Nobody’s business but their own?

Yesterday, a Federal Judge in Seattle, Washington ruled that the Executive Order restricting immigration from seven countries was unconstitutional ... it has been temporarily lifted.

Excerpt from Jamaica Observer column for MON 30 January 2017

by Jean Lowrie-Chin

The first seven days of the Trump presidency has been marked by the biggest one-day global protest in history, an executive order to install a disputed oil pipeline, plans to withhold Federal funding for ‘sanctuary cities’, and the detention of two Iraqi men at JFK airport after the US Government introduced a system of ‘extreme vetting’.

The Washington Post reports, “One of the Iraqi men detained at JFK is Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshawi, 33, who holds a visa that allowed him to join his wife and young child in Texas … The other detainee is Hameed Khalid Darweesh, 53, who had worked as a contractor for the U.S. government in Iraq for about a decade, including as an interpreter for the Army. He and his wife and three children had spent more than two years securing a special immigrant visa, granted to Iraqis who assisted U.S. military forces.”

The Jamaican folk song ‘Nobody’s business but my own’ may persuade us to stay silent, but then there is also another song that reminds us, “No man is an island/ No man stands alone/Each man’s joy is joy to me/Each man’s grief is my own.”

Mayor of Boston, Marty Walsh showed his humanity as he spoke out against the threat to cut funds to US ‘sanctuary cities’.  Such cities are defined as those “that follow certain procedures that shelters illegal immigrants. These procedures can be by law (de jure) or they can be by action (de facto).”

NBC News quoted Mayor Walsh, the son of Irish immigrants: "I want to say directly to anyone who feels threatened today, or vulnerable: You are safe in Boston. We will do everything lawful in our power to protect you. If necessary, we will use City Hall itself to shelter and protect anyone who's targeted unjustly."

While President Trump reaffirms his support of Christians, may he also remember the response of Christ, when He was asked, “Who is my neighbour?”  Jesus’ parable of the Samaritan who stops to rescue someone foreign to him, makes it clear that we have a responsibility to our fellow humans, regardless of race or religion. May Mr. Trump’s spiritual advisors guide him to this realization.