Over 250,000 Syrians have perished in just over four and a half years of civil conflict. Initially, it began with anti-Bashar Al-Assad protests before devolving into an all-out civil war. As a result of this strife, over 11 million Syrians have been forced from their homes as the war continues to rage between three groups: Pro-Assad forces, Anti-Assad forces, and jihadist forces from ISIS.
Of the 11 million displaced Syrians, more than four million people have fled the country since the start of the conflict. It is considered one of the largest refugee movements in modern history. While neighbor countries have taken on many of the refugees, there is no way that strictly geographic neighbors can take in all of them. Unfortunately, as conditions have deteriorated, the mass emigration has increased dramatically. European countries and the United states have been slowly allowing more and more refugees into their countries to help alleviate the struggle. However, the recent attacks in France, perpetuated by some who used the refugee system to sneak into France, have created a new debate on what should be done with the Syrian refugees.
I'm a first generation citizen. My parents moved to the U.S. in the 90s, not to escape from strife, but to provide a better life for themselves and their burgeoning family. Safe to say, it’s worked so far. They’ve now lived here for over 20 years, they contribute to the community and they’ve provided incredible opportunity for their children. We are incredibly privileged to live in a country that provides opportunity and that allows families like mine to live the American Dream. As a beneficiary of these opportunities, I can’t in good conscience state that we should deny refugees these opportunities. However, I also believe that the U.S. has a responsibility to ensure security for its citizens.
This tension between compassion and security is the ultimate struggle in the debate over what the U.S. should do about the refugee crisis. On one hand, we should absolutely try and provide a safe haven for those in need. But it is perfectly reasonable to have security concerns in the wake of the Paris attacks. The attackers exposed major holes in the French vetting process and it is completely irresponsible to ignore this while allowing more people into the country. The smart and responsible decision is to pause our program and ensure that everything is secure and completely safe before allowing people to come into the country. That being said, the minute that process is safe, we absolutely should allow refugees into this country. After all, we are a nation of immigrants. We are a nation that allows people to rise up, that allows people to grow and contribute in ways that other nations do not. We can’t be selfish and keep that to ourselves.
