#RefugeesWelcome: Samantha Power invites Syrian refugee family over for dinner and a photo-op

Brett T. | 9:38 PM on December 30, 2015

Samantha Power, United States ambassador to the United Nations, wants to welcome refugees into the country with open arms. The next time you think you’re being clever by asking Power how many Syrian refugee families she’s taken in, keep in mind that she’s taken in one family more than you have — for dinner and a photo-op — and just might have them back for her Super Bowl party.

Samantha Power, U.S. ambassador to the UN, invited a family of refugees over for dinner https://t.co/JAFm1mwxUl pic.twitter.com/wcu2zqVhrP

— NYT Photo (@nytimesphoto) December 31, 2015

The New York Times notes that the Al Teibawi family, who have settled in New Jersey, weren’t greeted at the airport by U.S. government officials, unlike those lucky refugees who landed in Canada and were personally greeted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Perhaps to make up for that slight, the Al Teibawis were invited to join Power for dinner at her official penthouse residence atop the Waldorf Towers.

“I wanted to make sure that at least one family could hear directly from me as a representative of President Obama but also as an immigrant, myself, to this country just how much we value the contribution that we know that they’ll make to this country,” Power told the Times.

Power is from Ireland, while her husband, Cass Sunstein, is proud of his Lithuanian lineage. “Over a meal of pizza, chicken parmigiana and spaghetti, broccoli and salad, Mr. Sunstein welcomed them and mentioned that the immigration papers of his great-great-Lithuanian ancestors were hung in another room. “We’re a nation of immigrants,” Mr. Sunstein said. What a curious thing to say over pizza.