Fanta Dorley and Ann Marie Dooley: A chance to separate immigration truth from fiction (2024)

Everyone seems to agree that there is an immigration crisis at the U.S. southern border. Right now, people are fleeing violence, persecution and extreme poverty in many countries within our hemisphere simultaneously. For example, more than a quarter of Venezuela’s entire population has fled, most to Colombia. Haiti has no functioning government and has been overrun by gangs and devastated by natural disasters. While organizations like the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) have established infrastructure to better handle large movements of migrants, that infrastructure exists on the other side of the world — not in this hemisphere.

Unfortunately, there is great disagreement over how to address the crisis. When there is a breakdown in order and human welfare, the impacts are not only felt at the border but globally, nationally and here locally. How people perceive this situation may well decide who wins the presidential election in November and determine future immigration policies. We owe it to ourselves to try to understand how this crisis a and how we might address it.

On May 21, the International Advisory Committee (IAC) will host a public program about the U.S.-Mexico border. The first part of the program is called “Where’s the Line to Enter?” It will be a factual explanation of the U.S. immigration system, with information provided by an experienced immigration attorney. The second part of the program is called “What’s Happening at the U.S.-Mexico Border” and will include personal stories from people with direct experience at the border, as well as an overview of the humanitarian public policy issues. The IAC was created by the Human Rights Commission of the city of Greensboro and is led by representatives of a wide range of local immigrant and refugee groups.

A number of the agencies that provide services to immigrant and refugee populations are co-sponsoring this important event, including the Center for New North Carolinians (at UNC Greensboro), the New Arrivals Institute, Faith Action International, Church World Service, African Services Coalition, McKinney Immigration Law and the Carolina Migrant Network. The event is also sponsored by the Immigration Policy Reform Roundtable of the League of Women Voters.

This program will explore how the crisis impacts the people in our community. We now have an intake center in Greensboro where immigrant children, many who have been separated from their families, are beginning to arrive. Welcoming cities across the country are also dealing with large numbers of migrants being forcibly transported from states like Texas. We believe that the majority of Greensboro residents are happy to welcome these children, who are in difficult, often heartbreaking situations through no fault of their own.

Confusion about how this system operates can evolve into fear. For example, a “Show me your papers” bill has been re-introduced in the N.C. legislature (HB 10) that would force local law enforcement to hold people at state taxpayer expense who have been arrested for anything, including minor traffic violations, but don’t have immigration documentation on hand. To this point, both Sheriff Danny Rogers of Guilford County and Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough of Forsyth County have declined to provide this invasive level of cooperation.

Sadly, many people receive their information from social media or from political candidates who feel that they can benefit politically by spreading misinformation and disinformation about who these people are, why they come to the U.S. and the obstacles they face. We hope that this public program can clear up misperceptions about the U.S.-Mexico border and lead to more factual and fruitful dialogue about immigration and immigrants.