Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, liberal or conservative, the tragic photo of a drowned Syrian toddler on a Turkish beach has to pull on your heartstrings. This one powerful photo has now sparked outrage in America over the lack of action we are taking to accept refugees into our country. And no, this is not the same as opening up our borders, so relax Trump army men.
Out of the four million refugees who have fled Syrian’s brutal civil war, the United States has so far only accepted 1,500 into the country. Meanwhile, Germany has announced they expect 800,000 refugees in 2015. If you do the math, this means that the United States has allowed 0.000375 percent of refugees to take asylum within our borders. If the United States has historically taken a humanitarian pledge in other past world crises, then why are we doing so little to remedy one of the most relentless humanitarian crises in history?
It is currently taking an average of 18 months for each refugee to be investigated for affiliation with terrorist organizations or ideals, most notably ISIS, and accepted into our country. Where are these refugees supposed to go during this extensive period of time? Are they supposed to wade in the Atlantic Ocean while the United States gradually takes their time to do this extensive background check? Yes, I wholeheartedly agree that we need to be wary of who we are letting into our country, especially with the increasing expansion and power of ISIS. But the problem is not that we are doing the lengthy background checks. It’s that we aren’t making this crisis a priority like other countries, and it’s unacceptable. If we were making this a priority, it wouldn’t take 18 months to do an investigation because we’d have more people doing it. If we were making this a priority, we wouldn’t be standing next to other countries with them asking, “So you gonna help out here?” If you’re with a group of people for dinner and have a $200 bill, are you going to let someone pay $180 while you chip in a few bucks?
Although there’s tension between countries, allies and enemies, we are all a part of something bigger. We’re all human beings and need to band together at this crucial time. These refugees are desperate and have been forced out of their home because of fear and violence. We need to take a step back and realize once again how lucky we are to live in a country that is peaceful and demand we take action to help those people who aren’t as fortunate. Whether it be the growing sensation of Donald Trump and his anti-immigration views or the fear that we will be accepting ISIS supporters in the process of helping these refugees, we need to do what the United States is known for. We need to maintain our moral compass and we need to prevent another refugee child from dying during their attempted escape. At the end of the day, everyone has one life and this is not the life these innocent people deserve to leave, so let’s show them a better one.
