Sherry Jacobson has a piece in today’s paper wherein she talks to Gabe Anieu Maguil and Augustino Gend, two of the Lost Boys of Sudan who took refuge in Dallas a decade or so ago, after being forced to flee from their home country because of a violent civil war. Maybe it won’t make up your mind regarding the current border situation, but Maguil and Gend lend an interesting — and, I feel, necessary — perspective.
Maguil suggested taking a longer view of the current border crisis. These are children so eager to come to America, he said, that they will travel hundreds of arduous miles, across countries and borders.
They are no different, he said, than he was years ago.
“If they’re here, they can better themselves,” Maguil said. “And someday, they will pay taxes. They will be Americans.”
Earlier in the piece, Maguil talked about how “the United States embraced” him and his fellow Lost Boys, and he is right about that. Dallas, especially, was very welcoming to the Lost Boys, and it has long done great work regarding refugees from other countries, too. I’m not saying Maguil and Gend are the only voices to listen to. Just saying don’t ignore them.
