First Muslim Congresswoman Shares Immigrant Story

Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is using her own immigration story to contradict misinformation about asylum seekers at the U.S./Mexico border.

Transcript

00:00I cry every time I see a little girl standing in the desert waiting to get processed into this country

00:09because I remember what that felt like.

00:24In the dead of night, we decided we weren't just going to wait in our home.

00:30And wait for militia to find us. Wait for us to starve.

00:36Wait for my sisters, my aunties and the women in our family to get raped.

00:44But we were going to risk the walk to cross the border into Kenya.

00:49We were going to risk the starvation to find a new life.

00:54We were going to risk it all.

00:56And so I understand the pain, the fear, the struggles.

01:16But the difference between what is happening to some of these little girls and me

01:21is that I didn't have a cage waiting for me.

01:26I had an open arm.

01:29People with moral clarity awaiting us and saying,

01:35you've been through a lot.

01:37Here is your new home.

01:39You're our new neighbor.

01:41You need water.

01:45And in this country, in the United States,

01:49people are not welcomed that way.

01:53They are separated and processed.

02:00They are detained and tortured.

02:15And we can't continue to allow that to happen.

02:19At least not under our watch.