–50, 201
Hamad (Laila’s son), 34, 49, 87, 89, 91–93, 108–11, 124
Harrison, Earl G., 18–19