{"id":4433,"date":"2026-06-17T07:34:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T07:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4433"},"modified":"2026-06-17T07:34:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T07:34:17","slug":"commentary-welcome-the-stranger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4433","title":{"rendered":"Commentary: Welcome the stranger"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This week (June 15-21), World Refugee Week, established by the United Nations, recognizes the right to seek safety and celebrates refugees\u2019 strength and resilience. It marks the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, the international refugee protection agreement the United States voluntarily signed, accepting its obligations since its inception. This month is also the anniversary (June 1939) of when we denied entry to the M.S. St Louis, a ship carrying refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. This \u201cship of the damned\u201d was forced to return to Germany, where 264 were murdered by the Nazis.<\/p>\n

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Many who live in our community today fled political repression, gang threats and worse. They entered, legally, seeking asylum, a protected right under the 1951 Refugee Convention. Applicants must show \u201cprobable cause\u201d for their asylum request and meet many extensive requirements. The U.S. stopped processing refugee and asylum applications last November, but a recent court ruling required the government to resume application processing.<\/p>\n

Refugees came to the United States seeking survival, followed everything the government asked of them, completed every form, paid every fee and committed no crime. Now many, including children and elderly grandparents, are locked in crowded unsafe detention centers, without due process or transparency. Several detainees have reportedly been on a hunger strike to protest the inhumane conditions in these deplorable warehouse camps, with overcrowding, physical and psychological abuse, rancid food, scant medical care and many deaths. Senators and governors concerned about the conditions in the for-profit detention centers have been barred from visiting. Amnesty International has called for their closure. The vast majority (74%) of detainees have not been convicted of a crime, according to published records. Most have been denied due process.<\/p>\n

Immigrants are important to our local economy, where immigrants are 26% of our labor force, four in 10 local entrepreneurs and 40% of our health aides. Immigrants have paid $6.1 billion in federal, state and local taxes. Contrary to fearmongering, immigrants are far less likely to commit crimes than U.S. citizens. Immigrants are not the problem; they are part of the solution to help build our nation.<\/p>\n

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If we continue to allow immigration forces \u2014 Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), Immigration Control Enforcement (ICE) and local police acting on behalf of ICE \u2014 to act with impunity, to kidnap our neighbors, none of us is safe. When some of us are detained without due process, we all lose due process.<\/p>\n

Local clergy have united to help us find our moral compass and support our immigrant neighbors. A wide coalition of over 70 organizations strives to protect immigrants and support a just immigration policy. The Orange County Commission withdrew from the ICE agreement that was costing too much in taxpayer dollars to terrorize the community. How we treat the most vulnerable among us, how we welcome the stranger, reflects who we are.<\/p>\n

Immigrants are being demonized to distract us from the unraveling of our democracy as our leaders are making life difficult for everyone here and abroad. Let\u2019s stand up for human rights, our Constitution, and our neighbors. Without justice, what are we?<\/p>\n

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Nancy Rudner lives in Casselberry. She is the granddaughter of immigrants.<\/em><\/p>\n

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This week (June 15-21), World Refugee Week, established by the United Nations, recognizes the right to seek safety and celebrates refugees\u2019 strength and resilience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nCommentary: Welcome the stranger - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4433\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Commentary: Welcome the stranger - Orlando Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This week (June 15-21), World Refugee Week, established by the United Nations, recognizes the right to seek safety and celebrates refugees\u2019 strength and resilience.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4433\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Orlando Relocation Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-17T07:34:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4433#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4433\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/47d95744296542489ff5c4bd403450f8\"},\"headline\":\"Commentary: Welcome the stranger\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-17T07:34:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4433\"},\"wordCount\":561,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4433#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/2bf1e5d6be671679bd7afb05834aebe5.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Commentary\",\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4433#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4433\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/orlandorelocationreport.com\\\/?p=4433\",\"name\":\"Commentary: Welcome the stranger - 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