Viewpoint: We must protect our migrant neighbors
Jesse Jaeger
Migration is a simple fact of human history. In many ways migration is one of the most important defining characteristics of our species. Our ancestors came down out of the trees, we walked over the next hill, and we spread across the whole earth. Sometimes we migrated by choice and sometimes our migration was forced by external factors.
As a Christian and Episcopalian, I see this human story of migration told repeatedly in the Bible verses I listen to each Sunday. Moses and the Isrealites fleeing Egypt is a central story to the Easter celebrations we just completed. And each year during Christmas we tell the story of Mary and Joseph’s migration to Bethlehem while we recount the birth of Jesus.
My own family migrated from Denmark in the late 1800s. They were fleeing cycles of war and economic depressions that plagued Europe throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s. Like many other Scandanavians here in Montana, my family settled into farming communities in Nebraska and Wisconsin. Why did my great, great grandparents migrate here? They migrated here for the same reasons humans have migrated since the beginning of our species, to make a better life for themselves and their families.
Modern migrants to the United States are now under attack by the Trump Administration. Millions of migrants are at risk of being rounded up, separated from their families, sent to detention camps and thrown back to countries that are often unsafe. This is especially true of the millions of people, from 17 different countries, who have lived in the United States with Temporary Protective Status (TPS).
‘Temporary’ is in the name of the status but the reality is that many of these individuals have lived here for decades, raising families, starting businesses and being important contributors to our communities. Turning TPS holders into "illegal immigrants" and forcing them to leave the country will upend not just their lives. It will also force many U.S. citizen children into a shattering, impossible dilemma. They will have to lose their parents to deportation or leave their homes forever in the only country they have ever known.
I am proud that my church, Holy Spirit Episcopal Church in Missoula, has a long history of standing with our migrant neighbors. On Wednesday, May 21st we will be continuing that tradition by offering a public showing of the documentary Almost American.
Released during the previous Trump administration, Almost American tells the story of TPS holders from Central America and their fight to protect their family from the Trump Administration’s attacks. The film will start at 6:00pm at Holy Spirit Church 130 S 6th St E, Missoula, MT 59801).
The film will be followed by a discussion with leaders from the National TPS Alliance who will give an update on what is currently happening to protect our migrant neighbors with TPS from Trump Administration attacks.