Denial of U.S. Ally's Citizenship. Good or Bad Call?

U.S. Denys Ally Visa

I came across a story concerning the denial of a U.S. ally's visa that sheds new light on the drastic security measures that America has been forced to implement. The reason Janis Shinwari's (pictured right) story is so interesting to me is because it truly defines where we are as a country right now in terms of national security. This is a man who fought alongside our troops for seven years as a translator and yet we still are unable to grant him access to our country as a citizen. He has fought in armed combat alongside his American comrades and been trusted with their lives and the livelihoods of all Americans yet we are forced to look at him as an outsider who doesn't belong in our community. As bad as it sounds, it is something that we find ourselves forced to confront because of the state that the world is in today. A man who has provided the link to a society that we know little about, his own homeland, is unable to join our community because there is always the lingering threat that he may be a terrorist. Is it racist or are we just carefully protecting our own people? Is Janis Shinwari not just as much of an American as me or you? Is he even more of an American because he was willing to fight with our troops and put the safety of his family on the line just to call himself one of us? These are tough questions and they have no easy answer. Maybe it isn't just him but everybody that must face such tough scrutiny in the world that we live in. My communications teacher Dr. Burns is an American who used to report for CNN and because of his frequent trips to the middle east, he finds himself being searched every time he tries to board a plane. We live in a time of uncertainty where even the most dedicated Americans are sometimes not even actual American citizens. A time where a brave man fighting for a controversial cause against his own people can't be considered an American. I personally can't say I have ever laid my life on the line for the United States which is why I'm sure I owe this country more than Janis Shinwari does. Yet I still enjoy the good life while Shinwari has to look over his shoulder to make sure the Taliban aren't hot on his heals. The paranoid world we live in could be what keeps us out of trouble or it could be the very thing that invites trouble to our doorstep, only time will tell.