前国土安全部副部长田约翰评论文章：卡玛拉·哈里斯将保持“美国梦”的活力

[丹奇]

作者：田约翰（John Tien），前美国国土安全部副部长

上世纪六七十年代，我在匹兹堡的松鼠山长大。当时我深深地为乔·格林、特里·布拉德肖和罗伯托·克莱门特的新闻所吸引。他们的种族或族裔不重要——他们是匹兹堡的英雄，代表着美国的无限可能。

我的父母选择在匹兹堡定居，因为它象征着机会。我的父亲一家为了躲避中国的迫害，辗转到了台湾，再到巴西，在那里他们开了一家以艾森豪威尔总统命名的餐馆——早已心怀“美国梦”。他们最终成为美国公民，我的父亲也遇见了我的母亲，一位由弗吉尼亚的天主教修女抚养长大的中国孤儿。

我记得我兴奋地乘坐电梯来到“学习大教堂”的顶楼，去探望在匹兹堡大学做行政助理的母亲。我也在卡内基理工学院（现卡内基梅隆大学）的校园里制造了不少麻烦，那时我的父亲正在攻读博士学位。我的妹妹和我在Colfax小学玩游戏，总希望晚餐能吃到“山上的炸鸡”。匹兹堡是我们真正的归属地。

多年来，我们都逐步实现了“美国梦”。我的父亲成了哥伦比亚大学工程系的系主任，母亲负责加州大学系统的学术参议会，我的妹妹在商业领域取得了成功。我以第一名的成绩从西点军校毕业，获得了罗德奖学金，曾在四届白宫政府任职，最近担任首位亚裔美国国土安全部副部长。

然而今天，“美国梦”正受到一个自称要“让美国再次伟大”的人的威胁，而他却在削弱他人的成功机会。唐纳德·特朗普的仇恨言论违背了我们《独立宣言》中“人人生而平等”的根本原则。

我自豪地为我的国家奉献了大半生，但特朗普不断的仇恨言论令我深感不安。他欢迎三K党成员参加集会，同时侮辱我们其他人。J.D.·万斯也通过散布谎言和阴谋论来攻击移民，这与特朗普在总统辩论中声称移民在俄亥俄州吃宠物的言论如出一辙。这些虚假言论导致斯普林菲尔德的多所学校收到炸弹威胁，危及无辜儿童的生命。

特朗普和他的顾问列出了一长串威胁。他的首席顾问斯蒂芬·米勒在邮件中赞扬了1924年的《排亚法案》，并呼吁“重新审视”1965年的《移民与国籍法》，该法案恢复了亚裔移民的合法地位。特朗普承诺将动用“外国敌人法案”，这是在二战期间用来将日裔美国人关押在集中营中的法律。这是对我们公民自由的公然侵犯。

在特朗普的执政期间，全国范围内的仇恨犯罪显著增加，包括2018年10月27日在匹兹堡的“生命之树”犹太教堂发生的惨案。在他的任期结束时，特朗普在司法部设立了一个“取消归化移民办公室”，并计划在如果再次当选后恢复该办公室。他还宣布计划通过行政命令终止出生公民权，这既违宪又极其危险。

特朗普领导的失败影响了我个人生活的方方面面。我的母亲于2021年1月因新冠去世。她尽了一切努力——戴口罩、保持社交距离、使用洗手液，但仍然感染了病毒。特朗普将戴口罩政治化，未能在全球疫情中展现领导力，导致数十万原本可以避免的死亡。他将新冠病毒称为“中国病毒”，还在全国范围内煽动了反亚裔的仇恨和暴力。他给数百万亚裔美国人带来了恐惧和创伤，包括我的母亲。在她生命的最后一年，她害怕出门——这一切都是因为特朗普。

然而，我的母亲从未失去对美国承诺的信心。2022年在匹兹堡的全球根除仇恨峰会上，我回顾了美国的潜力。这个国家的文化和历史根植于展望未来和追求梦想之中。这是我父母的梦想，是清教徒、爱尔兰裔、意大利裔以及无数移民社区的梦想，也是今天数千移民的梦想。这是出生在这里、世代居住在这里的人们的梦想，是每一个希望子女过得比自己更好之人的梦想。

美国需要一位能够为所有美国人捍卫这个梦想的领导人。我梦想一个我的中美混血女儿们可以相信自己可以成就一切的国家，一个这种信念可以成真的国家。我梦想一位奉献一生保护和服务全体美国人民的总统。这就是为什么我将投票支持卡玛拉·哈里斯作为下一任美国总统。

英文原稿：

Op-ed: Kamala Harris will keep the American Dream alive By John Tien, former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Growing up in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill during the 1960s and 70s, I was enthralled by the news of Mean Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw, and Roberto Clemente. Their race or ethnicity didn't matter—they were simply Pittsburgh's heroes. They represented what was possible in America.

