Why America needs refugees

Subject: Why America needs refugees
Date: 23 Feb 2017

The purpose of my letter is for people to change the way they see immigrants and refugees for the better. I hope after reading my letter people start to realize that refugees and immigrants are a good thing, sure there are a few that are extreme, but like any other kind of group there will be extremists. One person does not reflect the group as a whole. I had to read the book The Kite Runner. In the book, an Afghani man named Amir gets a call saying how he can be good again. The book follows the life of Amir as a young boy and his friend Hassan. Eventually Amir and his father are forced to flee Afghanistan and the book details their time in America and the challenges they face as Afghani men.

I chose this issue because with Donald trump running (and winning) the presidential election, there has been a streak of pure hatred in our country. There has always been hatred and racism but it hasn’t been this terrible in a long time. There have been incidents where Muslims or Mexicans don’t feel safe here, even natural born Americans are living in fear of stepping outside of their home and being harassed because people seem to think that they are “terrorists”. My step-dad immigrated from Mexico to America when he was 18 so he could make a better life for himself, his mother and some other parts of his family are stuck in Mexico, and I fear that with trumps stance on immigration, my stepdad may not be able to see his family again. The majority of people who don’t think we should accept Muslims are conservative republicans. Most right-wing people do not believe that we need to accept immigrants or even refugees. The middle east has been in trouble for quite some time, however its only getting worse and will only continue to get worse if we don’t accept refugees.

More than 53% of the worlds refugees are from Syria, Afghanistan, and Somalia. A turning point in The Kite Runner is when the soviets invade Afghanistan and Baba and Amir are forced to seek refuge in America, much similar to how the Taliban today has invaded Afghanistan and is forcing people out of their homes.

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