Immigration: Muslim voices on the sidelines in immigration debate

Except those who were deported

From the Silk Road to the growth of Muslim communities in Europe and America, migration has been a part of the Muslim experience ever since the hijra – the fleeing of the early Muslim community from Mecca to Medina to avoid persecution. There is no part of the Muslim world that hasn’t been touched in some way by the shifting of communities both inside and outside its borders. The Muslim American immigrant experience in particular has been a challenging one, especially since the days of 9/11. The last few years have shown us the early targeting and detained (without a single terror-related conviction among them), the plight of Muslim immigrants caught in INS red tape, the special registration that specifically targeted Muslim visitors, the prevention of the immigration of US scholars, and the deportation of Muslim women who made the mistake of divorcing their US citizen husbands. Based on this, one would think that Muslims would have a lot to say on the current raging debate on immigration. But aside from a few voices joining calls for a more humane immigration policy as scattered endorsers of various protests, there has been little contribution from Muslim circles. “We are all in this together,” said Fatme Bahmad, whose husband is facing deportation. “Arabs and Latinos and we should all have one voice.” Critics of immigration reform, however, have not hesitated to pull the “Muslim card” in their efforts, citing not Mexican immigrants but a potential “invasion” of “Islamist extremists” in order to whip up support for more draconian measures. They cite the “Muslim immigrant takeover” of Europe (which has not been as successful as integrating immigrants into their society as America has) and call current US policy a “welcome mat for terrorists.” So what happens now? In the West, some Muslims have taken up the “burning boats” metaphor of Tarek ibn Ziyad, the Muslim general who began the conquest of Spain by burning the boats used to cross the Mediterranean, thus preventing a retreat. The intent is to convince Muslim immigrants of the need to become full participants in their new home and abandoning their previous national identity. Those Muslims who have now made their home in America (and have by all accounts done quite well for themselves) would do well to heed this advice and contribute to the resolution of this issue, for the betterment of all.

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.