I married an immigrant

Kenneth and Dr. Shenifa Taite are the proud parents of three daughters-Kalilah (13), Kadira (10), and Kehara (6). Shenifa and Kenneth have been married for 17 years.
Photo special to the Outlook

By Kenneth Taite

Special to the Outlook

I married an immigrant and by extension, married into an immigrant family. They arrived on the shores of this country seeking asylum from IDI AMIN, a despotic madman who rose to power in my wife’s homeland of Uganda. In my over 25 years of getting to know my wife and in-laws, I have experienced a loving, hardworking and God-fearing people; a mix of Muslims and Christians who have the nerve to dream of a better life for themselves and their children and work hard to make the dream a reality.

My in-laws are successful entrepreneurs, doctors, nurses, (academia), and craftsmen and they seem to all choose careers that directly give back to the country that has given them so much – The United States of America. Some of my in-laws settled in Canada and England but they too add more than they take from their adopted homelands.

I say all this to say that ALL serious Americans who love this country, love what it is supposed to stand for and most of all love God, should not stand for the separation of children from their families regardless of how they arrived in this country. We are literally cursing ourselves and ensuring a day when we will be judged harshly by the Almighty. It’s hard to understand why our leaders don’t understand this or feel the inevitable tidal wave of judgment that will crash down on top of us, but the thing is, regardless of whether you feel it or not, it’s still coming. Detention centers for toddlers and infants are not supposed to be what we do in this country. We are supposed to be THE country that can figure this out without losing the moral high ground. Calling a “kiddie jail” a TENDER AGE CENTER is like spraying Chanel Blue Perfume on a pile of dog feces – it hardly masks the underlying issue.

Please pray with me tonight for a quick and acceptable resolution to this American-made crisis. I would also ask that you add works to your faith and do something: Vote! Donate! Canvas! Write! Call! Do something. I couldn’t imagine life without my beautiful immigrant and the family and life that we have built together.

Editor’s note: Shenifa Moledina Taite, PhD, is currently the Director of Instructional Design and Media Production at The Florida State University College of Medicine.   Haggai Construction & Development Inc. is led by owner Kenneth E. Taite, who has over 16 years of formal training and field experience in the Design and Construction Industry. The Taite Family’s favorite summer trip is to Pensacola beach and they plan to travel one day to Shenifa’s homeland of Uganda, East Africa.