63° and Overcast
Image
Any policy that deprives migrants—fleeing persecution, violence, or certain death—of their legal right to seek asylum is not a “compromise” or a “middle ground.” It is a clear violation of both the letter and spirit of U.S. asylum law as enacted by Congress. It also betrays our solemn obligations under the United Nations Refugee Convention and its Protocols—agreements we helped craft and pledged to uphold.
But more than that, it is a failure of conscience.
To turn away the vulnerable is to turn our backs on the very ideals that have defined the American experiment: liberty, justice, compassion, and leadership in defense of human rights. When we deny safe harbor to those running for their lives, we abandon our claim to moral leadership in the world.
We must remember: we are all brothers and sisters on this shared planet—this fragile “Mother Earth.” The dignity of one is tied to the dignity of all. Upholding the right to seek asylum is not charity—it is justice. It is the recognition of inherent human worth, no matter where someone is born.
If we are to save our world—from division, from cruelty, from collapse—then we must begin by restoring and defending the inherent dignity of every person. That starts by protecting the persecuted, honoring our promises, and choosing courage over convenience.
Let us lead not by walls and exclusion, but by principle and humanity.
