What we're missing in the debate about immigration | Duarte Geraldino

Translator: Aske Povl Hansen Reviewer: Anders Finn Jørgensen

So, Ma was trying to explain something to me

Så, min mor forsøgte at forklare mig noget

about Grandma and when they grew up,

om min bedstemor og da de voksede op

but I couldn't pay attention to her

men jeg kunne ikke koncentrere mig

because I was five years old, and I was petrified.

fordi jeg var fem år gammel og jeg var rædselsslagen.

I had just seen The Green Lady.

Jeg havde lige set den grønne dame.

Now, about a week earlier, I'd watched that movie "Godzilla,"

En uges tid forinden, havde jeg set filmen "Godzilla",

the one about that huge lizard-like beast storming a major city,

som handler om en kæmpe reptil-lignende bæst der angriber en storby,

and the thought of a green monster coming for me was stuck in my mind.

og tanken om det grønne monster der var efter mig sad fast i mit hoved.

And yet there I was, at the tip of Lower Manhattan with my mom,

Og her var jeg, på spidsen af Lower Manhattan med min mor,

just staring at her:

og jeg stirrede bare på hende:

her horns,

hendes horn,

her muscles --

hendes muskler --

all of it just frightened me.

hele indtrykket skræmte mig.

And I didn't know whether she was a monster or a hero.

Og jeg vidste ikke om hun var et monster eller en helt.

So I decided to consult the Google of the day --

Så jeg besluttede mig for at konsultere dengangs Google --

"Ma! Ma!"

"Mor! Mor!"

(Laughter)

(Latter)

My mother explained that The Green Lady is actually the Statue of Liberty

Min mor forklarede at den grønne dame faktisk er Frihedsgudinden

and that she was waving immigrants in.

og at hun vinkede immigranter ind.

Now, the part of her explanation that really messed with my young head

Den del af hendes forklaring der virkelig udfordrede mit unge sind

was the fact that, according to Ma,

var faktummet at, ifølge min mor,

long before us,

lang tid før os,

The Green Lady was actually brown,

var den grønne dame faktisk brun,

brown like me,

brun ligesom mig,

and that she changed colors over the years,

og at hun havde skiftet farve henover årene,

much like America.

meget lig Amerika.

Now, the part that really is intriguing about this

Den rigtig interassante del af det

is that when she changed colors,

er at da hun skiftede farve,

she made me think about myself.

fik hun mig til at tænke over mig selv.

It all made sense to me,

Det gav alt sammen mening for mig,

because as a first-generation American,

fordi som en første-generations Amerikaner,

I was surrounded by immigrants.

var jeg omgivet af immigranter.

In fact, within my immediate social circle of the people who support me,

Faktisk, bare i min indre sociale kreds af de mennesker der støtter mig,

who enrich my life,

som beriger mit liv,

at least two are foreign-born.

mindst to er født udenlands.

My life as a US citizen is in many ways shaped by newcomers,

Mit liv som Amerikansk samfundsborger, er på mange måder formet af tilkommere,

and chances are,

og chancen er,

so is yours.

at det er dit også.

There are more than 40 million immigrants in the USA.

Der er mere end 40 millioner immigranter i USA.

According to census data,

Ifølge folketællings-data,

a quarter of the nation's children have at least one foreign-born parent.

har en fjerdedel af nationens børn mindst én udenlands-født forældre.

I know all these statistics because I study global migration patterns.

Jeg kender til disse statistikker fordi jeg studerer globale migrations mønstre.

I'm a journalist, and for the last few years,

Jeg er journalist og de sidste par år,

I've been documenting the lives of US citizens

har jeg dokumenteret livet hos Amerikanske statsborgere

who've lost people to deportation.

der har mistet nogen til udvisning af landet.

And the numbers are enormous.

Og tallene er enorme.

From 2008 to 2016,

Fra 2008 til 2016,

more than three million people were "ordered removed" --

er mere end tre millioner mennesker blevet "beordret fjernet" --

that's the technical term for being deported.

det er tekniske udtryk for udvisning.

There is an economic, a political, a psychological and an emotional cost

Der er en økonomisk, en politisk, en psykologisk og en emotionel omkostning

to those deportations --

ved disse udvisninger --

the moments when these circles are broken.

i øjeblikkene hvor disse cirkler bliver brudt.

I once asked a US soldier,

Jeg spurgte engang en soldat,

"Why did you volunteer to fight this war?"

