[Julie Steiner]

The outpouring of support for Ukrainian refugees is commendable, and I don't want to detract from that in any way...but it would be nice if equally desperate refugees from other countries were able to inspire the same level of compassion, wouldn't it?

https://newversenews.blogspot.com/20...ue-colors.html

[John Isbell]

Hi Julie,

I like both rhyme and sentiment. The US immigration system, which I've navigated, has its own ins and outs, which can certainly seem arbitrary and carry the weight of years.

Cheers,
John

[David Callin]

You're exactly right, Julie. And it's very well put. An uncomfortable truth, which applies in the UK too.

Cheers

David

[Roger Slater]

That's true, Julie. But I don't think Ukrainian refugees are being absorbed out of purely humanitarian concerns, as opposed to geopolitical reasons. As you know, if Russia can take Ukraine it would pose a threat to the increasinginly diverse citizens of the NATO alliance, as well as put vast reserves of natural resources into Putin's control. So freedom, democracy, the environment, and the world economy are very much involved and implicated in ways that do not apply to Haiti (although there are still over a million Haitians living in the US). Also, the hope is that the Ukrainian refugees will be able to return to their homes once the Russians are defeated, a prospect that now seems plausible, so their asylum will ultimately be temporary in many cases.

Add to that the fact that the US promised to protect Ukraine and its citizens when we persuaded them to relinquish their nuclear weapons, and I think the disparate treatment can be explained by factors other than skin color (though the paler hues of the Ukrainian people probably do factor in as well).

I completely agree, however, that the US ought to be far more welcoming of refugees from around the world, even when its security interests are less directly implicated. And I agree that your poem is well done and thought provoking.

[Joe Crocker]

I thought you put it very elegantly Julie. Subtly done. Yes, when the Russians were helping bomb Aleppo we sat there horrified, but we (mostly) just sat there. All a bit too far away from home, too foreign to galvanize meaningful outrage.

[Susan McLean]

An uncomfortable truth, Julie, and one that needs to be pointed out regularly. So much of the "us vs. them" of immigration policy and popular sentiment depends on unstated assumptions that the "us" includes just the people who look like us (i.e., the people in charge of making the decisions). In a country that has recently lost over a million people to Covid, you might think that people would be open to adding more immigrants. But it doesn't work like that.

Susan

[Jack Land]

deleted, November 2