Brotherly Love in 2019

So I am due with the next episode of my #efjourney, the one where after policy discussions in DC, I met several dedicated NGO advocates, social workers, lawyers, community organizers in Philadelphia. I would like to set the context for those who do not know Philly that much. Before embarking on my fellowship, I only knew this city for the declaration of independence happening here, its cheesesteak and the Tom Hanks movie, which I dearly loved.

The city leadership made a decision that through their smart policy work they want to make the immigrant communities and refugees as successful as possible because it is for the benefit of all residents.

This is the simplest possible way to aim for good governance, still, for me, coming from Eastern Europe, having had endless futile policy debates with Hungarian state officials, it is like a daydream to hear it from Miriam.

This was striking: how unified the work and the struggle around the immigration and refugee questions was across the different people and organizations I met.

We hear a lot about sanctuary cities, although apart from the US, it does not tell much.

The interesting fact from a Central Eastern European point of view is that people in decision and policy-making positions seem to really care for good governance. Because they can be re-elected and they can be sent home — this is how accountability meets democratic elections. I have hardly ever seen this in my adult life, but definitely very occasionally since 2007 when I started to work with human rights in Hungary. And this is not rocket science, two components are enough:

This is all fine, but Philadelphia is not a stand-alone place, it is part of a federal system. And what is possible when the federal administration under president Trump put the immigration debate in the focus and fired up tensions, hate and scapegoating. Often without ANY factual basis. I allow myself to call these things what they are: blatant LIES serving propaganda and power games but probably not serving the best interest of the vast majority of the people.

In the name of good governance, however, these cities disagreed and argued that losing the trust of their immigrant (or new American) communities’ trust would have serious consequences on the criminality and the relationship between the local police and the residents. In July 2018 a federal appeals court in Chicago said the administration of President Donald Trump exceeded its authority when it established new conditions for cities to qualify for grants.

“We have proven, time and again, that welcoming immigrants has helped make this the safest big city in the country. Any attempt to jeopardize the trust between our local law enforcement and immigrant New Yorkers will fail,” NYC mayor Bill de Blasio said.

In Philadelphia on June 6th, 2018, Judge Baylson released the Court’s decision, ruling that the Department of Justice did not have authority to attach the three conditions to the grants and that attachment to the grant program of the conditions violates the constitution.

I consider these developments brave and coherent. All cities and states must found their work and the functioning of their communities on the constitution, this is what the rule of law is all about. The fact that such respect for abstract values happen right in front of our eyes and portray a nation’s political struggle and polarization makes this story so compelling for me.

This is the hope I write about and that people I meet keep telling me about. The push backs, the resilience. The confidence that in changing times, standing up for the economic and moral values of diversity will eventually pay off — some call it a sanctuary, some other welcoming. To me now this is the 2019 version of brotherly love: recognizing the human potential and fighting for it.

But this is just part of the story. Moral values and economic prosperity will not answer the anger and anxiety of people who fear and blame brown people. Those that Susan Eisenhower mentioned who need to blame others for their misfortune. How about them? Where do they stand? How does the American identity or— better to put it plural — identities, and institutions change with (im)migration?

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