Thread by @HMAesq

#Christmas is a day of remembrance and strengthening family bonds. The border wall behind me cuts those bonds. It disintegrates families seeking inalienable dignity.

It is a monument to bigotry, a piece of physical xenophobia.

The picture is from my trip to Tijuana in August when I spent a few days advising asylum seekers. I am standing on the Mexican side, but technically inside the US.

Here, hope and despair run feverishly as two turbulent rivers, each vying for victory in these roaring rapids.

Tonight, entire families hunker down in a tent city not a hundred yards from where this picture was taken, their futures deliberately made cruelly uncertain, and still our government throws up more walls of bureaucracy designed to break the spirit under a huge "closed" sign.

Please take a moment to remember these families today. Remember the universal respect for human dignity. Remember they are us.

Feeling close to family tonight? Remember that warm glow, so pronounced on a festive day like Christmas.

Let us work to ensure no one is denied that light. Those are our core values as Virginians, as Americans, and as human beings. That compassion must be where our policy begins: do not fall for the lie that compassion is weakness.

It is strength.

#MerryChristmas to all celebrating, and wishing all of you a safe, prosperous, and rejuvenating holiday season.

Let's remember who we are, and who we need to be.

#happyholidays