This 6' by 4' oil on unstretched canvas is of two women recently deported from the United States. I realize that I made the hand (on the woman in the back) too small...especially when you consider the amount of work she probably does with that hand! They are both separated from their families who live and work in the United States, a United States that is growing and changing. The "we" of "we hold these truths to be self evident" is always growing and changing. It now includes people of both genders, people of every ethnicity, and... as always...people from other lands. Who is the "we" today? The "we" includes 11 million people from Central America and Mexico who are deemed 'unlawfully here' by the people in power today. Tomorrow, the power may shift and the "we", like any living organism, need to grow and change or we will begin to die. What to do with 11 million immigrants who are working and paying taxes in the United States of America? At great cost to taxpayers, we criminalize, expel and build walls to 'attempt' to keep them out of "our" country. It would be cheaper (not to mention kinder and more effective) to enfranchise and welcome people. I was touched today, to hear that the country of Jordan is continuing to welcome Syrian refugees. It is a strain on their water supply and economy...(and they are asking the international community to come alongside them)...BUT it is fundamentally WHO the Jordanian people are, to be a people of 'hospitality' and as such they must welcome refugees.
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