Coffee with the Governor

Last Tuesday morning, Dalia and I as members of the Tulsa Hispanic Chamber of Commerce were invited to a coffee time with Kevin Stitt, Governor of our great state of Oklahoma. Cynthia Jasso of the Chamber and the George Kaiser Foundation did a great job of interviewing him and I was impressed that despite being on what many would consider “opposite” sides of the political spectrum, that they had a lot in common. It was so refreshing to see this, and a comfort to know that Governor Stitt, while being a Republican Governor in the State of Oklahoma, is compassionate towards immigrants. Unfortunately, it seems that many Republicans in the State of Oklahoma and other conservative states are not. Many have fallen prey to a complete blanket of negative views on immigrants in general, particularly those who are considered illegal. One thing that many people do not know is that many immigrants who are “undocumented” or “illegal” crossed our border legally and were inspected at a port of entry, having been granted tourist, student or other types of visas. They did not sneak across our border. When they found out that it was impossible for them to stay or perhaps not viable for them to return to their country of origin for a variety of plausible reasons (one might have done the same if they were in their shoes), they ‘overstayed” their visas, meaning they stayed and started their lives here once they fell out of status. There are other myths that negatively influence our views of immigrants. Here are some of them. https://worldrelief.org/blog-immigration-myths/ Immigration overall is good for the US and Oklahoma. And if we’re followers of Christ, let’s look at immigrants as He does, made in His image and worthy of respect and dignity.