by Sarah F.
Last week, scrolling social media, I saw a post from a supporter of this group, stating he was sure that leaving the GOP was the right choice. What helped him arrive at this conclusion was a Department of Homeland Security Facebook image showing Santa beside a military plane with the caption: “Tis the Season for Mass Deportation.”
The reactions were polarized, which of course was no surprise. What did make me take pause, was a friend commenting that she wasn’t sure that the post wasn’t fake news, that no news can be trusted due to certain agendas.
This wasn’t fake. It came straight from the Department’s official page. Unfortunately, it wasn’t an outlier either. A short scroll revealed other holiday posts, including one wishing America a Merry Christmas, and being blessed to share a nation and a Savior, as if everyone in the United States shares the same faith.
It made me think of the words from Emma Lazarus’ poem The New Colossus and inscribed upon our nation’s most recognizable landmark. The promise that shaped our national identity:
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Once, that lamp symbolized hope. Today, it feels dimmed. Not by crisis alone, but by the choice to mock human suffering instead of meeting it with dignity, then choosing to ignore it under the guise of “fake news.”
Almost all our families came here seeking something better, often without paperwork, visas, or guarantees. Huguenots fleeing persecution in France. Irish families escaping famine. Chinese workers who built the railroads. Jews seeking refuge from violence. Refugees from revolutions, wars, poverty, and oppression. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of individuals stollen from their homeland to build this great nation. Between 1880 and 1920, nearly one in seven people in this country was foreign born, not because America is perfect, but because America offered possibility.
Reasonable border policy matters. Unlimited, uncontrolled borders aren’t the answer. But if we’re going to claim faith as our compass, then the moral instruction is uncomfortably clear.
Leviticus 19: 33-34 reminds us: “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.”
Jesus goes further in Matthew 25: 25-26: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you game me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
If this still sounds like “fake news,” spend an hour with Siembra NC or another immigrant-aid group in Charlotte. Listen to families chased through streets, pulled from cars, or taken from workplaces, not for violent crimes, but because they looked different or spoke another language. Talk to the neighbors who stepped up: driving kids to school, offering food and shelter, showing courage when fear was easier. That isn’t politics. That’s community. That’s faith with sleeves rolled up.
Independent journalists, the ones far from corporate boardrooms, are documenting this reality every day, verifying what’s happening, lifting voices most media ignore. Platforms like Substack and others are full of these passionate individuals dedicating themselves to the truth. The cruelty is not fabricated. Not knowing is something is fake news or not is a cheap an easy excuse not to care. An official government page joking about mass deportation isn’t clever. It reveals what some leaders now consider acceptable.
We once aspired to be a beacon. Flawed, yes, but lit with compassion. The light doesn’t fade on its own. It fades when we choose indifference over humanity. The hopeful part? We can choose differently, we and must!
For the first time in many years, Stanly County has a strong slate of Democratic candidates committed to the kind of compassion-driven change our community so urgently needs. Our new website, IndivisibleURE.com, will be updated regularly to share information regarding these candidates, as well as the latest news, resources, and ways to get involved. And in early February, The Stanly Independent will be available in coffee shops, stores, and local businesses across the county, offering clear, accessible information about every candidate appearing on the Democratic and Republican primary ballots.
Together, we can make thoughtful, informed choices, and to shape a county that cares for every neighbor. Let’s show what’s possible when more of us pull up a chair and participate.