Since my last post about Syria, number forty-five decided to take action and bomb Syria. No matter if we get Assad out, what will happen to Syrian currently living under fire? What America is doing is currently creating many Syrian refugees, yet not opening up any borders. The debate about weather or not to allow refugees into our country has spiked up recently within the last couple of weeks.
We know number forty-five’s stance clearly since he proposed the 7 Muslim nation ban that stopped people from countries like Syria from entering the country. The argument for allowing refugees in is that many of the people are fleeing from war. I don’t think people realize how insane the environment is in Syria when trump was running for president I heard many jokes about how “I’m moving to Canada” that is exactly what American privilege is. It’s believing that you have the right to flee from your country because of its environment yet when citizens of Syria who are dying and suffering from chemical attacks try to get to safety, they are turned away. Refugees not just from Syria should be welcome. According to National Geographic, there are at least 1.6 million war refugees in Turkey alone, and another 8 million who have been displaced in Syria itself. It is these suffering people that need new homes, away from all the terror and fighting that Syria has become.
Many United States citizens are willing to support refugees by giving different services like homes, food, and even a new life. America has gotten better with refugees, 13,210 refugees from Syria alone were able to enter America in 2016, which according to cnsnews.com, is 675% more refugees than 2015. Other reasons to let Refugees in are that they are subjected to the highest level of security checks of any category of the traveler in the United States. In addition, the U.S had led the world in refugee resettlement since world war two, and it can and should do more to respond to the growing humanitarian crisis. Lastly, the U.S is admitting the most vulnerable refugees into the country, focusing on women, children, and survivors of violence. This is not putting anyone in danger.
An argument against letting in refugees is that it will increase terrorism within the United States. This is actually completely false. But several studies, over many years, have concluded that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than people born in the United States. And experts say the available evidence does not support the idea that undocumented immigrants commit a disproportionate share of crime. Other arguments people against letting refugees say that the U.S cannot adequately screen refugees when there are no records to check against and fraudulent documents are in wide circulation. Even though there have been no terrorist attacks on any immigrants from Trump’s ban list.
Trump’s policy has thus far been predicated on the assumption that allowing Syrian refugees into our country runs counter to his security goals, having stated throughout his campaign that we need to stop refugee resettlement until we figure out “what’s going on.” On April 9, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley explained that “it’s hard to know based on the vetting process.” When pressed as to whether she thinks Syrian children really pose a risk to the American people, Haley responded, “Syrian children have to come with Syrian adults.”
The president has stated that the freeze on the resettlement program is temporary and its continuation contingent on a review of the vetting procedures and associated security measures. That in it is not an unreasonable position. But if the president is sincere, if this is not simply a “Muslim ban” in disguise, he should swiftly realize that the U.S. is in a far more luxurious position than our European and Arab partners. Very few refugees can show up at our borders or on our shores seeking asylum, and for Syrians, it is nearly impossible. The truth is that the United States fully controls the resettlement process, and it is an intensely selective one — out of about 18,000 Syrian refugees admitted into the United States through resettlement since 2011, not one has been involved in a terrorist attack.
Lastly, and most importantly, the president should rethink his “ISIS-first” policy in Syria, and recognize that the refugee crisis is an unavoidable result of Assad’s war against the Syrian people. If the past is any indication, absent a decision to force Assad from power, preferably through a political process, the Syrian dictator will continue to utilize all conventional methods of attack to terrorize the Syrian population into submission. Whether or not you support the immigration of refugees into the united states, something needs to be done about the suffering Syrians, especially since America is displacing so many of them.
In my opinion, there needs to be a major renovation of the process for refugees for come to America. Obviously, very many people want/NEED to come here for safety but they are unable because it is impossible to get the paperwork to be completed in a timely fashion. I remember reading an article about a single mother in Syria who wanted to come to America, but it took 15 months for her to hear anything back once submitting the necessary things to come here, and even then, she had to wait longer. It really upset me and made me realize how difficult the process really is. Once this problem is fixed and the United States is more accepting of refugees, they will no longer have to live in fear daily in their dangerous home countries, just as you included in this post.
Iman, I really like this post because it’s very informative and puts many things into perspective. I will definitely admit, I was one of the people to talk about moving to Canada if trump became president just because I hate him so much. But you’re exactly right, that’s so privileged to think that way when there are people struggling like in Syria. I also think it’s super ironic how we apparently care enough to attack Syria yet not let in those who are struggling!! It’s just sad.