Aliyya Swaby Photo
Trevino: Affirming our “deepest values.”
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy got a shout-out Monday from Fair Haven-based Junta for Progressive Action, in support of his controversial decision to welcome a Syrian refugee family to the state after the governor of Indiana denied it entry.
The family settled here last week with the help of New Haven-based Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS). Click here to read about that and about Malloy’s New Haven City Hall press conference on the subject; and here to read about some of the controversy the decision sparked.
Sandra Trevino, executive director of Junta, released the following statement Monday about the decision:
“Last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris have shaken our collective sense of security. But it is precisely in these times that we must hold onto our collective humanity.
“We deplore the violent acts that ISIS has brought to the people in Paris, Beirut, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Syria, and many other parts of the world. We also deplore the opportunistic efforts by Republican presidential candidates and others to turn the tragedy in Paris into a war of cultures. Targeting Muslims will not make us safer. Shutting our borders to families fleeing violence in Syria or elsewhere will not make us safer. These actions betray our deepest values and play into ISIS’s false claims to martyrdom in a war between Islam and the rest of the world.
“America is a land founded upon freedom of faith, and our society is far richer for the many cultures, languages, nationalities and religions that call our country home. The 6.7 million Muslim men, women, and children in the United States are an integral part of our society. And the families fleeing Syria must receive the refuge that they deserve, the law requires, and that our nation’s values ensure.
“We stand firmly by the decision of Governor Malloy to welcome refugee families turned away by the xenophobic actions of the governor in Indiana and elsewhere. And we applaud the actions by our neighbors, Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services in New Haven, to find a home for the families who have made such sacrifices over so many years to flee violence. And to those families, we say, ‘Welcome home!’”