Letter to Gov. Hutchinson on Syrian refugees

Published: November 17, 2015

By Joslyn Hebda

Joslyn Hebda

Dear Gov. Hutchinson,

Your statement on Syrian refugees has left me deeply unsettled. I am a Little Rocker who deeply loves her state and her fellow Arkansans. We are a people characterized by generosity, morality, hospitality, and responsibility. Despite what some stereotypes try to peg us as, I was raised knowing that Arkansans are good people who always try to do right by their neighbors. That's how I came to live in the Middle East, processing Syrian refugees and serving as a representative of Arkansas. (http://www.arkansas-catholic.org/news/article/3594/Young-Catholic-studies-in-Jordan-with-hands-heart)

Governor, you cannot turn away Syrian refugees in good conscience. In your statement released earlier today you admitted that these people have endured horrors few of us could ever imagine. So why are we rejecting these people who need our help and have nowhere else to go? Surrounding Middle Eastern states are bloated past capacity. European countries are filling up as well. The United States, in particular Arkansas, is one of the few places in the world left with the resources and facilities to house our poorest brothers and sisters. We are blessed to live in a state with a low cost of living and richly diverse population. This is your chance to showcase the generosity of hospitality of Arkansans. The United States is accepting 10,000 Syrian refugees over the coming years (and even that is a paltry number compared to the overall crisis of 9 million Syrian refugees) and we cannot simply opt out of our responsibility. These people will be subjected to multiple high-level security checks, biometrics, medical screenings and cultural orientations. They are everyday people who had the misfortune to be born in a land of conflict.

I would appreciate you redacting your depthless statement. If for whatever reason you honestly believe in your heart that the vetted Syrian men, women and children fleeing a war-zone are unworthy of basic dignity, then please reply explaining how and why their race, creed, or simple misfortune make these people less than human. Yet if you truly do believe that we must "live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, leave the rest to God," as you tweeted on Nov. 13, then you must not shun our most innocent.

Sincerely yours,

Joslyn Hebda