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Unfinished business

By Patrick Kelley (Contact)

Originally published 09:30 a.m., February 2, 2008
Updated 09:30 a.m., February 2, 2008

The sudden departure of many of Emporia’s Somali refugees brings a sudden and unsatisfying end to a troubling experience.

The people of Emporia had just begun the steps that could have led to their acceptance of a whole new community in their midst.

The Somalis who came to Emporia were, externally, as different from the average run of Emporians as it was possible to be. They were black, not white or brown. They were Muslims, not Christians. Their native language was one few Emporians had ever heard before, and their English was strangely accented. They seemed to hold themselves apart from the rest of Emporia. The Somali men gathered in large groups outside the Ayan Cafe to socialize. The Somali women avoided contact — even eye contact — with strangers.

For some Emporians, the differences were just too much to deal with. They began to feel as if strangers had moved into their house and made themselves at home, all the while ignoring the people who already lived there. The unease bred fear and rumors.

For months, the two communities held themselves warily aloof from each other, afraid of making any moves that might be misunderstood.

That was beginning to change. In meetings and in news articles, the old Emporians and the new Emporians began to talk about their fears and their hopes. People on either side of the divide were beginning to hear human voices from the other side.

Then Tyson dropped its bombshell, and it all came to a halt.

The sad truth is that the Somalis’ need for economic security and their ties to Tyson have made them into nomads. The winds of economic change blow them from town to town with no time to put down roots. Until that changes, the only real community they can know is that of their fellow nomads.

We wish the Somalis a safe journey with a good home at the end.

And we can hope for ourselves that, the next time, we will be quicker to welcome strangers, no matter how different their ways may be from ours.

There was, at least, time enough to learn that.

Comments

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Posted by open_eyes (anonymous) on February 2, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I also hope, that your last paragraph about a quicker welcome, applies to BOTH sides as well. May all people in the world try to understand each other and get along.

Posted by create (anonymous) on February 2, 2008 at 5:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Yes, and may all people in the world not take advantage of those who are desperate.

Posted by Kansasforlegalimmigration (anonymous) on February 3, 2008 at 6:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)

2-3-08
Kansas Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee

Senator Jim Barnett
1400 Lincoln
EMPORIA, KS. 66801
barnett@senate.state.ks.us
Fax 620-342-6520
Senate Office phone 785-296-7384

Senator Karin Brownlee
14725 S Chalet Drive
OLATHE, KS. 66062
brownlee@senate.state.ks.us
Fax 913-782-1085
Senate Office phone 785-296-7358

Senator Pete Brumgardt, Committee Chairman
522 Fairdale Road
SALINA, KS. 67401
brungardt@senate.state.ks.us
Fax 785-825-0273
Senate Office phone 785-296-7390

Senator Marci Francisco
1101 Ohio
LAWRENCE, KS. 66044
francisco@senate.state.ks.us
Senate Office phone 785-296-7365

Senator Mark Gilstrap, Ranking Minority Member
4218 N 126 Street
KANSAS CITY, KS. 66109
gilstrap@senate.state.ks.us
Fax 913-573-8169
Senate Office phone 785-296-7357

Senator Julia Lynn
18837 W 115TH TERRACE
OLATHE, KS. 66061
lynn@senate.state.ks.us
Senate Office phone 785-296-7382

Senator Ralph Ostmeyer
Box 97
GRINNELL, KS. 67738
ostmeyer@senate.state.ks.us
Senate Office phone 785-296-7399

Senator Roger Reitz, Committee Vice-Chair
1332 Sharingbrook
MANHATTAN, KS. 66503
reitz@senate.state.ks.us
Senate Office phone 785-296-7360

Senator John Vratil
9534 Lee Boulevard
LEAWOOD, KS. 66206
vratil@senate.state.ks.us
Senate Office phone 913-451-5100

Please contact these Committee members to voice your support for THE KANSAS ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ACT. Pass the contact information on to your friends and neighbors. We need to present a loud, consistant voice in support of this bill.

Posted by Kansasforlegalimmigration (anonymous) on February 3, 2008 at 6:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)

2-3-08
Tyson’s reduction in work force is in part the responsibility of those who chose to willingly employ ILLEGAL ALEINS in the past. Those plants in western Kansas were not built because there was a ready work force. They were built because there was going to be a huge ILLEGAL ALEINS work force available at lower wages than were being paid in Emporia, Wichita, Arkansas City just to name a few.

We need to fix this problem.
We are asking that you give your full support SB 458, “The Kansas Illegal Immigration Relief Act” during this 2008 session of the Kansas Senate.
This bill has been introduced by Sen. Peggy Palmer and Co-Sponsored by Senators Barnett, Huelskamp, Journey and Ostmeyer.

This bill address five of the most important issues to curb the tide of illegal aliens currently invading Kansas as well as other states.

1.Allow state and local authorities to enforce federal immigration law.
2. Prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving state services such as welfare.
3. Require employers to verify the citizenship of potential hires using the federal Employment Eligibility Verification system, called E-Verify
4.Impose new penalties for businesses that hire illegals.
5. Toughen penalties for using or making false identification for illegal immigrants.

This bill is needed to begin to curb the onslaught of Illegal Aliens we have witnessed in the United States since the “Great Amnesty of 1986”. There have been many attempts this past year to pass feel good “amnesties” in the US congress. Thankfully none of these have been passed.

We have personally seen entire industries taken over by companies who hire illegal labor. These companies hire Illegal Aliens at rates lower than the cost of hiring legal IMMIGRANTS or US Citizens. By allowing this to happen, we have created an underclass of “modern day slave labor” which works for less money, fewer or no benefits and no recourse. Meanwhile due to the unfair competition many American business people have had to close because they could not compete.

We feel that we need to secure our borders and remove the Magnets (jobs, social services etc.) that draw Illegal Aliens before we attempt to assimilate those who are here illegally now. We can’t afford to keep making the same mistakes over and over.

In 1986 we had 2.7 million Illegal Aliens in our country. Because we took no action to prevent a repeat of this flood by securing the borders and removing the MAGNETS, which draw more illegals, we now have 10 times that number to deal with today. For us to add to the seven (7) amnesties passed in the US congress since 1986 without preventing a repeat is unacceptable.

We need for you to call, write, Fax and email your senators to protect Kansas’s workers from the unfair hiring of ILLEGAL ALEINS.

kansasforlegalimmigration@cox.net

Posted by Kansasforlegalimmigration (anonymous) on February 3, 2008 at 6:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Kansas Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee