This was my worst week since the COVID crisis started, mostly because of the immigration EO. Here are some thoughts I’ve had:

When my mom was in highschool in the USSR, her best friend told her that Jews were greedy and scheming, “but not you, you’re different.” 1/6

When I lived in Israel, some of my friends sometimes made comments about Russian women being home-wreckers and whores “but not you, you’re different.” 2/

For 3 years now and most recently this week, I’ve been hearing about immigrants who are criminals, taking American jobs and ruining American culture, and some of the best intentioned people tell me “but not you, you’re different.” 3/

The thing is, this “but not you, you’re different” caveat, even when well-intentioned, ends with complacency to racism and xenophobia. It all ends with “Then they came for me— and there was no one left to speak for me.” 4/

This latest EO doesn’t directly affect me, aside from even longer processing times that keep me in a limbo, minimize my professional opportunities, suffocate my personal life, and fuel uncertainty and anxiety.
5/

But it’s another reminder that this administration and its supporters see immigrants as the enemy of “real Americans,” rather than “future Americans.” That’s heartbreaking and self-defeating. And both this country and the people who want to call it home deserve better. /6