"Hvorfor meldte du dig friviligt til at kæmpe i denne krig?"

And she told me,

Og hun svarede,

"Because I'm proud to defend my country."

"Fordi jeg er stolt af at forsvare mit land."

But I pressed to know --

Men jeg pressede på, for at høre --

"Really, when you're on base,

"Virkelig, når du er på din base,

and you hear bombs exploding in the distance,

og du hører bomber der eksploderer i det fjerne,

and you see soldiers coming back who are gravely injured,

og du ser soldater der kommer tilbage med alvorlige skader,

in that moment, when you know you could be next,

i det øjeblik, hvor du ved at du kan være den næste,

what does 'my country' mean?"

hvad betyder 'mit land' så?"

She looked at me.

Hun kiggede på mig.

"My country is my wife,

"Mit land er min kone,

my family,

min familie,

my friends, my soldiers."

mine venner, mine soldater."

What she was telling me

Hvad hun fortalte mig

is that "my country" is a collection of these strong relationships;

er at "mit land" er en samling af stærke relationer;

these social circles.

disse sociale cirkler.

When the social circles are weakened,

Når disse sociale cirkler er svækkede,

a country itself is weaker.

er landet selv også svækket.

We're missing a crucial aspect in the debate about immigration policy.

Vi misser et afgørende aspekt i debatten om immigrationspolitik.

Rather than focusing on individuals,

I stedet for at fokuserer på individer,

we should focus on the circles around them,

bør vi fokusere på cirklerne omkring dem,

because these are the people who are left behind:

for det er disse mennesker der bliver efterladt:

the voters, the taxpayers,

vælgerne, skatteyderne,

the ones who are suffering that loss.

er dem som lider dette tab.

And it's not just the children of the deported

Og det er ikke kun børnene af de udviste

who are impacted.

som bliver berørte.

You have brothers and sisters who are separated by borders.

Der er brødre og søstre, som bliver adskildt af grænser.

You have classmates, teachers, law enforcement officers,

Der er klassekammerater og lærere, medlemmer af ordensmagten,

technologists, scientists, doctors,

tekonologer, videnskabsmænd, doktorere,

who are all scrambling to make sense of new realities

som desparat forsøger at få disse nye virkeligheder til at give mening

when their social circles are broken.

når deres sociale cirkler brydes.

These are the real lives behind all these statistics

Der er disse egentlig liv, bag alle statestikkerne

that dominate discussions about immigration policy.

der dominere disktionen om immigrationspolitik.

But we don't often think about them.

Men vi tænker ikke på dem.

And I'm trying to change that.

Og det er noget jeg forsøger at ændre på.

Here's just one of the real-life stories that I've collected.

Her er bare en historie fra det virkelig liv, som jeg har samlet.

And it still haunts me.

Og den nager mig stadig.

I met Ramon and his son in 2016,

Jeg mødte Ramon og hans søn i 2016,

the same year both of them were being ordered out of the country.

det samme år hvor de begge blev sendt ud af landet.

Ramon was being deported to Latin America,

Ramon blev udvist til Latinamerika,

while his son, who was a sergeant in the US military,

mens hans søn, som var sergent i det amerikanske militær,

was being deployed.

blev udsendt.

Deported ...

Udvist...

deployed.

udsendt.

If you just look at Ramon's case,

Hvis man kun kigger på Ramons sag,

it wouldn't be clear how deeply connected to the country he is.

ville det ikke være særlig tydeligt hvis forbundet til landet han er.

But consider his son:

Men overvej hans søn:

a US citizen defending a country that's banished his father.

en Amerikansk statsborger der forsvarer et land, som har forvist hans far.

The social circle is what's key here.

Den sociale cirkel er afgørende her.

Here's another example that illustrates those critical bonds.

Her er et andet eksempel der illustrere disse kritiske bånd.

A group of citizens in Philadelphia were concerned about their jobs,

En gruppe borgere i Philadelphia var bekymrede for deres jobs,

because the legal owner of the restaurant where they worked

fordi ejeren af restauranten hvor de arbejde

was an undocumented immigrant,

var en udokumenteret immigrant,

and immigration officials had picked him up.

og de offentlige myndigheder havde taget ham ind.

They rallied behind him.

De gik sammen for hans sag.

An immigration lawyer argued

En immigrations advokat argumenterede for

he was too important to the local community

at han var for vigtig i lokalsamfundet

to be deported.

til at blive udvist.

