Say George Washington were alive today and trying to immigrate to our country. Should we let him in with open arms? Or deny him a green card because he participated in the American Revolution?
Have I gone nuts? No. It’s our immigration policy that’s stark raving mad!
Sure, Saman Kareem isn’t George Washington. He’s an Iraqi refuge who assisted the American military as a translator. After receiving numerous death threats (as well as glowing praise for his assistance), he was allowed to come to the U.S.
But recently he was denied permanent residence status here because of his involvement many years ago in groups seeking to overthrow Saddam Hussein. Kareem is a Kurd and apparently didn’t like Saddam’s poison gas attacks that massacred his entire family. Go figure.
But wait — I thought our USA didn’t much care for Saddam, either.
Well, one tribe in our government allows folks like Kareem entry into the country, but another tribe designates groups fighting their own governments as terrorist. No matter how evil and oppressive their governments may be.
Well, after the story about Kareem broke, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced they were putting these cases on hold to review their policies.
I hope they’ll decide George Washington was no terrorist. And likewise for the thousands of others fighting tyranny.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.