Has this book changed anything about how you see immigrants? Will reading this book make you more aware of xenophobia and rethink how you confront it in your community?

Has this book changed anything about how you see immigrants? Will reading this book make you more aware of xenophobia and rethink how you confront it in your community?

I've always had a positive view of immigrants -most of us came from somewhere else, or at least an ancestor did. This just hammers home their plight, even when born into the country yet still looked upon as outsiders.

I have a positive view of immigrants who come here legally and are vetted first, regardless of what country they come from. It has nothing to do with race as far as I'm concerned.

I dont have a negative view of immigrants at all...I feel empathy for them and especially immigrants that are trying to gain asylum from a corrupt government. I would want to try to help anyone that I could get away from a country where they fear for their lives daily. America is made up of immigrants, and I don't understand people who see that differently.

It is hard not to be aware of xenophobia in the USA of today. From immigration to trying to take away voting rights, it is sadly blatant. The world seems to be in a very critical moment now - do the correct, caring, empathetic, intelligent thing, or further damage world order. It is a big decision that books like this one make you think about.

I am often stunned by xenophobia in America, a country of immigrants. I am unaware of Kurdish immigrants in my community, but I am aware of the issues they face when they remain in the Middle East. I truly hope the current trend of anti-immigrant behavior abates quickly. There is no place for hate based on culture or place of origin.

We certainly have xenophobia in the United States. I can’t imagine being under the stress and pressure that Leila and the other women had in their daily lives. They had to worry about the simplest things such as a hug out in public could cause them great harm. The United States needs immigrants and should help in all ways. That is the beauty of this country. I would hope we would strive to meet the needs of all our citizens, immigrant and non- immigrants. This book teaches us what true freedoms we really have. It will be interesting how America will welcome Afghans in the next year. I encourage all communities to embrace this new diversity into our country.

I do not have a negative view of immigrants. Many are escaping horrible conditions in their homeland. I have worked with Iraqis who had to flee because they worked with the US. This story is a bit personal as I worked with an Iraqi Kurd who told me much about the persecution of his people.

I feel it is just by good fortune that my soul was born in the US. What if I had been born instead in Syria, in Guatemala, in Afghanistan...

I find it curious that there is so much hatred in my county’s towards immigrants especially when all of us could trace your ancestry back to other countries. I feel personally it’s our patriotic duty and in my personal case my Christian duty to welcome others looking for freedom and to escape persecution and unfair treatment, with open arms. This book and other like it are great to connect with those who might not have thought about what some immigrants face but it was also a great reinforcement for people like me to try and gently remind those who feel it’s okay to fear immigrants that they are humans like us with real fears and dreams of better lives

I agree with you all that there is too much hatred towards immigrants. I always gain so much reading stories like these. Maybe if more books like this became required reading we would start to change some opinions. I always grow in my empathy for immigrants and how many obstacles they face, both in their home countries, and if they come to the U.S. or another country. I know that Canada has welcomed a lot of immigrants.

This book has not changed my feeling toward immigrants. Leila did the right thing in waiting to receive her passport and her papers. I do not believe that America should have an open border policy. Especially at the present time, when the world is dealing with a pandemic. Many crossing the border have not been testing or treated and continue to spread the disease. Without regulations on the part of the government women and children continue to be abused, drugs are smuggled into the country and many innocent children have been sold into slavery. There must be regulation.

I believe myself to be very accepting of immigrants and their plight. I have no feelings of discrimination against these people seeking a better life. This book just made me more aware of the difficulties of their plight in all parts of the world but in particular the Kurds. I am glad that I had this eye opening experience by reading this book.

Leila's experience in Canada with the language did give me an aha moment. We often thing immigrants that know English should be able to converse with us and understand us. Showing how the idioms, cultural sayings, even speed of talking can get in the way of actually knowing another person will make me more understanding of immigrants. Since I retired from teaching, I work in the school system proctoring an English Efficiency exam a small part of the year. I meet many students from many different backgrounds and I am going to try a bit harder to have conversations with them after seeing how isolated Leila was in Canada because of her language.