Helping the Ambassador

Robin Bernstein, the woman appointed by President Donald Trump as ambassador to the Dominican Republic, has unleashed her “patriotic feelings” again, declaring that she would defend stateless U.S. citizens who are supposedly residing in our country. Her words are not dissimilar from the speeches we heard from the previous representative, whose actions marked our internal politics.

It is still shocking though, because the leader of the United States openly parades his hostility toward immigrants, without even a thought about the fragility of their conditions. For example, the youth who were brought to the U.S. with their parents are the target of deportation threats. More than 10 million young people live in this unstable situation.

A leader who scorns humane feelings should not preach or dictate rules of humaneness to others. Anyhow, in various publications, we have noticed some distraction or confusion regarding the propriety of what Bernstein has said. But if her comments were meant as they have been perceived, she is working with precarious information, prejudice, confusion or utter ignorance regarding the Dominican Republic or about the history of the entire island.

Maybe she could be forgiven for her ignorance of the island’s history. But she should follow Police Chaplain Alejandro Cabrera’s advice regarding our national history: “With all my respect and kindness for this woman, the possible ambassador, she should study and steep herself in our history so that she can perform her job better. If she loves them so much, she should create a visa process so that they can go to the United States, or give them asylum in the U.S. Embassy and take care of them, protecting them the best she can.”

It isn’t bad that the United States is paying attention to stateless people. That could even help residents within their own borders. Here, it should be required that she understand our reality and that it be explained to her as many times as necessary to understand life on our island.

I hope no one is offended. The United States is a friendly nation that doesn’t always understand its neighbors. We will tolerate the ambassador and help her to understand.