AGAIN, ABOUT 60% OF THE PEOPLE
LEAVING UKRAINE UNDER DURESS
ARE GOING TO PULL AND.
JOINING ME NOW IS THE
DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSWOMAN FROM
MINNESOTA, ILLINOIS.
MARCIA MEMBER OF THE FOREIGN
AFFAIRS AND LABOR COMMITTEES.
SHE WAS, HERSELF, A REFUGEE.
THE FIRST AFRICAN REFUGEE TO
BECOME A MEMBER OF CONGRESS.
AND CONGRESSWOMAN, THAT MAKES
YOUR INPUT AS A DECISION-MAKER,
AS A MEMBER OF CONGRESS,
REMARKABLY IMPORTANT.
YOU HAVE SOME UNDERSTANDING OF
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE, AND FEELS
LIKE TO BE DISPLACED FROM YOUR
HOME, AND GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.
AND, WHEN YOU SEE THE FACT THAT
THERE ARE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE NOW, THROUGH NO DOING
OF THEIR OWN, WHAT DO YOU THINK
OUR RESPONSE IN THE WESTERN
WORLD, IN PARTICULAR FROM THE
UNITED STATES SHOULD BE?
>> IT'S GOOD TO BE WITH YOU,
ALI.
IT'S REALLY HEARTBREAKING TO
WATCH, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S
HAPPENING IN UKRAINE.
MY HEART GOES OUT TO THEM.
AND AS YOU, SAID AS A FORMER
REFUGEE, AS SOMEONE WHO IS ONE
OF THOSE CHILDREN THAT WE ARE
WATCHING ON THE SCREEN, JUST IN
THE FEW DECADES AGO, MY HEART
IS BREAKING.
FOR THESE CHILDREN, FOR THESE
FAMILIES THAT HAVE TO MAKE THIS
UNTHINKABLE DECISION OF LEAVING
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.
I THINK WE DO HAVE A
RESPONSIBILITY TO DO EVERYTHING
THAT WE CAN TO PROVIDE SHELTER
FOR THOSE WHO ARE FLEEING FOR
THEIR LIVES.
AS I'VE SAID OVER AND OVER
AGAIN, YOU KNOW, PALMS DO NOT
DISCRIMINATE.
AND, WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT
WE ARE NOT CREATING A SITUATION
FOR PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE NOT
FEELING SAFE IN THE BORDERS,
THAT THEY ARE TRYING TO ESCAPE
TO THE UNITED STATES HAS TO
STEP UP.
IN ITS HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE.
AND, EUROPEAN COUNTRIES HAVE TO
AS WELL.
I KNOW IT CAN'T BE EASY.
YOU KNOW, WHEN WE FLOOD THE WAR
IN SOMALIA, SO MANY OF US FLED
INTO NEIGHBORING COUNTRY KENYA,
AND IT WAS CHALLENGING FOR THAT
COUNTRY.
AND, I KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, 60%
OF REFUGEES NOW FROM UKRAINE
GOING INTO THE POLISH BORDER.
IT'S QUITE A LOT.
WHEN WE HEAR THE NUMBER BEING
MORE THAN 1.5 MILLION PEOPLE.
AND, I JUST HOPE THAT THE WORLD
RESPONDS AND SUPPORTS POLAND AS
WELL, AS THEY TRY TO CREATE
ACCOMMODATIONS FOR PEOPLE WHO
ARE NOW IN THEIR ORDER.
>> YOU KNOW, WE WERE SPEAKING
TO DAVID MILIBAND A FEW MOMENTS
AGO, TALKING ABOUT THE FAILURES
AND THE SUCCESSES, RIGHT?
THERE ARE SOME SUCCESSES WHERE
THE EUROPEAN UNION IS ALLOWING
SOMETHING THAT FEELS LIKE
TEMPORARY PROTECTIVE STATUS TO
PEOPLE.
BUT, YOU'VE SEEN THE FAILURES.
YOU'VE TWEETED ABOUT THEM.
I WAS IN BUDAPEST TALKING TO
INDIAN, AND BLACK, AFRICAN
PEOPLE, WHO UKRAINE HAS A LOT
OF THEM, STUDENTS IN PARTICULAR,
WHO DID HAVE TROUBLE.
