Source: Hartford Courant
At a gathering that included refugees from Syria and their advocates, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Tuesday that he does not expect federal policies regarding resettlement to change, but promised to fight any attempt by the federal government to restrict refugees based on religion.
“I’m hopeful that the rhetoric of a campaign will give way to a sensible approach to honoring our long-term international commitments,” Malloy said to a group of about 50 people gathered at the Jewish Community Center of Greater New Haven.
Malloy called the event “a celebration of people coming forward to support one another” on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday. He noted that when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving during the “misery” of the Civil War in 1863, it was “a brave and thoughtful action on his part.”
Malloy said it is important for the United States to look beyond its borders and help when it can, highlighting that while the United States reached its target of resettling 10,000 Syrian refugees by October, other countries have resettled more.
“Thursday will be Thanksgiving and we will all have many, many reasons to be thankful. One of those is that our state and much of our nation steps forward and does do the right thing even when political rhetoric … would otherwise split us apart,” Malloy said.
The election of Donald Trump has raised concerns among minority groups, particularly Muslims, that the new administration will block the entry of refugees and asylum seekers into the United States. There are also concerns that Trump will deport millions of undocumented immigrants.
“We need to stand up for individuals, we need to protect them. We need to do our part as a nation and so to be here … amongst people who have banded together to make life better for those who come to our nation in difficulties is really quite an honor,” Malloy said.
Malloy said it would be a “tragic mistake” if Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state, was appointed to Trump’s cabinet. Kobach, who has taken hard-line stances on the undocumented, supports creating a database to track visitors and immigrants from Muslim countries. Kobach, considered a hard-liner on immigration, met with Trump on Sunday.
Categories: America, refugees, Religion, The Muslim Times, USA