Walter Mondale stood at the epicenter of my immigrant life.
Mondale was my father's first senator. In 1969, my father immigrated from India for postgraduate study at the University of Minnesota thanks to the Immigration and Nationality Act supported by Mondale during his first year in the Senate.
Mondale was one of the first elected officials my father ever turned to for assistance. In 1974, my father wrote to him when my mother's visa processing was delayed, and within two weeks Mondale responded in a letter my father treasures to this day.
And in 1984, Mondale was the first presidential candidate for whom my father cast his vote.
My beloved but troubled state and nation has lost one of its great sons, a man who for me — the daughter of immigrants and the executive director of the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota — will always be remembered for his advocacy on behalf of immigrants and refugees.
In 1979, a few months after my birth, Mondale spoke to the United Nations and called on the world to come to the aid of refugees from Vietnam. "History will not forgive us if we fail," Mondale said. "History will not forget us if we succeed."
The world and the United States heeded Mondale's words. Southeast Asian countries provided temporary homes, and several other nations agreed to resettle Vietnamese refugees. Here in Minnesota, thousands of refugees from Vietnam rebuilt their lives and transformed our communities.
Thirty years later, in the Washington Post, Mondale lamented the slashing of refugee admissions amid "a humanitarian refugee crisis of unprecedented proportions." He reminded us that refugees arrive at our borders because "they have no other choice — for many, if they stay, they will be persecuted, subjected to traumatic events such as torture, or killed." And he exhorted us to contact our representatives, to advocate for increased refugee admissions, and to vote.
