Who is My Neighbor - The Rev. Philip DeVaul

It is impossible not to think of the brown-skinned people, many of whom are of Mexican origin, who are being racially profiled, snatched off the streets and detained without due process all across our country so that we might be made great. It is also impossible to forget that this disaster occurred just a month after our own government announced plans to defund FEMA – our country’s federal emergency response program. While our own country seems to be unclear about who our neighbor is, firefighters from northern Mexico had no such confusion. 

In Butler County Jail here in Ohio, sits a man named Ayman Soliman. He is an Egyptian refugee who has been in our country for over a decade. He fled Egypt under threat of death, and after surviving incarceration and torture because he spoke and acted in support of democracy during what has become known as the Arab Spring. He is a Muslim, and since living in the Cincinnati area, he has served as an imam in the local Muslim community, as well as a chaplain at Children’s Hospital, pastoring to people across religious and cultural affiliations. He has been charged with no crimes. He has devoted his life to the care of others. No reason has been given for the revocation of his asylum status. He has been imprisoned for nearly a month.