It took me awhile to decide what topic I would want to focus on for my civic issues blog, but it is because of this current event that i decided to concentrate on politics in America. The Syrian Refugee Crisis is a very popular, but heated topic when it comes to American politics. In this post I will explore both sides to the argument, and why it has been harder for the United States to completely receive and give asylum to Syrian refugees.
As I was researching this current event, it was evident that America was handing the situation with a lot more opposition than in other countries. While it seems like most European countries are offering aid and asylum, America is having a harder time because of the american ideal of freedom of speech, and taking a stance. The opposition itself is not necessarily a bad or evil thought, but it is when fear turns to racism, That is when the problem really begins to arise.
These racist thoughts and actions are what is making those who oppose allowing refugees, look bad. The main idea of opposition for the refugees, is to protect the country. The main reason for this overprotective attitude is from the idea that a fleeing terrorist could disguise himself as a refugee and infiltrate the United States. For those in support, they hold a couple of signs talking about how the nation needs to be compassionate, but in a way, isn’t protecting your own country being compassionate for your fellow Americans? “Security comes first” is one of the things tweeted by Texas Governor Greg Abbott when he announced how he would not be taking in any refugees.
Now looking at the other side, for the people that support the idea of allowing refugees to be given asylum within american states, they see this as a test of American values. Even the Obama administration has said that rejecting these refugees would only be a “betrayal of our values.” Going off of this, America is seeing as the world police. Whenever foreign nations come into trouble in their own countries, the United States is usually there to help whether that help is of force like the military or it is to help regulate a new government. Thus, a strong American value to the supporters is America’s duty to help countries in need. To them the fear that the opposing side has is rooted on racism, and is only showing off one of America’s biggest shame, as a country who tries to represent itself as free and welcoming to all people, as they were all created equally and given the same basic rights. There is even a controversy surrounding the crisis that states how this opposition is only another benefit for ISIS, as it helps support their claim on how America is anti-Islamic and an enemy to all Muslims.
In the end, this issue is dealing with one of the most debated topics in american politics which argues about how involved should the United States be with overseas issues or should it even be as involved with outside matters. The Syrian refugee crisis is questioning core values and questioning the idea of who should the nation protect or who is prioritized. Do we protect ourselves based on a fear that is rooted on assumptions or do we offer aid and risk the possible chance that there could be a terrorist within the refugee groups?