Anti-Refugee Fear Mongering Hits Montana

The Montana governor’s race between incumbent Steve Bullock (D) and businessman Greg Gianforte (R) has gone full fear mongering. Check out this Gianforte flier:

What’s this about? Last fall the state’s Republican lawmakers pressured Bullock to pledge to refuse entry to Syrian refugees, and Bullock refused to sign it. Montana resident Darcy Anne took Gianforte’s flier down in style:

Here is the text, for those who can’t view the image:

Hey, Montana, allow me to educate you for a moment.

1. Our governor doesn’t like to sign unnecessary legislation that cannot be enforced due to federal laws. Whatdoyaknow? Someone in office with a lick of sense. 

2. There are no “unveiled refugees”. That’s the most fear-mongering, ignorant thing I’ve heard all day. Since, ya know, yesterday I listened to Pence talk out of his ass. 

3. We are safe. Say it again with me now: we are safe. Much safer, in fact, than the refugees fleeing ISIS. Which is why they’re asking to live here. Families that have been through an extensive, two year vetting process will not make us unsafe. The white guy in the compound next door who is stockpiling weapons against the government is a much bigger danger. Get over the xenophobia already. It’s not a good trait in humans. 

4. I fucking hate these stupid fliers and am ready for this to be over. 

Montana isn’t the only state in the midst of a fear-mongering campaign run by a Trump lookalike, and this anti-immigrant anti-refugee tide is making me grind my teeth in rage. My ancestors were immigrants. I have friends and family members whose ancestors were refugees. It’s not just ancestors—I have an aunt who is an immigrant and an aunt who was a refugee. My immigrant aunt has since become a U.S. citizen and has had great success as an entrepreneur. My refugee aunt fled a war-torn region as a young child, settling in the U.S. She and her siblings learned English, went to college, and are today gainfully employed. This aunt, too, is an entrepreneur.

As a young child, I briefly lived next door to an immigrant family from Pakistan. Their children were our friends. Their mother wore a headscarf and cooked traditional Pakistani foods. While we soon moved and lost touch, I looked the family up on Facebook several years ago and found that my little friend had grown up to become an interfaith human rights activist. But if Trump and other politicians like Gianforte have their way, this family would have been denied access to the U.S. My daughter has several friends in her class whose parents are immigrants from various places around the world. Would they make the cut, under a President Trump?

This is not who we are. It can’t be.