I don’t know Bertha Avila of Marysville, CA. I just came across her letter to the editor because the List Project blog takes her to task for asking why we are bringing Iraqis to the US. Good question Bertha, we have asked the same thing now that Iraq is beginning to get back on its feet. And, Bertha, you have a right to ask that question without having your character impugned by a bunch of New York City lawyers.
She must be ignorant and hate-filled they say.
Here is Bertha’s letter:
The Department of Homeland Security has recently allowed refugees from Iraq to settle in our country through a program called U.S. Refugee Admission Program, and as of June 4, 6,480 Iraqis have been admitted into the USA and an additional 27,940 Iraqis referred to DHS for interviews, with approvals growing each day.
Iraq was considered a global terrorist threat. We go to war to prevent terrorism and then we turn around and welcome their displaced citizens into this country giving them special visas and loans to travel and all the benefits such as welfare, food and medical services while our own government is facing a recession?
I am puzzled and can’t understand the fairness of this country. One day U.S. sons and daughters fighting in this bloody war will come home to be neighbors with the sons and daughters of the of the enemy enjoying the benefits they will only hope for.
Go to www.USCIS.gov and read all about this program.
Here is what the List Project blog says about a woman who is probably just your average citizen asking a good question. You go girl!
It is really sad to see an American think of an Iraqi refugee as an enemy. This is either ignorance or simple hatred or maybe both.
…there is this American woman named Bertha Avila from Marysville who is shocked to see Iraqis, whose lives were destroyed because of her [what, not your country List Project lawyers] country, being resettled and compensated for what they lost in Iraq.
What Bertha doesn’t seem to understand or maybe doesn’t seem to want to understand is that once upon a time those Iraqis had a relatively normal life compared to their destroyed life after her [what, not your country too, List Project lawyers] country invaded theirs.
So who is sounding hate-filled now? What the lawyers at the List Project aren’t telling you is that 365 would-be Iraqi refugees have been found to have terrorist ties and have been turned down for resettlement in the US, see our previous story here. They want you to believe everyone of the millions they claim were displaced by us (not by insurgents, not by Al-Queda, not by Saddam) are just poor struggling good folks. Some are and some aren’t.