Editorial
February 2, 2017, Letter to the Editor
By Mike Debraggio
February 2, 2017
Tags letter to the editor
More than a quarter century ago, while working at another college, I was sent to meet a Somali and his family at the airport and bring them to their new home in the United States. It was a moving experience – one of the most profound of my life.
Suleiman had been unjustly imprisoned in his native country, held for years without being charged, tortured severely and ultimately sentenced to death. With support from Amnesty International, alumni from the college he attended as an international student, the State Department, the National Academy of Sciences and others, his sentence was commuted. Several years later, international pressure allowed him and his family to leave Somalia on the last plane out of Mogadishu before the government of dictator Siad Barre fell.
Somalia has not had a fully functioning government since, but years ago Suleiman returned to help rebuild his country. Most of his family remained in the U.S., including his daughter who works with abused women.
I had the chance to see Suleiman again in 2009 when several Hamilton faculty members graciously supported my request that he speak on campus. It was the last time I saw him, and despite the emails we exchange regularly, I fear that I will never see him again in light of President Trump’s executive order. More disturbing, there’s a chance his family members, living peacefully here in the U.S., will never see him again either.
My impressions of Somalis are formed by the direct interactions I’ve had with Suleiman, his family and his friends -- a perspective that is profoundly different from that portrayed in the media or, sadly, from some of our elected officials. The Somalis I know are warm, kind and generous. Tragically, more Americans will be deprived of forming their own opinions of this gracious people.
Sincerely,
Mike Debraggio