To the editor,

Asked if Iowa would welcome refugees fleeing a war-torn country half a world away, our Republican governor said that we’d take our fair share. Many came. The governor himself says they boosted our economy and enhanced our culture.

It makes me proud to be an Iowan, knowing our state cared about education, global citizenship and honest hospitality. Thank you, Governor Robert Ray. You ennobled us all by doing the right thing back in 1975.

Now Iowa is shamed. Irrational fear or greed seems to compel our current governor to turn his back and slam the door on human suffering. Can that be Christian? Can that be Iowan?