The case for accepting more, not fewer, Syrian refugees
Immigrating to the U.S. is like free climbing Half Dome with a 50-pound pack. It can be a long, arduous process that presents challenging, and sometimes insurmountable, hurdles along the way.
For Syrians, who currently make up the single biggest refugee population in the world (aside from Palestinians), the ordeal is especially tough. Already subject to the most stringent screening process of any nationality of refugees, since the terrorist attacks on Paris, they — along with Muslims in general — have been demonized by some U.S. politicians as a direct threat to national security.
Kate Jastram, an attorney and an expert in forced migration with UC Berkeley’s Blum Center for Developing Economies says it would be detrimental for the U.S. to close its doors to Syrian refugees. Not only would it embolden America’s anti-Muslim reputation, she says, but it would alienate the estimated 3.3 million Muslims, as reported by the Pew Research Center, living in the U.S. or those who hope to migrate here in the coming years.
“If we start saying, ‘Your religion is more important than anything else about you — your character, the suffering you’ve gone through’ — this is a really dangerous and long road for the U.S to go on.”
http://news.berkeley.edu/2016/01/26/syrian-refugee-crisis/
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