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Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) rallies with fellow Democrats before voting on H.R. 1, For the People Act, on the East Steps of the U.S. Capitol March 08, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) rallies with fellow Democrats before voting on H.R. 1, For the People Act, on the East Steps of the U.S. Capitol March 08, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
As I heard the news out of Afghanistan--the families scrambling to get on American planes, or the thousands of requests for assistance pouring into my office--I was taken instantly back to my childhood. I remembered sitting in a refugee camp in Kenya when I was about 10 years old and overhearing my father and grandfather discuss how we were going to get out. "Only in America can you ultimately become an American," my grandfather said. "Everywhere else we will always feel like a guest."
In this critical moment, we must draw upon the best of our history and open our arms to the huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
Afghanistan is not the only test. Central America, Haiti, Syria, Libya, and countries around the world are currently facing large-scale human rights crises and need our help.
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As I heard the news out of Afghanistan--the families scrambling to get on American planes, or the thousands of requests for assistance pouring into my office--I was taken instantly back to my childhood. I remembered sitting in a refugee camp in Kenya when I was about 10 years old and overhearing my father and grandfather discuss how we were going to get out. "Only in America can you ultimately become an American," my grandfather said. "Everywhere else we will always feel like a guest."
In this critical moment, we must draw upon the best of our history and open our arms to the huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
Afghanistan is not the only test. Central America, Haiti, Syria, Libya, and countries around the world are currently facing large-scale human rights crises and need our help.
As I heard the news out of Afghanistan--the families scrambling to get on American planes, or the thousands of requests for assistance pouring into my office--I was taken instantly back to my childhood. I remembered sitting in a refugee camp in Kenya when I was about 10 years old and overhearing my father and grandfather discuss how we were going to get out. "Only in America can you ultimately become an American," my grandfather said. "Everywhere else we will always feel like a guest."
In this critical moment, we must draw upon the best of our history and open our arms to the huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
Afghanistan is not the only test. Central America, Haiti, Syria, Libya, and countries around the world are currently facing large-scale human rights crises and need our help.