O'Malley & Moral Leadership (DKos by askew)
Governor Martin O'Malley has stepped up once again and shown moral leadership. In a USAToday editorial, O'Malley offers a powerful argument for why the U.S. should take 65,000 Syrian refugees.
What to do about the root cause of this humanitarian crisis may be complex, but helping refugees is not: Americans have a long, proud tradition of providing comfort to the weak and weary. It is in our national DNA, inscribed at the foot of the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” We are a nation of immigrants and refugees, and we cannot forget what it means to struggle and toil and yearn for a better life beyond the next horizon. The world is in the midst of a nearly unprecedented global refugee crisis, with more refugees than at any time since World War II. How will we respond? Will we listen to our better angels and the voices of moral clarity whispering to us, or will we slam doors and build walls?
On Sunday Pope Francis called on people of conscience to come to the aid of “tens of thousands of refugees that flee death in conflict and hunger and are on a journey of hope.” We are watching as Germany, Austria and Scandinavia heed the call. The United States must not be a bystander on the sidelines. We must not let bureaucracy hamstring us. And we must not pretend that the Atlantic Ocean frees us of our moral duty. We are Americans. We should be leading on this issue. We should begin by taking in at least 65,000 Syrian refugees by the end of 2016, as humanitarian organizations on the front lines of refugee assistance have asked us to do. Doing so would not only uphold our values, but would be fully consistent with U.S. policy. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees intends to resettle 130,000 Syrian refugees over the next two years, and the United States historically has accepted half its resettlement cases. We should not hesitate to do so once again.
As the former governor of Maryland, I know firsthand that we can do more. When tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors fleeing violence arrived at our southern border last year, Maryland took in more children per capita than any other state. We did it by working together: we cared for more than 5,000 children by convening Maryland’s faith, community, business and government leaders. We made a huge difference in these children’s lives and showed that Americans — if given the opportunity — are eager to step up and live their values.
We are presented with a similar moral imperative today. How we respond will speak to the type of country we are. I believe in American greatness. I believe we are a light unto the world, and I intend to work with every family and American who wants to help me prove it.
This isn't the first time O'Malley has shown such moral leadership.
O'Malley is the only presidential candidate running who has addressed the mass deportation crisis in the Dominican Republic:
Starting as soon as today, the Dominican Republic is expected to enact a mass deportation program of potentially hundreds of thousands of Dominican residents and citizens who are Haitian, of Haitian descent, and have Haitian last names. This stems, in part, from a 2013 court ruling declaring that individuals born in the Dominican Republic would not longer automatically be considered citizens -- and that this standard would be retroactively applied all the way back to 1929. While the ruling was subsequently softened, it laid the groundwork for the Dominican Republic's efforts today to force hundreds of thousands of Haitian migrant workers and Dominicans of Haitian descent -- some of whom have spent their entire lives in the Dominican Republic -- to be forcibly deported to Haiti unless they can provide proof of their citizenship.
These mass deportations -- if enacted -- would also be an abhorrent affront to human rights by one of our closest neighbors. Rather than being silent, the United States should work with our allies in the region and the United Nations, while also using the full force of our diplomatic might to stop this injustice. Countries that disrespect international norms will be judged in the eyes of the world, and should be held accountable.
Speaking out against the impending injustice against Haitians in the Dominican Republic is the first thing we can do to begin to reclaim our credibility and moral standing. I intend to express my concerns directly to Dominican and Haitian leaders in the coming days. We should exercise all our leverage as a key ally and leader in the region to address this crisis and the underlying causes of forced migration.
He also has led on calling on the U.N. to take responsibility for the cholera outbreak they created in Haiti.
He's called for doing more to protect religious minorities in Iraq and Syria from ISIS.
He was the first presidential candidate to call for allowing Puerto Rico to declare bankruptcy and to address the health care crisis they are suffering from:
As a nation we must help our fellow US citizens not only because it’s the right thing to do, but because our region’s economic stability depends on it.
First, Puerto Rico should be able to negotiate with its creditors just as states can under the U.S. Bankruptcy code. Congress should approve Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi’s legislation that would allow for this to happen.
Second, as I’ve stated before, the Department of Health and Human Services must end the inequitable treatment of Puerto Rico under Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. High costs and low reimbursement rates are a huge burden to Puerto Rico’s budget and millions of U.S. citizens are at risk of losing care.
These are two steps we can take today, but I urge the Administration and Congress to work with Puerto Rico on a path forward that both provides immediate relief, and builds a foundation for sustainable, long-term economic stability.
He has led on issues in the U.S. as well by calling for the end of inhumane family detention centers.
He called out for the U.S. to do more to help the child refugees from Central America who fled here last summer going against the President and other leading Democrats.
“Through all of the great world religions we are told that hospitality to strangers is an essential human dignity,” O’Malley said. “It is a belief that unites all of us. And I have watched the pictures of young kids who have traveled for thousands of miles. I can only imagine, as a father of four, the heartbreak that those parents must have felt in sending their children across a desert where they can be muled and trafficked or used or killed or tortured. But with the hope, the hope, that they would reach the United States and that their children would be protected from what they were facing at home, which was the likelihood of being recruited into gangs and dying a violent death.”
We have to do right not just by these kids but by our kids and protect the children who are here, put them in the least restrictive settings, get them out of these detention centers and these kennels where they are being cooped up, and operate as the good and generous people that we have always been,” he added. “That’s what’s at stake here, as well as the lives of these kids.”
Both his criminal justice reform and immigration reform policies are the most progressive released and call for making the immigration system more humane and ending the worst of the abuses in the criminal justice system.
And it isn't just words.
As Governor of Maryland, Maryland took in more child refugees than any other state per capita. He made sure the children weren't housed in abandoned warehouses but placed in foster care or small group homes. This was done by bringing together faith leaders and social service groups to come up with a comprehensive solution that would be most beneficial to the children.
He also worked to end the death penalty in Maryland and commute the remaining prisoners on death row to life in prison.
As a Democrat and progressive, it makes me proud to see one of our candidates leading on the moral issues not just here at home but around the world.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/09/10/1419928/-O-Malley-Moral-Leadership
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