Michael Kagan

Recent Activity

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  Michael signed the petition | about 3 years ago

  Support the Integration Agenda
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  Michael commented on the article | about 3 years ago

  Liberian Deportees Jailed Upon Arrival

  A couple points to add here:
  
  First, the US did close its doors to immigrants in the 1920s, and the world turned its back on refugees from the Nazis in the 1930s.  The shame in the west from the episode played a major role in develoing modern asylum systems.
  
  Second, granting refuge to the oppressed is actually politically more easier than direct intervention in every human rights disaster around the world. Refugees have already done the hard part of escaping persecution and violence on their own; our choice is whether to send them back.
  
  Third, openness has always been something that made America stronger than other countries. It should be something to be proud of, a strength to build on. And it's not just about helping the oppressed. One thing that became pretty clear in the campaign this year is that many Americans have been reminded that our moral standing as a leader of the free world is a national strategic asset.
  
  This is why I am actually advocating an revitalized US refugee program as a major foreign policy initiative for the new administration.
  
  See here if you are interested:
  
  http://www.change.org/ideas/view/usa_refugee_corps_-_export_hope_and_revitalize_our_national_moral_standing
  

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  Michael commented on the article | about 3 years ago

  Ideas for Changing America: Where are your priorities?

  Absolutely right. Thanks for the coercive cajoling. I voted. 
  
  If I can toot a related horn, people who are concerned about genocide and persecution should also consider supporting a far more robust US refugee program. Think about voting for a revitalized US refugee program here: www.change.org/ideas/view/usa_refugee_corps_-_export_hope_and_revitalize_our_national_moral_standing. Offering refuge to people who survive and escape is one of the simplist and most direct things other countries can do in the face of persecution. But it is of course not enough.
  
  The comparison to legalizing marijuana is relevant. It shows the challenge of mobilizing support for any global human rights or humanitarian cause. Somehow, we have to overcome the idea that this is a foreign issue. That's why with refugees, and I think with genocide, too, I think we should say: This is about us. This is
  about our strengths, and it is part of our national identity to open our doors and to do something. It is our strategic self-interest, if we want to be leaders of the free world.
  
  I have been a refugee rights lawyer for ten years, and many of my clients in Egypt were among the first survivors of the Janjaweed. One of them, Mohamed Adam Yahya, was single-handedly responsible for getting our much of the early information about the massacres. Sadly, like many genocide survivors before, these early Darfur survivors were not believed when they asked the UN for protection when they reached Egypt.
  
  Vote to end genocide. And vote to protect those who escape.
  
  www.change.org/ideas/view/usa_refugee_corps_-_export_hope_and_revitalize_our_national_moral_standing. Offering refuge to