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ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Donald Trump visits a new section of the border wall with Mexico in Calexico, Calif., Friday April 5, 2019. Gloria Chavez with the U.S. Border Patrol, center, and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen listen.
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As an immigrant and survivor of human trafficking, I was disheartened to see your publication report on President Donald Trump’s recent declaration that “our country is full” (“Trump says ‘our country is full,’ migrants straining system,” Star-Advertiser, Top News, April 5). I overheard a man in a restaurant in Paia, Maui, agreeing with the president words. Having survived my own harrowing ordeal to gratefully become an American, I am now an advocate for immigrants and refugees. I can offer some perspective on this isolationist and xenophobic declaration, “our country is full.”
Unfortunately, the statement does not recognize the immense contribution of immigrants to Hawaii and to America. It’s convenient to ignore industries across the country that desperately need immigrant workers.
I’ve often wondered what gives people the courage to flee unthinkable circumstances, like many asylum seekers do, and I have concluded that it is some combination of human spirit and plain will to live.
The world is full, Mr. President. Hopefully not of people like you.
Valdir Solera Junior
Refugee Congress delegate, Hawaii
Wailuku
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