Rhode Island by Way of Minnesota - Xay Khamsyvoravong

Rhode Island by Way of Minnesota - Xay Khamsyvoravong

I am proud to be a born-and-raised Rhode Islander, but my existence is due to the generosity extended to my father by a group of complete strangers from Minnesota nearly 50 years ago. 

 

My father escaped Laos as it fell to communism during the Vietnam War. He took an aluminum skiff across the Mekong River to Thailand, where he spent his early teenage years in a refugee camp. In the late 1970s, a church group halfway around the world helped bring him to their community in Minnesota, saving him from war-ravaged Southeast Asia and starting him on a legal pathway to citizenship.

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My father eventually reconnected with relatives who had immigrated directly to Rhode Island. In the decades that followed, they worked exceptionally hard to become model U.S. citizens: business owners, factory workers, police officers, firefighters - even some middle school sports coaches.

 

To this point, I do not take for granted that the son of a refugee had the opportunity to serve as Mayor of one of America’s most iconic cities.

 

The urgency and purpose with which I serve our community is a direct reflection of my gratitude for the opportunities this country and state have afforded my family. Part of that responsibility is to try and make things better where I can, which requires speaking up when I believe my voice has relevance.

 

As I watch the news coming out of Minnesota, I wonder if the faces I see are the children and grandchildren of the families who sponsored my father. I question what they would expect in this moment, of the son of the young man they helped reach the American Dream.

 

What is unfolding in Minnesota is weakening our country and its future. The immigration system that once afforded my father a pathway to escape oppression and war has been broken for a long time. The recent escalation in Minnesota is making the situation infinitely worse. It needs to end now.

 

My family's story is just one of many immigrant stories like this in Rhode Island and across America. If you dig deep enough, I think you’ll find a similar story somewhere in your family’s history, and I hope you reflect upon it and share it.

 

Xay is the former Mayor of Newport and former Chairman of Providence Water.  He currently serves as Chair of the Governor's Workforce Board and as a Newport City Councilor.