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(I've been shopping here ever since I moved into my building 3 blocks
north on Third Ave in 1979. You have to be careful, however, because
they are price-gougers to some extent. I never paid much attention to
the people working there but they always struck me as ethnically diverse
and a bit distant. It turns out that they are mostly refugees from
places torn by war and political persecution. I guess that compensates
for the price-gouging, at least in my book.)
NY Times, Nov. 18 2015
A Manhattan Hardware Store Welcomes Refugees as Governors Vow to Shut
Them Out
About New York
By JIM DWYER
Chris Christie of New Jersey and at least 25 other governors have said
they do not want Syrian refugees to come to their states.
Then again, there is Wankel’s, a family-owned hardware store that opened
on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in the 19th century. For decades, it
has hired people who came to the United States fleeing violence and
persecution.
“People coming from really bad situations, trying to make a better life
in America,” said Sean Wankel, 32, vice president of Wankel’s. “Or a life.”
The refugees come to Wankel’s through resettlement agencies like
Catholic Charities or the International Rescue Committee and stay for a
few months or years as they get their bearings in a new world. On a wall
map, colored pins mark the three dozen countries from which the Wankel
workers have come.
Felix Royce, 39, started in the store two months ago. Like many before
him, he is new to retail work; in Nigeria, he had been a pastor and an
author. He said the picture on his book jacket made him a target of the
Boko Haram, a murderous sect of anti-Western Islamists who rose in a
swamp of official corruption and violence. Among Boko Haram’s infamous
atrocities was the kidnapping of scores of schoolgirls in 2014.
“They organize mock street fights and send little kids with suicide
bombs,” Mr. Royce said. “ISIS is more sensible than Boko Haram. You
would have insiders, police officers and politicians who collaborate
with the Boko Haram. You didn’t know who to trust.”
In fear of his life, he said, he made his way to Houston and applied for
asylum, appearing without a lawyer three times in front of immigration
judges before being formally admitted to the United States. He, his wife
and their two children now live in the Bronx, aided by the International
Rescue Committee.
“I am sitting here,” he said, “trying to put my life together. We are
just trying to find our feet.”
Mr. Royce said he had been closely following the news of the attacks in
Paris on Friday evening by bombers and gunmen connected to the Islamic
State, also called ISIS or ISIL.
A tiny fraction of the refugees leaving Syria have been permitted into
the United States — fewer than nine a week between Oct. 1, 2011, and
Sept. 30 of this year, a total of 1,854 — as an estimated four million
people fled the deteriorating nation. President Obama said the United
States would accept 10,000 refugees from Syria in the coming fiscal
year. Republicans in Congress and in statehouses are objecting, saying
that terrorists like those involved in the Paris attacks could
camouflage themselves in the stream of legitimate refugees.
Representative Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, the newly
inaugurated House speaker, called for a “pause” in the refugee
resettlement program. Mr. Christie, seeking the Republican presidential
nomination, released a letter he sent to the president.
“I write to inform you that I will not accept any refugees from Syria in
the wake of the deadly terrorist attack in Paris,” he wrote, saying
federal screening procedures were inadequate. “Neither you nor any
federal official can guarantee that Syrian refugees will not be part of
any terroristic activity.”
New Yorkers might imagine police barricades being set up around the
World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, to prevent people from fleeing the
collapsing towers because no one could guarantee they would not be part
of any future terroristic activity.
It is not clear whether Mr. Christie or any other governor can refuse to
“accept” refugees. As a practical matter, New Jersey does not have
border controls, and probably could not set up traffic lanes for
citizenship papers at places like the Lincoln Tunnel.
Other Republican candidates, including Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush, said they
would permit Christian refugees from Syria, but not Muslims.
At the hardware store where he has found work, in a city where he and
his family have taken refuge, Mr. Royce was polite in assessing the
proposed restrictions.
“Some people are saying, let them be, let them stay there,” he said. “I
wouldn’t subscribe to that. There are innocent ones out there. This
would mean there is no hope for them. If you screen, there are good ones
among the bad. Everyone from Syria is not from ISIS. If you leave
everybody, ISIS will take advantage of them.”
Mr. Wankel was asked if his business had room for Syrian refugees.
“Certainly,” he said. “If they are coming through the International
Rescue Committee or Catholic Charities, I’d do it. They have a tough
life. If I was in Syria, I’d want to get the heck out.”
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