Ken Sehested
¶ Read Cameron Vickrey’s brief summary of the Supreme Court’s brutal rulings affecting immigrants’ “protected status” and asylum seekers fate.
¶ You probably didn’t know: Undocumented immigrants paid more income taxes than Amazon, GM, 
IBM and Netflix combined. —SNOPES fact checker
¶ And then there’s this: “Cato Study: Immigrants Reduced Deficits by $14.5 Trillion Since 1994”
¶ And also: “A robust body of research shows that welcoming immigrants into American communities not only does not increase crime, but can actually strengthen public safety. In fact, immigrants—including undocumented immigrants—are less likely to commit crimes than the U.S.-born. This is true at the national, state, county, and neighborhood levels, and for both violent and non-violent crime.” —”Debunking the Myth of Immigrants and Crime”
¶ There is no shame. Vice President J.D. Vance confessed that he made up the story about Haitian immigrants eating dogs and cats in Springfield, Ohio (Trump later told the same lie) saying that if he had to lie to get media coverage, “then that’s what I’m going to do.” —NPR
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We live in a fretful land
A litany for worship regarding the plight of immigrants
Gracious One, who jealously guards the lives of those at every edge, we lift our heavy hearts to your Mercy. Corrosive leaders claim that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.”
We live in a fretful land, anxious over the ebbing away of privilege, fearful that strangers are stealing our birthright.
Loud, insistent voices demand a return to “the rule of law.”
Speak to us of the Rule of your law, the terms of your Reign. Incline our hearts to your command.
“Cursed be anyone who deprives the alien, the orphan, and the widow of justice.” All the people shall say, “Amen!” (Deut. 27:19)
All the people shall say, “Amen!”
—continue reading “We live in a fretful land”
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Songs about immigrants and refugees
I pulled together my list of favorite songs about immigrants and refugees, shared it with some friends, got additional titles, for this chart of 23 songs. —kls
• “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor,” Irving Berlin, using lyrics from Emma Lazarus’ poem, performed by The Zamir Chorale
• “City of Immigrants,” Steve Earle
• “El Coyote,” Guy Clark
• “Matamoros Banks,” Bruce Springsteen
• “The House You Live In,” Gordon Lightfoot
• “Moving (Songs for Refugees),” Refugees Welcome
• “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos),” Woody Guthrie
• “I Am a Stranger,” Ken Medema
• “The Refugee,” U2
• “Clandestino,” Manu Ahao [English translation: “I come only with my punishment / There comes only my conviction / Running is my fate / In order to deceive the law / Lost in the heart / Of the great Babylon / They call me the Clandestine* / ’cause I don’t carry any identity papers.”
• “Todos Somos Ilegales (We Are All Illegals),” Residente, Tom Morello & Chad Smith
• “American Oxygen,” Rihanna
• “Without a Face,” Rage Against the Machine
• “Ice El Hielo,” La Santa Cecilia
• “America,” Neil Diamond
• “Immigration Man,” Crosby & Nash
• “Immigrants,” Leslie Lee & Steve Gretz
• “Look In Their Eyes,” David Crosby
• “Refugee Immigrant Song,” Jack Warshaw
• “Lady of the Harbor,” Brother Sun
• “Good Night, New York,” Nanci Griffith
• “Running (Refugee Song),” Gregory Porter, Common, Kenyon Harrold & Andrea Pizziconi
• “The Prayer of the Refugee,” Rise Against
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