PITTSBURGH,PA - Last week, Trump supporters launched viral attacks against a group of Bhutanese refugees voting in Pittsburgh. They claimed that “illegals” were being shipped into vote en masse at early voting locations in the Pittsburgh suburb of South Park.
I went to an early vote party hosted by Lhotshampa refugees, the Nepalese-speaking ethnic minority of Bhutan, who were driven out of that country by its genocidal dictator king seeking to drive out an ethnic minority that comprised nearly 35% of the small Himalayan country.
See, the Tree of Life Synagogue shooter Robert Bowers lived in a Mon Valley community, where thousands of Nepalese-speaking Bhutanese fleeing genocide had relocated. He looked around him, and he felt like immigrants were invading this community, but he had nothing to fear from these Lhotshampa refugees.
These refugees were excited to be Americans and help rebuild the deindustrialized Mon Valley. So, last week, I decided to attend a "Vote Early" party with them and head to the polls to cast my vote with them.
They threw a great party in a church social room, complete with dancing and Nepalese food that was nearly impossible to find in Pittsburgh a decade ago. Kids played games and ran around—it was truly a great time. Then, we all went together to the very same location at the South Park ice skating rink and voted together.
Many were voting for the first time and excited.
“These folks, they spent 20, more than 20 years in a refugee camp. So once they came here, they go through the process of becoming citizens,” says Parshu Chamlagai of Bhutanese Community Association of Pittsburgh. “Then once they become US citizens, are naturalized citizens, now they are eligible to vote. And he is a privilege. He is a proud moment for all of us.”
Watch the full video from the early voting party of Bhutanese refugees
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