We put up so many walls to immigrants in the US because we are so afraid that all this goodness that "God" has blessed us with might accidentally be diminished if we share it more freely. Mourn the day people...mourn the day.
On the other hand, Israel seems to be getting immigration right...at least when it comes to welcoming their own... Of course, if the US is a Christian nation...(I really don't believe that big one...) then shouldn't we be welcoming all persons with open arms?
So here's how Israel handles immigration...read it and weep... (maybe the Jews really are God's chosen people, and Christians have some how missed the boat when it comes to acting like Jesus):
From the Jerusalem Post :
To smooth the transition for a recent group of South African immigrants to Israel, the Jewish Agency has devised a new way of helping olim (immigrants). Instead of bringing olim to Israel, Israel was brought to the olim via an "aliya expo" in South Africa. "This is a new concept of aliya (immigration)," said Ofer Dahan, the Jewish Agency's outgoing representative for South Africa. "This way, anyone interested in aliya would be able to take out a mortgage, buy an apartment, make investment, do anything he wants to before he comes to Israel."More than 100 South Africans made aliya on one recent day, and to ease the process, El Al airlines officials came to a local community center to check in the baggage early, which allowed olim to board their flight directly, resulting in reduced stress.Post-aliya care has been stepped up, too. In a move to reduce bureaucracy, representatives of banks, national insurance, schools and the government met with the olim the next day in their hotel, thus saving these new immigrants many hours of going back and forth processing paperwork. It is hoped that this procedure will serve as a model for future group flights.
2 comments:
If I'm not mistaken, aliyah refers to Jews returning to Israel under the Law of Return. (Wikipedia entry).
Not saying it's not an interesting and very loving approach to helping immigrants, but I don't think you'd find Israel doing the same thing in another country where there isn't a decent-sized Jewish population that is considering aliyah.
Back in the US
I'm heartened that the government is changing asylum rules to permit asylum for women who are abused. This could be huge for undocumented immigrants who are being battered and living in fear.
It's a small step, but it's something.
The asylum rules are good and HICA...the hispanic interest coalition of alabama has helped women in the Birmingham area obtain legal status after they were victims of violent crime.
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