Good afternoon,
As Fourth of July approaches next week, I’m reminded of the hardships many immigrants, including myself, have experienced just to be free. The United States in our eyes is truly "the land of the free and the home of the brave." And there is no place on earth like it.
When I first learned about Independence Day and what it means as a new immigrant from Syria in 2006, I cried. I cried for the duration of the beautiful fireworks displayed by the Washington Monument as I sat on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. That day my mother planned for us to go celebrate America’s birthday on the National Mall for the first time. She wanted me to feel at home again in a land that was extremely foreign to me. Since that night, Fourth of July celebrations have become a tradition in my small family in America. Rain or shine, we dress up in red, white, and blue and carry our small American flags as we join hundreds of Americans on this joyful occasion to celebrate in Washington, D.C.
Celebrating July 4th in my beloved city, Washington, D.C., in 2014.
My family and I fled our homeland nearly 17 years ago due to direct death threats from the Assad regime. We can’t go back. I grew up in a family fighting dictatorship and oppression my whole life. My activist grandfather was killed under torture before I was even born. All we wanted was freedom, justice, and dignity. And four of us found that here. The U.S. is my home, and I’m proud to be a citizen. I became an adult here, I went to university here, I work here, I fell in love here, I made friends here, and I put down my roots in this precious land hoping the wind would be less harsh this time.
My family’s journey was long and difficult, but we were fortunate that we had a clear process with a pathway to citizenship. My family and I did not suffer in 130-degree heat in the back of a truck with its doors shut for hours with no water or fresh air. We were not smuggled through pitch black roads into this country and left to die on the side of a road. This year alone nearly 300 migrants have died crossing the US-Mexico border. Almost 100 migrants, over half of them dead, were found in a semitrailer in the sweltering heat in San Antonio this week. Deaths and crimes like this tragedy will continue until there are legislative solutions and concrete actions taken by the U.S. government to help migrants and save lives. I urge you to open your eyes and hearts and continue to advocate for just and humane policies for immigrants and migrants, the backbone of our nation.
As Thomas Jefferson said in his last Fourth of July speech in 1826, "...all eyes are opened, or opening to the rights of man… These are grounds of hope for others. For ourselves, let the annual retune of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them."
Stay healthy and hopeful,
Oula
