Nineteen times in 90 minutes.

That’s how often former President Donald Trump dehumanized immigrants and stoked fear during last week’s debate. Nineteen times in 90 minutes. That’s how many times he wrongly blamed immigrants and used harmful language. That’s how many times Trump sought to destroy a nation made up of immigrants, generations of immigrants and others who contribute to our society. That’s how many times Trump went against the tenets of almost every faith tradition that asks us “to love our neighbors,” welcome the stranger and live with compassion. That’s how many times Trump called forth fear of others in his bid to win the presidency for himself.

Of course, it wasn’t the first time. Just two months ago, Trump said that migrants were “not humans; they’re not humans, they’re animals.” Remember this is how the seeds of hate and violence are planted and rationalized. We have seen this before, both in our world and our country. Once people are labelled “animals,” if conditions are ripe and people do not speak out, it becomes legitimate to commit violence. This is one of the dehumanization tactics that the Nazis used.

As the author David Livingston Smith argues, dehumanization “opens the door for cruelty.”

“The problem of dehumanization,” he writes, “is everyone’s problem.”

Trump has also recently been using the Nazi strategy of accusing immigrants of of “poisoning the blood of our country” – even going so far as to extend this hatred to children. He puts it this way: “And they’re loading up … our school classes with children that don’t speak the language. They don’t speak our language, and nobody knows what’s going on. No, we are poisoning our country.”

This is not Trump being rhetorical. This is inexcusable. Our children (regardless of race, language or immigration status) are the very best of ourselves. For their sake and our future, how can we begin to move to a new place?

Maybe reflection can help. Who were your ancestors? How did they come to be here? Were they immigrants? Indigenous people? People who were enslaved?

If your family immigrated to the U.S., put yourself in your ancestors’ shoes. Why did they leave? Was it economic desperation? Were they fleeing violence? Were they just seeking a better life for their children and grandchildren – for you? Take time to learn the stories of people who have recently arrived in Maine.

Last year, my church – the Cumberland Congregational Church, UCC – sponsored a series with Prince Memorial Library, “From Africa to Maine,” to help people hear these stories. How does your family’s story connect with our your neighbors’ stories?

Finally, there is one thing I am sure we can all agree on, although we may wish it weren’t so: We have a broken immigration system that needs change.

I do not write this op-ed with naïveté. We have overwhelmed cities and face extremely complicated problems, but let’s be honest: The bipartisan immigration bill put forth this year (after decades of gridlock) was sabotaged by Trump because he wanted to run on anti-immigrant hate. Trump put his ego before our country because he thought he could convince a majority of Americans to vote based on fear – on the unfounded fear of “animals” at the border, who are, in fact, just people desperately seeking hope, safety and a better life.

Trump’s goal in this debate was to dehumanize and demonize, to distract from all that he has done wrong, to damage our common humanity, to divide us from each other and to dismantle our democracy. Trump seeks to give hatred and fear of others the upper hand. But he is missing something.

He underestimates the goodness that connects us, no matter where we are from. Each and every time we see each other as sisters, brothers, siblings, kin and neighbors, we have already won.