Every new refugee to a society, whether it's the United States or some other place, is subjected to fear. They are the new outsider population, the new other.

My identity is deeply intertwined with being a refugee because that's the first experience that I remember.

People may be vaguely aware that there's suffering in Iraq and Afghanistan, but simply because the media are filled with American-centric versions, we still see the experiences through the American perspective. We are just completely ignorant of what might be happening to other people.

If you're a so-called minority writer, the temptation is to write for the majority... I refuse to do that.

Immigrants, as troubling as they are to some people, are an integral part of what the American Dream is supposed to be. They're understandable to a considerable number of Americans.

Refugees are threatening, not just to Americans, but also in many countries the world over. And it's partially because, unlike immigrants, refugees do not choose where they're going to go or why they're fleeing, and they are unwanted populations. They bring with them the stigma of disaster.

Hollywood in many ways serves as the unofficial ministry of propaganda for the United States.