On Wednesday the Braver Angels chapter of Ely discussed something all of Minnesota has been confronted with in the past few months: illegal immigration.
The fear from the right is that immigrants with criminal histories in their home countries are not thoroughly vetted before coming into the U.S., and the left is fearful that immigrants who came to this country legally are having their human rights violated with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance, a reading of the preamble to the U.S. Constitution, and a quick run-through of the Braver Angels Way, which includes “We believe that, in disagreement, both sides share and learn.”
Braver Angels co-founder, Bill Dougherty, spoke at the meeting in video essay format, sharing stories from both sides of the political spectrum and his observation of interactions between ICE and residents of the Twin Cities. In January, Renee Nicole Goode was shot by ICE Agent Jonathon Ross, and her death sparked a nation-wide debate on the enforcement of immigration policy.
After restating the expectation of civility, the participants split up into small discussion groups.
The small groups agreed on two truths: the federal and state government must conduct an investigation into the deaths that have occurred at the hands of ICE agents; and national immigration policy must be updated, clarified, and refined for the modern era.
The disagreements fell into the gray areas of those who came to this country illegally, and have now had children and grandchildren legally born in America.
There was also concern about how to vet those still seeking the U.S. as a new home.
For example, Somalia is currently struggling with inter-clan conflict with Al-Shabab (which is a Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization under the CIA) and their current government only recently re-established diplomatic ties with the U.S. government in 2013.
The immigration of Somali refugees into the U.S. brings concerns that Al-Shabab sympathizers are utilizing outdated, understaffed, and underfunded U.S. immigration policies to move to America with intention to cause harm.
This is set against the backdrop of massive humanitarian concerns in Somalia, forcing many innocents caught in the crossfire to flee. These innocents are refugees, who may have been forced to say or do things they didn’t truly believe, in order to survive.
This being said, there exists no framework to properly vet those that may have been identified as sympathizers, and such records are difficult to track when someone integrates into a new country, as there is no guarantee of communication between two county’s governments.
This is just one small example that was discussed in the two hour meeting of the small groups.
The conclusion of the group was a call for justice to all legislators from all parties: why has immigration policy not been updated?
One member who identified as a right-leaning individual, cited a personal example of their son’s girlfriend, who is originally from Kenya, and has been attempting to gain legal citizenship for over two years, and recently was denied again on the grounds of “insufficient data.”
The consensus amongst participants is that policy- makers need voter engagement, and immigration is a hot topic guaranteed to galvanize constituents; that’s why no decisions are made about standardizing methods to legally and safely enter this country.
Despite the high emotional stakes of political discussion, these conversations are necessary to combat the rigid polarization Minnesotan communities are facing. If anything, it provides desperately needed practice in how to communicate with folks who disagree.
Healthy conflict resolution is a dying art. Although it is uncomfortable to disagree, organizations like Braver Angels are taking action to prevent neighbors and family members from making Christmas dinner miserable.
Attendance to such bipartisan meeting also inoculates members against insular and isolating beliefs from forming. For paying members of Braver Angels, there is even an AI chat that allows users to connect with simulated individuals from all different political backgrounds and beliefs.
Braver Angels is always looking for new voices to add to the conversation. Meetings are once a month, for exact time and dates see the Ely Echo or visit the Ely Braver Angels Facebook page or email chair member Johnnie Hyde at [email protected].
