We have a mixed history in aid to refugees; we can do better

I am a local public school teacher who just got back from the U.S.-Mexico border as part of a national coalition called Teachers Against Child Detention.

I saw and spoke up about a national emergency on the border — the inhumane and sometimes deadly act of tearing children from their families — families who have come to the United States seeking asylum from the violence in their home countries. As a history teacher, I am reminded that during WWII, more than 100,000 refugees fled Europe seeking asylum in the U.S., but were turned away at our ports of entry. The Roosevelt administration called them “a threat to national security.”

As an American, I am reminded that my relatives came into New York City from Ireland, Sweden, and Italy, and when they made that brave journey full of hope, they weren’t met with threats of walls and violence; instead they were welcomed by the Statue of Liberty: a great woman in the sea holding a torch, inviting them to safe refuge. We can do better.

Joseph Erikson

Everett