The Ban and its Consequences
I just flew from Detroit to Fort Lauderdale, Florida and next to me on the plane sat an elderly Muslim couple in western clothes, but the lady wore a veil.
We started talking (the lady and I) and here is her story. She and her husband are from Syria, in the US for 45 years, he is a medical doctor, she did not tell me if she is pursuing a profession. They are US citizens and have US passports, but her sister has only a green card. Two weeks ago, her sister went to Damascus for family reasons for a month and while she is out of the country Trump decrees his travel ban.
Now they are unsure whether the sister can return to the US as scheduled despite having a green card… she has two sons in college here waiting for her to return.
The lady started crying while she talked and I held hands with her. We were whispering while we talked, as if we were speaking of something forbidden. I told her I’m German and just a guest here for two and a half weeks. When I planned this trip America was still America. We talked about having not learned from history. 80 years ago Jews were at first discriminated, then hunted and killed in Germany and now…?
The lady said that she cannot believe that this is the 21st century. When she came to the US as a young woman, half a child still, it was the land of her dreams, now she is afraid.
A friend of hers was harassed even before the Trump era, they pulled him out and asked him if he believes in God and hell. The lady spoke to a lawyer after that happened and he advised her not to answer such questions in case somebody asked her.
Nobody ever asked me when I crossed whatever border whether I am Catholic or Protestant or whatever else… incredible.
Seeing it on TV is bad enough, but being face to face with it gives it an even more intense dimension.
What the fxxk, America, where the hell are you going? Today, 1st of February 2017, you are not the world’s greatest democracy anymore, far from it…
I could do nothing but hold hands with the Syrian-American lady, I wish I could have done more…
