The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
Rep. Deqa Dhalac is serving her second term in the Maine Legislature representing House District 120, which includes part of South Portland.
This week, the federal government announced that it will be ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalis in the United States. Somalia has been a TPS-designated country since 1991 due to civil war, and that status has been renewed over the years as that conflict has continued and grown.
This decision will impact thousands of Somali immigrants who currently have TPS or have pending applications. Many have been living, working and raising their families in this country for years, some for decades.
The announcement is the latest attack in a sustained effort from the federal government to destabilize and dehumanize the entire Somali-American community. I want to speak plainly about how deeply painful and exhausting these continued attacks on us have been.
We are tired of being targeted, tired of being questioned, tired of having our loyalty and humanity put on trial simply because of who we are and where we come from. These attacks have nothing to do with legitimate policy reasons — they are calculated, politically-motivated decisions rooted in racism, fear and long-standing stereotypes that refuse to see us as full Americans.
What makes these attacks even more painful is that Somali Americans are not strangers to hardship. Many of us are survivors of civil war, of government dictatorship, of displacement and loss. We know what it looks like when power is abused and whole communities are scapegoated. We’ve seen it before firsthand. We came to this country seeking safety, dignity and the promise of democracy, and we have contributed, served and strengthened this nation every step of the way.
Right now, the federal government’s attacks are focused on Somali immigrants, but they won’t stop there. An attack on us, on TPS holders from other countries or on any immigrant community is an attack on all Americans, on the fabric of our country. If we allow this type of politics to become normalized, the hateful rhetoric that we’re experiencing today can and will be turned against others.
Despite these attacks, we are still here. We are resilient. We have suffered and survived things meant to break us, and we will not be silenced now. Our community is rooted in faith, perseverance and hope. We refuse to be defined by lies or fear. We demand respect, accountability and the same protections afforded to every other American.
We belong here, and we are not going anywhere.