I know I am late in writing a response to Prof. Case’s discussion regarding Syrian refugees and how the country of Hungary is handling the situation, but with the advent of some current events, the timing could not be better. On Thursday December 10th, the first Canadian government plane landed in Toronto carrying 163 Syrian refugees. This is the first step in helping these people leave the bad situations occurring in their home country and restarting their lives in a different country. I believe that the refugees should be allowed to come here, but there should be a system in place where there is some sort of background checks/ screening process. These checks and screenings would not prevent someone from entering, but flags would be raised if there is any suspicion of possible skeptical behavior. This is a very difficult situation where key decisions have to be made. According to a U.S. News article “A Syrian passport was found near one of the assailants in the Paris terror attacks…The discovery has heightened fears that Islamic State group terrorists could exploit refugee routes and resettlement programs to position themselves for additional attacks.” If an attack were to happen on U.S. soil, then of course there will be uproar about the policies in place. They’ll say how could you let these people in when they do stuff like that. There are always some extremes that ruin it for the majority of good people. America was practically built by people who were leaving unfavorable conditions in their home country to come here and make a life for themselves and their families.
5 thoughts on “Syrian Refugee Crisis”
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This post is very relevant to current events. It breaks my heart, seeing the monstrosity that the people of Syria have had to endure, especially on eye-opening posts such as Humans of New York. I really do hope that we can help as many people as possible, despite the risks.
Likewise, I feel that those risks shouldn’t be stopping us from helping those refugees in need because there’s really nothing the U.S. is capable of doing from a political standpoint. But it’s great to see that there are populations out there who are willing to help those refugees restart their lives.
I agree this is such a potent issue. The Prime Minister of Canada sent an important message when he met the first refugees at the airport and welcomed them to their new home. It is important to demonstrate to the world that a country is willing to not only saying they are champions of freedom but act on this statement as well. The U.S. should take a lesson from Canada.
I think it’s really sad that the US won’t take more refugees. We are one of the largest countries, we have immense power, and more importantly we profess to believe in freedom and liberty. We are a nation built on immigrants and the rhetoric today which tries to say otherwise is saddening. The argument that terrorists might be taking advantage of the refugees and their access into other countries is both ridiculous and pointless. Especially when it comes to what our decision should be about their entry here in the US. I remember Professor Maria Christine Garcia on the first day of her class on immigrants telling us her own immigrant story about her family and her coming to the US seeking political asylum from Cuba. She was only a little girl then. I hate to imagine a day when we turn away someone like that.
I agree and think that closing our doors to refugees is extremely unfortunate. Sadly, there are quite a few people in charge who are scared to help those in need. While a screening process would be useful in raising flags, for the number of refugees the US could potentially take in, I’m afraid that it would become a bureaucratic mess and those who are against specific groups that they find threatening, particularly Muslim refugees, would still make it difficult for them to be welcome.