My parents chose to settle in Pittsburgh because it represented opportunity. My father's family fled persecution in China, first to Taiwan, then Brazil, where they opened a restaurant named after President Eisenhower—already believing in the American Dream. They eventually became U.S. citizens, and my father met my mother, a Chinese orphan raised by Catholic nuns in Virginia.

I remember giddily taking the elevator to the top floors of the Cathedral of Learning to visit my mother where she worked as an administrative assistant at the University of Pittsburgh. I caused a bit too much trouble on Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon’s) campus while my father pursued his PhD. My sister and I played games at Colfax Elementary, always hoping we’d get Chicken on the Hill for dinner. Pittsburgh was where we belonged.

Over the years, we all made our way to the American Dream. My father became an engineering department head at Columbia University, my mother ran the academic senate for the California State University system, and my sister found success in business. I graduated as top cadet at West Point, won a Rhodes Scholarship, and served in four White House administrations, most recently as the first Asian American Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security.

But today, this American Dream is under threat from someone who claims to "make America great again" while undermining others' opportunities to succeed. Donald Trump's rhetoric of hate contradicts our Declaration of Independence's fundamental principle that "all men are created equal."

I have proudly served my country for most of my adult life, but Donald Trump’s continued rhetoric of hate shakes me to my core. He welcomes Ku Klux Klan members to their rallies while insulting the rest of us. J.D. Vance has also attacked immigrants with falsehoods and conspiracy theories, mirroring Trump’s claims during the Presidential Debate that immigrants were consuming pets in Ohio. These fabrications led to bomb threats at multiple schools in Springfield, endangering innocent children.

Trump and his advisors have made a laundry list of threats. His top advisor, Stephen Miller, sent emails praising the 1924 Asian Exclusion Act, and calling for “revisiting” the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 that allowed Asian immigration to resume. Trump is promising to invoke the “Alien Enemies Act,” last used to intern Japanese Americans in camps during World War II. This is a clear violation of our civil liberties.

During Trump’s administration, this country had a significant leap in hate crimes, including at our very own Tree of Life Synagogue here in Pittsburgh on October 27, 2018. At the end of his term, Trump established an Office to Denaturalize Immigrants at the Department of Justice, which he plans to bring back if he wins again. He has also announced plans to end birthright citizenship by Executive Order, which is unconstitutional and outright dangerous.

The impact of Trump's leadership failures hit home personally. My mother died of COVID-19 in January 2021. She did everything she was supposed to—she masked, she distanced, she hand-sanitized. And yet, she got sick. Trump politicized mask-wearing and failed to lead during a global pandemic, resulting in hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths. By calling the coronavirus the “Chinese virus,” he also fueled anti-Asian hate and violence across the country. He instilled fear and trauma into millions of Asian Americans across our nation, including my mother. In the last year of her life, my mother was afraid to go outside–all because of Trump.

Yet my mother never lost faith in America's promise. Speaking at the Global Eradicate Hate Summit in Pittsburgh in 2022, I reflected on America's potential. This nation's culture and history are rooted in looking ahead and dreaming. It was my parents’ dream. It was the dream of the Pilgrims, of waves of Irish, Italian and many other immigrant communities, and is the dream of thousands of immigrants today. It is the dream of people who were born here, whose families have been here for generations. It is the dream of every person who has ever wanted something better for their children than what they had.

America needs a leader who will defend this dream for all Americans. I dream of a country where my half-Chinese American daughters believe they can be anything, and where that belief is justified. I dream of a president who has dedicated their life to serving and protecting all Americans. That is why I am voting for Kamala Harris as the next President of the United States.

(哈里斯竞选总部通稿）