By Phyllis Chesler

America is a country of immigrants. In 2021, I co-led a grassroots team that rescued almost 400 endangered women from Afghanistan; some went to Europe, some came here. Over the years, I have submitted affidavits for at least ten Muslim women in flight from being honor killed and in search of political asylum. Their legal team interviewed them. I also did and found their testimonies entirely credible.

Call me a racist or an Islamophobe, (and many have), and you’d only be exposing your own considerable ignorance. 

The hot button issue of immigration is not about race or racism. The two issues are unfairly linked. Unproven allegations of “racism,” (when immigration is discussed), can wreck someone’s reputation and lead to their being defamed, ostracized, silenced, fired, and sued. 

For example, last month, in North Carolina, sixteen-year-old Christian McGhee was suspended from high school after he asked his English teacher to define whetherthe word “alien” referred to “space aliens or illegal aliens who need greencards [sic].” Another student joked that he was “going to kick Christian’s ass” for what he said. No action was taken against this student. The suspension forced Christian to miss an important track event.

On May 5th, lawyers filed a suit against the Davidson County School District on Christian’s behalf.

Immigration is about Islamism, about idiotically welcoming cultures that fiercely oppose human rights, women’s rights, democracy, fact-based truth, tolerance of difference, respect for intellectualdiversity; cultures that practice female genital mutilation (FGM), honor killing, Jew and infidel hatred, those who wish to live lives apart in accordance with their interpretation of Shari’a law, and who dream of aCaliphate replacing a Western way of life.

Not all Muslims are Islamists. Many have come to the West to enjoy our freedoms. Those Muslims whom I know and with whom I work, are the bravest of dissidents and free-thinkers. Many support Israel. Some are ex-Muslims, others have converted to another religion or have become atheists. Some are religious Muslims who seek to reform Islam. They could not hold such views and safely remain in Muslim countries. 

Thus, while all Muslims are not terrorists, (how many times must one say this?), all 21st century terrorist attacks in the West and in Israel, have been carried out by Muslims.

To repeat: Immigration is not about race. Not all Muslims are persons of color or share the same skin-color. Many are olive-brown-or black-skinned but some are not. The problem with Islam is not about race but about culture, about tribal and religious customs overruling Western customs and laws of the land. 

Immigration is also about how Islamists who have immigrated legally have chosen to use our laws and our political processes in order to implement Shari’a law and Muslim tribal customs.

Immigration is about economics — how many non-violent immigrant “dreamers,” in flight from persecution or in search of an economic future, can America afford to subsidize in terms of housing, food, education, medical and dental care? And for how long? President Biden’s belief that immigrants will take low-paying jobs that will benefit big business totally overlooks the potential job losses for working poor citizens. 

Immigration is about the wisdom or suicidal foolishness of opening our borders to unvettedfloods of criminal drug lords, human traffickers, Islamic Jihadists — and to those who do not wish to work, learn English, or assimilate into a Judeo-Christian West.

Immigration is about certain cultural differences that may be — indeed, that have proven to be — insurmountable.

President Trump’s 2018 Executive Order suspended for a period of time, immigrants from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, and from any country designated as a state sponsor of terrorism.

We may recall that the very day President Biden was sworn in, (January, 2021), he revoked President Trump’s immigration policies. There would be no wall built on our southern border, and immigrants from certain countries in South and Central America (El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Nepal) and from at least four Muslim countries (Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen) were once again welcome. 

As we know, America’s cities have been flooded by unvetted “illegal aliens,” (whoops! By undocumented wonderful people), primarily men, some of whom have proven to be criminals who beat up police, murder each other as well as strangers, steal, and who sexually assault children and women both in their lodgings and on the streets.

Quo Vadis? Where are we headed? Dare I write about this? Yes, I must. Actually, I have done so many times before. Dare I again suggest arrests, trials, jail sentences, and then deportation for those who’ve committed violent crimes? Yes I must.

This is true for drug and human traffickers from Central and South America and for Jihadists from the Middle East and Central Asia.

How about those who “merely” practice FGM (forced genital mutilation), force their daughters to veil and to submit to arranged marriages, and who honor kill them if they refuse to go along? What about immigrants who indoctrinate their children into hatred of Jews, Christians, and other infidels and who preach Jihad? Since we believe in a separation of religion and state, what can we do if Jihad is preached in mosques? Or when such indoctrination takes place in public and private schools?

Wait a minute. What if those who engage in such practices were born in America?

I have no easy answers for us but these are questions that we must wrestle with and resolve before it is too late.