Courier Journal Editorial Board

Dear Sen. Rand Paul,

Hello from your constituents in Kentucky, the state that ranks ninth in the nation for the number of refugee arrivals. You may remember we’re the commonwealth proudly known for feeding and clothing people from war-torn areas, providing health care, education and the path to citizenship.

You should know this, of course, because Bowling Green, the city you’ve called home for more than 25 years, is one of the primary cities in Kentucky where refugees resettle.

That’s why we’re so distressed — and frankly, puzzled — about what you said in a recent Breitbart interview about being willing to pay for a plane ticket to send Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota back to her native Somalia so she can learn to be “grateful” to America for taking her in when she was a child.

What?

Like many Americans — including President Donald Trump — Rep. Omar (who gained her American citizenship in 2000) made the “mistake” of criticizing some aspects of her country and questioning some of its policies. Isn’t that something you’ve done repeatedly over the years, Senator?

Over your career, we recall you slamming the Environmental Protection Agency, questioning parts of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and railing against U.S. foreign aid and even military involvement in conflicts overseas.

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As a member of Congress elected by the voters — an accomplishment shared by Rep. Omar, by the way — you have criticized the Federal Reserve, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the war in Afghanistan and even the Supreme Court.

On the Affordable Care Act, you said, “Just because a couple of people on the Supreme Court declare something to be ‘constitutional’ does not make it so. The whole thing remains unconstitutional.”

But you were born in Pittsburgh, so we guess that makes it OK. There’s no need for us to question your patriotism or send you back to your ancestral home, right?

President Trump started this absurd controversy on July 14 when he tweeted that "'Progressive' Democratic Congresswomen," referring to Rep. Omar and three other Democrats — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan — should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came” instead of criticizing the United States.

We can’t ignore the irony. Didn’t the former reality TV star land in the White House after vehemently slamming American policies, dissing respected politicians on both sides of the political aisle and trumpeting a campaign slogan that screamed, “Make America Great Again?”

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But apparently Rep. Omar and the other three congresswomen singled out by Trump — even those diverse women born in America — aren’t truly Americans.

Is that how you see it, Senator?

We believe it must be because instead of calling out Trump’s comments as being un-American, you sided with him and even offered money to help send Rep. Omar back to Somalia. Regretfully, it appears you, too, have decided only those born here in this nation of immigrants get to be “real Americans” with full rights, privileges and a platform to question decisions made by our government.

First Amendment, be damned.

Or, maybe those principles apply only to certain immigrants who come to America from other countries, say Melania Trump or Elaine Chao.

Sen. Paul, we discussed your reckless remarks with folks around the state, including with some of your constituents who have resettled in Kentucky. One is Farhan Abdi, director of the Somali Community Center in Louisville. He’s disturbed by what he heard.

Your words seem to say, “If you are not born here and came from another country, you don’t have the right to talk about our politics, you don’t have the right to speak up for your people,” he said.

Abdi came to Louisville from Somali 11 years ago and is now a U.S. citizen. He says it’s not right to call people ungrateful for speaking out about issues in our country.

We’re being told, “Be quiet, like a baby,” Abdi said.

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Sen. Paul, you say that Rep. Omar called America a “terrible country.” Did you actually read her New York Times op-ed column?

We did, and here’s what she said:

“The America we arrived in was different from the one my grandfather had hoped to find. The land of opportunity he imagined was in fact full of challenges. People identified me in ways that were foreign to me: immigrant, black. I learned that these identities carried stigmas, and I experienced prejudice as a visibly Muslim woman. But the beauty of this country is not that our democracy is perfect. It’s that embedded in our Constitution and democratic institutions are the tools to make it better,” she wrote.

And this:

“The proudest moments in our history — from the Emancipation Proclamation to the civil rights movement to the struggle against fascism — have come when we fight to protect and expand basic democratic rights. Today, democracy is under attack once again. It’s time to respond with the kind of conviction that has made America great before.”

She hardly sounds like someone who is “about as ungrateful as you can get.”

She sounds like an American.

Let us remind you of your response.

“Well, she came here and we fed her, we clothed her, she got welfare, she got (schooling), she got health care, and then, lo and behold, she has the honor of actually winning a seat in Congress, and she says we’re a terrible country? I think that’s about as ungrateful as you can get… And so — I’m willing to contribute to buy her a ticket to go visit Somalia … and I think she can look and maybe learn a little bit about the disaster that is Somalia — that has no capitalism, has no God-given rights guaranteed in a constitution, and has about seven different tribes that have been fighting each other for the last 40 years.

"And then, maybe after she's visited Somalia for a while, she might come back and appreciate America more."

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Those aren’t the words of someone who embraces a libertarian point of view, Sen. Paul. Sounds more like an authoritarian to us.

America belongs to all U.S. citizens — whether we were born in Pittsburgh or Mogadishu. You have no greater right to it than Rep. Omar, one of two Muslim women in the House.

In fact, Abdi says it’s you, Sen. Paul, who should be grateful. You should appreciate that so many people from different countries have settled in Kentucky and elsewhere in the nation, bringing so many interesting cultures to our land.

“We are working hard,” Abdi said. “We are doing the best we can to make this state and this country better.”

So, here’s our offer, Senator: We stand ready to buy you a ticket to come visit Abdi and others at the Somali Community Center here in Louisville. We will invite Rep. Omar, too.

And perhaps then we can have a reasoned, productive conversation with constituents in Kentucky about our country’s biggest challenges and those issues that unite all Americans.

That would be far better than the destructive and irresponsible sound bites you offered to a far-right media source to curry favor with President Trump.

We look forward to seeing you both.

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