Syrian refugee resettlement raises major security concerns
I hope you will take a look at the Senate’s recent hearing into the Syrian refugee situation. Multiple Obama administration officials, including FBI Director James Comey, have admitted that there is no way to determine which applicants pose a security threat. Efforts to allocate $1 billion to resettle Syrians in the United States, while well-meaning, are dangerous and should not be supported. The United States’ efforts should focus on helping the millions of Syrians who have fled to Turkey and Jordan.
A group of 18 U.S. mayors have asked the government to send their cities more Syrian refugees. While these elected officials are right to want to help those fleeing violence, they are wrong to suggest that the United States should allow any more into our country. FBI Director James Comey recently said:
“My concern there is there are certain gaps … in the data available to us. There is risk associated of bringing anybody in from the outside, but specifically from a conflict zone like that…. There is no such thing as a no-risk enterprise and there are deficits that we face.”
On top of this, allowing too many refugees to settle in a country brings other risks. Sweden, which until now has had an open-door policy to those fleeing the Syrian conflict, is feeling the strain. Margot Wallstrom, Sweden’s foreign minister, has warned that the influx cannot continue indefinitely:
“I think most people feel that we cannot maintain a system where perhaps 190,000 people will arrive every year — in the long run, our system will collapse…. And that welcome is not going to receive popular support.”
The United States faces the same collapse if it admits more fleeing Syrians. Please do all you can to make sure the U.S. helps those Syrians sheltered in Turkey and Jordan and doesn’t make the mistake of relocating these people to the United States.
Phone me if you would like to talk about this.
Greg Raven, Apple Valley, CA
P.S. We must secure our borders!