Nation Founded on Immigrants, Fearful of Terrorist

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 19^th 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.