At the hearing, they even submitted restaurant reviews --

Ved høringen, indsendte de anmeldelser af restauranten --

restaurant reviews!

restaurantanmeldelser!

In the end, a judge exercised what's called "judicial discretion"

Til slut anvendte en dommer et såkaldt "retsligt skøn"

and allowed him to stay in the country,

og tillod ham at blive i landet,

but only because they considered the social circle.

men kun fordi de havde den sociale cirkel med i overvejelserne.

There are 23 million noncitizens in the USA,

Der er 23 millioner ikke-statsborgere i USA,

according to verifiable federal data.

ifølge verificerbare data fra føderalregeringen.

And that doesn't include the undocumented,

Og dette inkluderer ikke udokumenterede,

because numbers for that population are at best complex estimates.

fordi tal for den del af befolkningen, bedst kan blive komplekse skøn.

Let's just work with what we have.

Lad os se hvad vi har.

That's 23 million social circles --

Det er 23 millioner sociale cirkler --

about 100 million individuals

omkring 100 millioner individer

whose lives could be impacted by deportation.

hvis liv kunne blive påvirket af udvisning.

And the stress of it all is trickling down through the population.

Og stressen fra dette, strømmer igennem hele befolkningen.

A 2017 poll by UCLA of LA County residents

I en rundspørge af UCLA af befolkningen i regionen LA (Los Angelses)

found that 30 percent of citizens in LA County

fandt man at 30 procent af borgerne i regionen LA

are stressed about deportation,

er stressede af udvisning,

not because they themselves could be removed,

ikke fordi de selv kan blive udvist,

but rather, because members of their social circle were at risk.

men fordi folke i deres sociale cirkler er i risiko for det.

I am not suggesting that no one should ever be deported;

Jeg foreslår ikke at man stopper udvisning;

don't confuse me with that.

det må I ikke tro.

But what I am saying is that we need to look at the bigger picture.

Men hvad jeg siger er at vi bliver nødt til at se det større perspektiv.

If you are within the sound of my voice,

Hvis du er inden for rækkevidde af min stemme,

I want you to close your eyes for a moment

vil jeg bede dig om at lukke øjnene et øjeblik

and examine your own social circle.

og gennemgå din egen sociale cirkel.

Who are your foreign-born?

Hvem er dine udenlands-fødte?

What would it feel like if the circle were broken?

Hvordan ville det føles hvis cirklen blev brudt?

Share your story.

Del din historie.

I'm building a global archive of first-person accounts

Jeg bygger et globalt arkiv af førstehånds historier

and linking them with mapping technology,

og sammenlægger dem med kortlægningsteknologi,

so that we can see exactly where these circles break,

så vi kan se præcis hvor det er disse cirkler brydes,

because this is not just an American issue.

for det er ikke kun et problem i USA.

There are a quarter-billion migrants around the world;

Der er en kvart milliard migranter i verden;

people living, loving and learning in countries where they were not born.

folk der bor, elsker og lærer i lande hvor de ikke er født.

And in my career, in my life, I've been one of them:

Og i min karriere, i mit liv, har jeg været en af dem:

in China, in Africa, in Europe.

i Kina, i Afrika, i Europa.

And each time I become one of these foreigners --

Og hver gang jeg bliver til en af disse udelændinge --

one of these strange-looking guys in a new land --

en af disse underligt-udseende folk i et nyt land --

I can't help but think back to that day

kan jeg ikke lade være med at tænke tilbage på den dag

when I was in Lower Manhattan with my mom

hvor jeg var i nedre Manhattan med min mor

all those decades ago,

alle de årtier siden,

when I was scared,

da jeg var bange,

and I had just spotted that green lady.

og jeg lige havde set den grønne dame.

And I guess the question that I keep on thinking about

Og det spørgsmål som jeg bliver ved med at tænke på

when I see her

når jeg ser hende

and all the younger replicas of her that are so obviously brown,

og alle de yngre kopier af hende der er så tydeligt brune,

and even the paintings that showcase her in the beginning

og endda de malerier der i begyndelsen viser hende

as not quite green --

som ikke temmelig grøn --

when I look at all of that,

når jeg ser på alt det,

the question that my research seeks to answer

det spørgsmål som min forskning forsøger at besvare,

becomes, to me, the same one that confounded me all those years ago:

bliver, for mig, det samme som forvirrede mig, for alle de år siden:

Is she a monster

Er hun et monster

or a hero?

eller en helt?

Thank you.

Tak skal I have.

(Applause)

(Bifald)