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SOF Alum Hidetaka Hirota publishes Washington Post op-ed

In the News, Fellows, SOF Fellows

August 18, 2022
Headshot of Hidetaka Hirota

Society of Fellows alumnus Hidetaka Hirota (2013–2016) published an op-ed in The Washington Post. In it, he highlights how the Texas and Arizona policy of transporting and then abandoning asylum seekers on the East Coast creates situations similar to those of the 19th century, in which Americans dumped poor migrants overseas.


The disturbing precedent for busing migrants to other states

The Republican governors of Texas and Arizona are sending thousands of migrants by bus to cities on the East Coast, especially New York City and D.C. Many of them are Venezuelan asylum seekers. Upon arriving at their destinations, they are discharged without money, food, shelter or work. Abandoned on the streets, homeless and without money, they have to seek relief from local religious and voluntary groups. The governors claim this policy is necessary because of the Biden administration's inability to prevent the admission of undesirable foreigners at the U.S.-Mexico border, but it is also an effort to embarrass pro-immigration politicians and create the appearance of chaos to justify cruel policies....

Read the rest of the op-ed here