"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
These famous words, written by Emma Lazarus, are etched on the base of the Statue of Liberty. Our Lady Liberty, who stands in the New York harbor, and has become a global symbol for liberty and freedom; who was the first sight so many of our ancestors saw as they arrived in America. They were people who came to America for a fresh start for their families and seeking refugee from religious persecution.
Religious freedom, fresh starts, liberty: these are all values that our nation is built on. Now, 200 years later, there are new people who are fleeing to our country for a fresh start for their families, they are people seeking refugee from religious persecution. It's been 200 years and their faces, their enemies, and their religion have changed, but at their core, they are the same scared people as the first Americans.
The Syrian Refugee crisis is the largest the world has seen since the end of World War II. There are an estimated nine million people who have fled from Syria and another six and half million that are displaced in the country. The majority of these refugees are residing in shoddy camps in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey. They are fleeing a violent, unstable government and non-state actors who take advantage of the chaos to cause terror, specifically ISIS/L
After the horrible attacks in Paris, the world has become fearful, and many governments are thinking on how to prevent attacks in their own countries. Many have started to fear the refugees themselves and have declared that the best course of action is to deny these scared and war-torn people asylum. President Obama has said that the United States will accept 10,000 refugees from Syria as need for a response grows. However, many governors and prominent political figures have spoken out against this course of action and have declared that their states will not accept refugees. Donald Trump, Republican presidential candidate known for being outspoken and brash, said in an interview with Yahoo!News that he would consider the "level of tracking that might require registering Muslims in a database or giving them a form of special identification that noted their religion." The Democrat Mayor of Roanoke, VA, David Bowers, recalled the Japanese internment camps of WWII as justification for refusing refugees. The same internment camps, which were used to isolate Japanese-Americans during the war, were later said to be one of the worst marks on American history and an incredible human rights violation. These statements by such public figures are scarily similar to pre-WWII ideals in Germany preached by Hitler. Is that the path we really want to go down, again?
While these two statements are certainly extremes, their sentiments have been echoed by the 30 governors who wish to close state borders. There is no denying that there is a need for increased security from terrorists like ISIS/L, but is closing the doors to the U.S. the way to do it? The U.S. is a global superpower and sets an example in the world. If we shut our doors to the people who are desperately in need, so will other countries. Where will millions of refugees go? Back to Syria where their own government uses chemical bombs against them? Or where they are in the direct line of ISIS/L? Many people fear ISIS/L, but 92 percent of their victims have been other Muslims.
Ten thousand Syrian refugees is a low number compared to the sheer number there are. In fact, it is less than .01 percent of them. In addition, the FBI and CIA and numerous other security agencies in the U.S. have come up with and implemented an extensive screening, clearing, and acceptance process for Syrian refugees.
America's roots are planted deep within the ground of freedom and acceptance. Our ancestors and our founders were just looking for a place to be accepted, to start their families, and practice their religion. They wanted a safe place to call home, and America opened her doors with open arms and welcomed them. She was built on the backs of refugees, and sometimes people forget that. Two hundred years doesn't erase it, nor should it. America is a "melting pot" of cultures, why not add another one?
So as the Statue of Liberty says: "Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
