As the country of Syria is continually devastated by a civil
war, incited by the Nations own President Bashar al-Assad, and infested by the
terrorist regime of ISIS, millions of Syrian refugees are fleeing their
country. These refugees are finding asylum in other nations such as Turkey,
Lebanon, and France. After the deadly attacks on Paris in mid November, many
Americans have a heightened sense of fear that allowing Syrian refugees into
the United States will condemn our Nation the same fate.
Amongst the fear, there also seems to be a confusion of how
the vetting processes for these refugees will take place. The confusion isn’t
just from the average American citizen; it also is shared by some members
holding political office. Just this past week, the House of Representatives
passed a bill 289 – 137, requiring tougher screening procedures for refugees
entering the United States. The current procedure is as follows: First, a
refugee must submit an application to the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees. The UNHC will then collect documents and conduct baseline interviews.
After that application is accepted the State departments begin their vetting
processes. More info is collected, security screenings are conducted by the
National Counter Terrorism Center, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security.
Syrians in particular have an additional screening called the Syrian Enhanced
Review, which includes further vetting by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services Fraud Detection and National Security Directors. After those
interviews, refugees are then finger printed and cross-referenced through the
FBI, Homeland Security, and Department of Defense databases. Then health screenings are conducted. After
all of these processes, the refugees are enrolled into cultural integration
classes, while their backgrounds are continuously being checked for any new or
missed information. All of this occurs before they are admitted onto United
States soil. This current process takes up to 18-24 months. The House bill that
passed on November 19th will require the FBI director, Secretary of
the Department of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence
to sign off on each and every refugee.
We can all agree that this process is to date, the most
rigorous screening we have to be admitted into the U.S. Even this rigorous process isn’t enough to
guarantee that a terrorist will not slip in amongst the refugees. Over two-dozen
governors have stated that they will attempt to stop refugees from entering
their states if the U.S government grants them asylum. I don’t believe there is
an easy answer to this situation. On one hand America is a nation founded on
immigrants, a nation that sees itself as a “guardian” of the world, but on the
other it has suffered greatly from devastating terrorist acts. I don’t believe that the American people are
ready to take this burden onto their own soil. Extending aid and military
forces into war-ridden countries is one thing, but I do not foresee citizens
welcoming even the slightest prospect of a single terrorist slip through. For the
American people this may be the case of one bad apple spoiling the bunch.
