1. Let's start out really simple: Syria isn't safe.
This all began in 2011 when President Assad brutally shut down a peaceful revolution and sparked the fire for a civil war between rebel groups (some good guys, some not so good) and Assad. Now, The U.S. and other members of the coalition it has assembled have launched more than 8,000 airstrikes against ISIS as of Nov. 12. Most refugees are actually fleeing from Assad's bombings. We can't forget about ISIS either, even though Assad is responsible for far more civilian causalities.
2. There are only 2,200 Syrian refugees in the U.S., right now.
Over four million people have fled Syria since 2011. Right now, we are only planning on taking in 100,000 refugees, even though we are a country with a population of almost 320 million. If all four million people were to come to the U.S., today, they would only account for 1.2 percent of the total population. No need to worry about them overrunning us.
3. It makes zero sense for ISIS to use refugees as a way to infiltrate the U.S.
Let's look at this from the ISIS perspective: You find someone willing to go to the U.S. that is not a fighting-age male because only two. percent of refugees in the U.S. fit that category. After getting them on the UNHCR list, you wait anywhere from 18 to 24 months until they are vetted (through an intensified program specifically for Syrians), then hope to God they get placed in the U.S. because that's not a guarantee, either. They also have to go through an intense screening process where a small slip up could result in giving the U.S. a direct link to their entire organization. The risk, time required, and low probability of even working doesn't make any sense. Even the terrorists in France didn't enter the country under the guise of being a refugee, and they have a much less stringent entrance process.
4. You're not going to die in a terrorist attack.
Your chances of dying from a terrorism attack are one in 20 million. Here is a quick list of things that are more likely to kill you than a terrorism:
Car crash: one in 19,000 people die from car accidents.
Struck by lightening: one in 5,500,000 (yeah, that's right you're four times more likely to be struck by lightening than a terrorist attack).
Being stung by a bee: 700 people die each year from bee stings.
Being really fat: Obesity kills 600,000 people each year.
Gun violence: Since 1970 about 3,500 Americans have died from terrorism compared to almost 10,000 in the year 2015, alone (those numbers don't include firearm suicides).
If you're being realistic, you're going to die from either heart disease or cancer because those two diseases alone account for 46 percent of US deaths.
5. Every day we make small decisions that put us at risk.
Not accepting Syrian refugees is not only ignorant and selfish, but it throws away the lives of countless people in need. John Oliver said it best when he responded to Mike Huckabee's ridiculous refugee metaphor.
Listen, folks, we are a nation that was born from people seeking religious freedom and safety. For proof, please refer to the poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty.
So, let's do our heritage proud and open our arms to those in need.
