Teenage refugees hoping to not be lumped in with terrorists
Feb 23, 2017, 7:46 AM | Updated: 8:17 am
President Trump has famously said he has a big heart, especially when it comes to immigrants brought here by their parents. Well, that heart is going to be tested.
“I thought America was like, you had many opportunities, there was always money and everyone’s happy and you’d actually meet humans and no one would actually really want to kill you.”
Related: Numbers crossing the Canadian border quickly rising
That’s Zeytun Tobe. CBS’s Mark Strassmann went to Clarkston, Ga. to meet teenage refugees from the war in Somalia – and he talked with 17-year-old Zeytun and her 18-year-old old brother Abba, who were welcomed as refugees seven years ago. But now, they wonder what they’ve gotten into.
Strassmann asked whether they thought the president and his team understand what it is to be a refugee.
“No,” Abba Tobe responded.
“They definitely don’t, you know?” added his sister. ” They don’t really think about who they’re affecting. You leave everything in your old country just to get here. And then it’s like a slap in the face.”
Their message is one that you hear a lot – not all Muslims are bad. Of course, President Trump has never said that they all are. No one says they all are. But you don’t have to look far on the internet to find the reason why these teenagers might be worried.
A clip posted on a website called Proud Conservative comes with the comment, the next time someone says “not all Muslims are bad, show them this.”
“Most Germans were peaceful, yet the Nazis drove the agenda and as a result, 60 million people died.”
That message was part of a panel discussion that has more than four million views.
Back to Strassmann, who asked the teen refugees what they would say if they had a chance to talk to President Trump about all this.
“I would say: You need to be more understanding of others, try to put yourself in other people’s shoes,” Abba Tobe said.
“Islam is not the enemy,” Zeytun Tobe added. “All these Muslim countries are not the enemy. Alienating all these other countries will not help you in the long run.”
Basically, these teenagers don’t want to be lumped in with terrorists. They appreciated what America stood for when they came here. They’re just hoping it still does.
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