The worst part is that people ran away from their own countries because they were being threatened. They come to the United States to feel free, to feel democracy, to feel like they can achieve anything. Now their vision of the United States has changed. But still, I love this country. So far, my wife and I haven’t faced any problems. We hope that won’t change. I’ve actually been amazed by how nice people are. You walk down the street and people just start talking with you about how their husband or wife did this or that. I love that. It’s just like back home in Daraa.
Rings true for me too that you find good people everywhere;you just have to stop listening to the news and go out and talk to the people around you.
Still, it's too bad that the United States makes a poor first impression (immediately before this, the writer described being told to go home because he's Muslim). Throughout these stories, it's striking how much worse than Sweden and Germany and other major democracies we fare in the eyes of immigrants arriving on our shores -- especially the disconnect between the reality of being in America versus what America symbolizes for the world.
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