SOME WAS GETTING OUT OF UKRAINE,
IT WASN'T JUST AT THE BORDER
CROSSINGS AT POLAND OR HUNGRY,
IT WAS ACTUALLY GETTING OUT OF
UKRAINE.
LOOK, MY HEART GOES OUT TO ALL
OF THESE PEOPLE IN UKRAINE WHO
DID NOTHING TO CAUSE THIS
PROBLEM.
BUT, HOW DO WE ADDRESS IT AT
THE FRONT END?
THE FACT THAT IF YOU ARE AN
IMMIGRANT TO UKRAINE, YOU ARE
HAVING A HARD TIME GETTING OUT
AND GETTING PROTECTIONS THEN
PEOPLE WHO ARE NATIVE BORN?
>> YEAH, WE MUST ADDRESS THAT
HEAD ON.
AGAIN, YOU KNOW, BOMBS DO NOT
DISCRIMINATE, AND BORDER
SECURITY SHOULDN'T EITHER.
IT'S REALLY DISAPPOINTING AND
HEARTBREAKING TO SEE THAT THERE
ARE THE VIDEOS OF THE
DEMONSTRATION THAT IS TAKING
PLACE WHEN IT COMES TO AFRICAN
AND ASIAN STUDENTS, WHO ARE
DESPERATELY TRYING TO GET OUT
AS WELL, TO SAFETY AS MUCH AS
UKRAINIANS ARE.
I'VE BEEN REALLY DISAPPOINTED
AT THE KIND OF RHETORIC FROM
WORLD LEADERS AND MEDIA PLANTS
THAT IS BEING USED AND DEPLOYED,
AS WE TALK ABOUT THIS CRISIS IN
UKRAINE.
WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE
IS A RECKONING.
I HOPE THIS IS A LEARNING
MOMENT FOR ALL OF US.
BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY, THERE IS A
DIFFERENCE IN THE WAY THEY TALK
ABOUT UKRAINIAN REFUGEES WHO
ARE WHITE, AND THE WAY BLACK,
AND BROWN, AND MUSLIM REFUGEES
FROM ELSEWHERE ARE TALKED ABOUT.
WHEN WE ARE THINKING ABOUT WAR,
AND WHEN WE ARE THINKING ABOUT
THEIR DESPERATE DECISIONS
PEOPLE HAVE TO MAKE, THESE ARE
NOT THINGS THAT ARE
CONCENTRATED TO CERTAIN PARTS
OF THE WORLD, OR SHOULD BE
EXPECTED IN CERTAIN PARTS OF
THE WORLD.
THIS IS A HUMAN CRISIS.
AND, OUR LANGUAGE, OUR RHETORIC,
OUR POLICIES IN DEALING WITH
REFUGEES HAS TO CHANGE.
THE UNITED STATES IS COMMITTING
TO NOW HAVING TEMPORARY
PROTECTIVE STATUS UP TO 18
MONTHS FOR UKRAINIANS.
AND, WE ARE HOPEFULLY GOING TO
LIFT THE REFUGEE QUOTA, SO THAT
WE CAN BRING IN UKRAINIAN
REFUGEES.
AND, I JUST HOPE THAT, YOU KNOW,
WHEN WE ARE THINKING ABOUT
SYRIANS, AND FOLKS FROM
AFGHANISTAN, AND SOUTH AND
CENTRAL AMERICA, OUR RHETORIC
WILL HOPEFULLY ALSO SHIFT.
THERE ARE COUNTRIES LIKE YEMEN,
AND ETHIOPIA THAT ARE CURRENTLY
EXPERIENCING DEVASTATION, AND
WE HAVEN'T SEEN THE KIND OF
CARE AND COMPASSION THAT IS
BEING USED TO TALK ABOUT THESE
PARTICULAR REFUGEES FOR THOSE
REFUGEES WHO ARE ALSO
EXPERIENCING DEVASTATING SITUATIONS AS WELL.
SITUATIONS AS WELL.
Only pay for what you need.
>> YES.
THEY ARE ALL ALSO HOMELESS, AND
HUNGRY, AND I'M SURE THEIR
FUTURES.
AT SOME POINT, THEY ARE ALL
HUMANS WHISTLES.
CONGRESSWOMAN, THANK YOU FOR
SHARING YOUR ANALYSIS.