Not the speaker requested...but one whose voice is allowed

This is the text of a speech I made on Father's Day 2025 at the Dads for Democracy event in Noblesville, IN.

My name is Sharon Boller. I lead a small local refugee resettlement group called From Strangers to Neighbors.

I am not the speaker the organizer of this event wanted. The ask was for me to invite one of the immigrants I work with to come speak on what they value about American democracy.  The immigrants I work with ALL have legal status to be here, yet each one I invited declined my invite. Their “no” was not because they don’t feel grateful to the United States. It’s because they are now afraid. They are afraid of arrest, detainment, and deportation. Their fears are valid ones in our current climate.

Aleen is one of the men I invited to speak.  Aleen came here from Afghanistan as a Fulbright Scholar. After earning his college degree, he returned to Afghanistan to work within its fledgling democratic government. As you know, the Taliban toppled that young democracy as soon as U.S. troops withdrew. Aleen became an immediate target for the Taliban.

Because of his work, Aleen received asylum from the U.S. He came back to the U.S., got married, and now has two children.  His passion for democracy is deep. He saw first-hand in Afghanistan what it’s like to live in an authoritarian theocracy where one group’s religious views dictate how everyone lives.  He also saw the transformation democracy was able to make in Afghanistan before it topped, giving the Afghani people freedoms they only once imagined in their minds – particularly women and girls who could suddenly go to school, hold jobs, and walk outdoors unaccompanied and without the stifling burqas mandated by the Taliban. He shared with me how grateful he is that his young daughter was born in America, where women have the freedom to pursue education and a career. He is grateful his son can have different male role models than the Taliban leaders. However, he sees troubling signs of authoritarian takeover in America with immigration as one of its flashpoints. He worries that too many Americans do not see the acute threat facing our country’s democracy.

Yesterday, I attended the No Kings protest in Indianapolis. I heard state representative Carrie Hamilton speak, and her words were powerful. She reminded all of us that authoritarianism does not come suddenly. It creeps in over time taking freedoms away gradually one or two groups at a time: transgender people, women, the American press, our colleges and universities . It counts on the silence of those who at first are personally unaffected by the stripping of freedom from a smaller group.

Every American citizen here is an immigrant themselves or a descendant of immigrants.  Our country was literally built by immigrants. However, the current administration wants us to forget this truth.  The Project 2025 blueprint being implemented by the current administration has labeled diversity a threat instead of something to celebrate.  This administration is encouraging Americans to be AFRAID of immigrants. Instead of describing the ways in which immigrants – legal and undocumented – make America better, the executive branch - and those supporting it - lie to Americans, trying to make us believe we have millions of violent criminals immigrating to our country wanting to harm Americans.  

The truth?

Immigrants – whether legal or undocumented – make our communities stronger and safer. Communities that expand their immigrant population see drops in crime rather than rises in crime.  Most immigrants, whether undocumented or legal, come here to ESCAPE violence, not commit crimes. They come here to work and give their children and themselves a future. They landscape our yards and cut our grass. They build our homes and repair our roofs. They work in our farm fields. They serve us food in our restaurants. They clean our houses. They deliver our packages. They teach in our children's classrooms. And more than 1 in 4 of them are our doctors, working in offices and hospitals to treat our illnesses or keep us healthy. Entire industries rely on them for labor – such as our hotel, restaurant, and farming industries. Immigrants are our neighbors, our coworkers, our classmates, and our friends - not our enemies. Many, many, many of them are our fellow Americans, citizens through naturaliziation or birthright.

Even though undocumented immigrants are considered “illegal,” our local, state and federal governments have no problem collecting taxes from them. Undocumented immigrants pay more than $25 billion dollars into our Social Security system and more than 100 billion dollars in taxes overall. They will collect exactly ZERO dollars in Social Security benefits or Medicare benefits.

Trump has gone far, far beyond his campaign promise to deport the tiny minority of undocumented immigrants who have committed violent crimes in their countries of origin. He is demanding the deportation of ANY undocumented immigrant, amping up rhetoric by calling them "criminals" because they haven't yet gained asylum.  At his direction, the Department of Homeland Security upped its arrest quota to 3,000 arrests/day. That translates to 90,000 arrests a month. We have children losing their moms and their dads to these arrests. We have employers being raided and losing most of their workers. We have schools losing their students.  We also have private prison operators making millions of dollars detaining those arrested and detained.

This is not what those who voted for Trump envisioned when he talked to them about deporting violent criminals who came here as immigrants.

Trump’s chaotic policies and executive orders have created an impossible situation for the immigrants already here and the legal refugees who were in the process of being resettled here when he took office. He has suspended the U.S. refugee resettlement program, despite the rigorous security clearance every single refugee coming through that program undergoes before being allowed into this country. He has rescinded the temporary asylum status given to Afghans, Venezuelans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, Cameroonians, and Cubans who fled their countries’ violence and desperate poverty, breaking a commitment we made to these people when we welcomed them into our country.  He issued an executive order banning the citizens of12 countries from entry here.  He’s shut off the path to legal asylum for those undocumented people already here, instead entrapping people when they follow the law and show up for their immigration hearings.

The federal courts, the Supreme Court, and Congress will not save us from authoritarianism. WE – the everyday American citizens - will save us.

Public opinion shifts away from unjust policies and laws when the  ripples of small individual or group actions and conversations gain traction by moving through communities a house , a neighborhood, and a city at a time. What we publicly say and do matters. Public outcry fuels public opinion and industry opinion. When we participate in a protest, boycott a business, call our legislators, or gather the courage to extend an invite to a neighbor, family member or friend to join with us, we amplify the power of our individual voice. Our actions plant seeds. We may lend someone courage to act themselves. We may cause someone whose views differ from ours to ask us why we feel as we do. Our individual actions and words expand the pool of public opinion, which in turn shifts our government policies and laws.

When you leave today, commit to doing one of these five things:  1) Plan to be part of a future protest or call to action.  2) Download the 5 Calls app to your phone. Read about the issues threatening democracy and use the script they provide to help you make calls to your representatives. Keep calling on a regular basis.  3) Join a community group or get involved with a nonprofit group advocating for those being targeted. Find one, subscribe to its newsletter, and consider attending a meeting or two. There is tremendous strength in community, which is one reason Project 2025 and the current administration want to destroy it. 4) Boycott companies that have capitulated to this administration's anti-diversity demands such as Amazon or Target. Support companies and retailers that are saying no to those demands such as Costco or Meier. Company leaders pay attention to decline sales; they will, in turn, exert influence over political leaders.

5) Finally and most importantly, talk to your neighbors, your friends, and your family about what you are doing and why you are doing it, In those conversations and actions, avoid the temptation to disparage or shame anyone whose views and vote differed from yours. Instead, act with love for your neighbor, your community and your country and avoid focusing on red vs blue. Remember Senator Cory Booker’s words in his historic 25-hour speech:  “What is happening in America is not about red vs blue. It is about right versus wrong.” Also remember the words of John Lewis, who helped lead the Civil Rights Movement. When we see a moral wrong happening, we need to be willing to “get into good trouble.”

"Can you recommend an immigrant who might come speak on the importance of democracy at an upcoming event called Dads for Democracy."

I tried, but I could not. The fear factor among the immigrants I know and work with was too strong. They have Green Cards or are naturalized citizens. They are paying attention...and seeing that those things are not protections from ICE.

So I ended up speaking at the event myself.