By Rumbila Abdullahi
Have you ever been told that you don’t belong? Have you ever had the experience of being told that people like you aren’t welcome here? I know what that feels like. I am a member of the Somali Bantu community and a refugee here in Springfield. Now, let me tell you how I ended up here:
At one time, my parents had a peaceful life in Somalia. It was 1991 when my parent’s whole life turned upside down. The civil war broke out in Somalia and the minority Somali Bantu became a target. Everything was taken away from my parents. The farm that they had worked so hard for was stolen from them. They were robbed and violently attacked. Knowing things were getting worse my parents made the difficult choice to leave Somalia and find safety in a refugee camp in Kenya. After years of being in the camp in Kenya, and when I was 7 years old, half of my family was granted the opportunity to come to America. We were resettled in Springfield and have now been here for 14 years. We consider Springfield our home.
An executive order issued in September gave states and cities more say as to their willingness to continue refugee resettlement. For many decades, these decisions have been made at the federal level. Because he was given a choice, and after more than thirty years of welcoming refugees to Springfield, our city’s mayor now claims that refugees are a burden to the city and has decided that people like me are no longer welcome. As a proud graduate of Springfield Central High School and now a junior at Smith College, I ask myself why the leader of my city sees me and people like me as weighing Springfield down. As I pursue my chemistry degree and move forward on the pre-med track, I plan to become either a pediatrician or family medicine doctor. In the future, I plan to open my own clinic in Springfield. I am just one of the many refugees that aspire to do great things and take advantage of the opportunity that we have been given here in the United States.
This past summer, I had the opportunity to travel back to Kenya to see my brothers, sisters, uncle, aunt, and grandmother in the refugee camp for the first time in 14 years. It broke my heart to see the harsh conditions in which they were living. Even more painful is knowing that there’s now even less possibility for them to get the same opportunity that I had to come to America. Because of our president’s executive order, my family back in Kenya may never be able to escape the grim reality they live in and my family may never be reunited.
On Wednesday, a federal judge in Maryland blocked the president’s executive order which means that at least for now, Mayor Sarno will not be able to prevent refugees from being resettled in Springfield. This is good news, but it doesn’t change the fact that our mayor made it clear that he wants to end refugee resettlement in Springfield. His intent hasn’t changed because of a court ruling. We now know where he stands and that he sees people like me as a burden to this community.
I may not have been born here, but Springfield is my city, too. Whether your family came to Springfield in the last few years or even two hundred years ago, perhaps you can relate to my story just a little bit. Our families and our ancestors all came here seeking an opportunity to build a better life. That’s what America is all about. We all have something to offer, no matter where we come from. Please don’t let anyone ever tell you or your family anything different. Mayor Sarno, you and your family are more than welcome to come visit my clinic here in Springfield once it’s open.
Rumbila Abdullahi is a Springfield resident and a junior at Smith College.
Source: MassLive
