I originally left a version of this as a comment on one of my friend’s Facebook posts as a reply to some of the comments he received. I thought I would post it here, as a rare venture out of my socio-political cave (I’m about to go back in).
Luckily, I have not seen too many hateful comments or opposition to the US accepting Syrian refugees in my Facebook timeline. Twitter, the news… sure. It’s everywhere. In any case, I thought maybe someone would be interested in a perspective I consider to be quite logical and based on research (albeit quick research… I am still at work) to explain why letting Syrian refugees into this country is perfectly fine. My sources are below.
I am in favor of accepting Syrian refugees into this country. This post is in response to those who oppose, whether out of fear, hate, religious intolerance, politics, or some combination thereof.
Let’s consider a few things:
1) The individuals that have been identified in the attacks are French nationals that are known to have visited Syria. This means that they’re French citizens that left the country to visit an ISIS-occupied state, then re-entered the country and committed terrorist attacks. There are also reports that the French government was warned about certain individuals but did not/could not take any action upon the time of warning. These individuals are not outsiders. They’re insiders.
2) The discovered passport at the Bataclan has, at the time of this writing, yet to have its owner identified and verified.
3) All refugees coming in to the US must be vetted. No matter what one thinks of the current vetting process, the fact that there is one decreases the chances of having terrorists amongst the 10,000 refugees. It may not be foolproof – it will never be 100% – but the existing process does decrease the chances.
4) Allegedly, the refugee vetting process is more rigorous than ones immigrants must go through. This is a claim made by Debra DeBondt, executive director for Opening Doors in Sacramento, which is a nonprofit that helps place refugees in the region. A senior administration official claims that the process is “the most rigorous screening of any traveler to the U.S.” According to Time, 750,000 refugees have been admitted to the US since 9/11 (UPDATE 11-19-2015: Depending on the source, 1,800 – 2,200 of those refugees are from Syria). None have been arrested on domestic terrorism charges but two individuals were charged with activities aiding al-Qaeda. That’s 2.666%. Given that no system is foolproof, that is a good success rate.
Consider this information with the fact that within millions of American citizens, documented immigrants, and undocumented immigrants, terrorists with foreign sympathies already exist, supported by smaller attacks made on US soil since 9/11. Regardless of whether or not they’re US citizens, as the Paris attack suspects are French citizens, the fact remains that terrorists are already here. As there is no way the government is going to subject millions of American residents to a homeland vetting process, an act which would essentially reduce us to a military state and another “Red Scare” (and no, NSA spying does not count as a vetting process), it stands to reason that we have more of a chance of having unknown terrorists already in this country than we do acquiring new ones via Syrian refugees.
If the refugee vetting process is more rigorous than any other travel vetting process, that also means we have more of a chance of letting a terrorist into the country by other means of travel than we do by accepting Syrian refugees.
Let’s also not dismiss the non-ISIS related terrorism that exists in the US, the kind of terrorism that is literally closer to home. We have more to fear here than just ISIS coming to our country.
Every political and social action we take is risky. I posit that accepting Syrian refugees is no more risky than an American resident packing up and moving to a new neighborhood, city, or state where you know absolutely no one. At least with the Syrian refugees, they are subjected to a regulated vetting process (again, despite anyone’s opinion of them). With American residents, terrorists are most likely already here, whether they were born here or came here later in life.
Thus, we can either give in to fear, or we can take our chances and help. Considering that we’re already taking chances simply by living in American society, giving in to fear seems pointless.
This is logic, based on information at hand thus far. While logic cannot solve everything, it can provide a foundation and springboard for clearer thinking on this and every other matter.
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/11/15/world/europe/manhunt-for-paris-attackers.html?_r=0
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11996120/Paris-attack-what-we-know-about-the-suspects.html
https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/terrorism/terrorism_cases
Syrian Refugees In Sacramento Thankful For Opportunity To Come to United States
http://time.com/4116619/syrian-refugees-screening-process/
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/16/politics/syrian-refugees-u-s-applicants-explainer/ (UPDATE 11-19-2015)