This Veteran’s Twitter Story About An Iraqi Refugee Will Absolutely Break Your Heart

Late last week, President Donald Trump announced a travel ban in Muslim majority countries that was merely a thinly-veiled variation of his Muslim ban that he proposed during the Presidential campaign. Donald Trump then went a step further, outrightly promising to prioritize Christian refugees over Muslim ones.

Outrage of this action has resulted in airport protests, condemnations from nations across the globe, and boycotts of certain brands. Yet, perhaps the most moving response comes from this Iraq War veteran who had an actual experience with a translator who became a refugee.

Twitter user @dyllyp (aka Dylan) was serving in Iraq when he first met a local boy named Brahim. The military in the Middle East needs good translators, which typically means hiring local people willing to work as translator. If a local finishes a tour of service translating for the US Military, they get a visa to travel to the US as a refugee. That’s what made Brahim want to do it, and how everything unfolded is seriously heartbreaking.

Read for yourself:

This story is touching in so, so many ways. But ultimately it proves that we are all just…human. Humanity comes in many different colors and cultures, but we all bleed red. We are all people. We all deserve good, healthy, safe lives.

Discrimination, even when it comes in the name of “national security” works to dehumanize people, make them “less than”. I don’t think that’s something we should do if we want a whole world where everyone has a place.