Donald Trump is just trying to keep America safe
January 28, 2016
Dear Editor,
I would like to address the current political race to the presidency. Ai??There is a lot of assumed hate directed at one GOP candidate, Donald Trump. Ai??Donald Trump is accused consistently of being racist. Ai??These accusations arise from Trumpai??i??s imposed ideas of putting Islamic immigrants on hold when entering the country and deporting the current Syrian immigrants that have entered. Ai??These ideas are accused of being racist at all levels, but letai??i??s take a look at the reasons why these ideas have arisen and if they really do warrant the hate. Ai??
We live in a world where we really do live in fear of the truth. There is a small radical group of people who stand by the Quran with hate and want to strike fear and harm to those who live in democracy and freedom. Ai??This growing threat plagues our country with fear, specifically due to recent attacks in Europe and the Middle East. This fear is not unwarranted and the people of this great country want safety.
Donald Trumpai??i??s proposed radical ideas appeal to a large number of Americans because they feel it could protect them. Ai??But this idea of stopping the immigration of this group of people means we cannot differentiate from who is a terrorist and who is not. Despite that, we as a nation should be able to play it safe to protect its citizens, rather than take in people who may possibly be a threat.
Even if it is one in a million and we take in just one terrorist it can mean death and suffering to thousands of U.S. citizens who only want peace and safety. I feel this idea to temporarily stop immigration until we can differentiate between the peaceful people, who dominate the Muslim faith, from the few who want to destroy us is a good temporary solution.
Selena Sepulveda, Senior
Michelle Brodsky • Feb 14, 2016 at 5:23 PM
You go, Selena! Don’t let people who clearly don’t have a modicum of knowledge about history to put you down-keep spreading the truth. One Islamist terrorist=hundreds of American deaths. You’re absolutely right.
Daniel Goldshmid • Feb 3, 2016 at 6:42 PM
For one, the refugees coming from Syria are given 2 options. Join ISIS, or die. Since almost all Syrians are not inclined to commit terrorist acts, they run away, because they clearly do not want to die. Those people are lawyers, doctors, bankers, technicians, engineers and people from all walks of life just wanting to have a safer life. If we send them back, block the border, or kick them out, we are sending them back to make that same choice. Since most people don’t want to die prematurely we leave them only with the choice to join ISIS. Not only that, we are proving ISIS right in the fact that Western civilisation and the U.S are evil. Additionally, we can look back into history for some insight. In 1939, many Jewish refugees were fleeing Nazi Germany and we did not accept them. In fact, most of the people in the country were against it. If we do not allow Syrian refugees to come in, we may face a genocide within the caliphate. It is important to note we have long, stringent background checks to make sure that the refugee is safe. Those background checks often last over a year. We have always offered asylum to political refugees during the cold war without the fear that they might be communist. Not allowing in refugees because they are a certain religion or from a certain country is discrimination and is unacceptable. It hurts our reputation as a nation of immigrants, a nation of tolerance, and the most welcoming nation in the world.
Max Conti • Jan 29, 2016 at 5:37 PM
Dear Selena Sepulveda,
I wanted to reply to you, as I completely understand the reality of the fear, the American people express daily, towards the middle eastern refugees, who are coming to the United States.
I believe, as many, that fear of the unknown is part of what makes us human. However, I disagree with, in your own words, the idea of “temporarily stop immigration until we can differentiate between the peaceful people, who dominate the muslim faith, from the few who want to destroy us”.
Let me explain myself. Contrary to the European continent, this country does not need to fear a wave of illegal immigration from these refugees, simply because, they must fly to get here. They cannot walk to us or take a small raft to get here, as they do when they go from Turkey to Greece and then to the rest of continental Europe. This means, they must go through so many checkpoints before they even set foot on the American continent.
I would advise you and the other readers of your article, to read the very serious article from the New York Times (source below) named “Why it takes two years for Syrian refugees to enter the US”. I am certain you will be reassured after you read it just below:
“Syrians must pass many layers of security checks before being admitted to the United States, a process that can take two years or longer. In most cases, the refugees do not enter the United States until the very end. They are also subject to an additional layer of checks beyond those for refugees of other nationalities; after the Paris attacks, the House voted to further tighten screening procedures. Since 2011, the United States has admitted fewer than 2,000 Syrian refugees.
1. Registration with the United Nations.
2. Interview with the United Nations.
3. Refugee status granted by the United Nations.
4. Referral for resettlement in the United States.
The United Nations decides if the person fits the definition of a refugee and whether to refer the person to a country for resettlement. Only the most vulnerable are referred, accounting for fewer than 1 percent of refugees worldwide. Some people spend years waiting in refugee camps.
5. Interview with State Department contractors.
6. First background check.
7. Higher-level background check for some.
8. Another background check.
The refugee’s name is run through law enforcement and intelligence databases for terrorist or criminal history. Some go through a higher-level clearance before they can continue. A third background check was introduced in 2008 for Iraqis but has since been expanded to all refugees ages 14 to 65.
9. First fingerprint screening; photo taken.
10. Second fingerprint screening.
11. Third fingerprint screening.
The refugee’s fingerprints are screened against F.B.I. and Homeland Security databases, which contain watch list information and past immigration encounters, including if the refugee previously applied for a visa at a United States embassy. Fingerprints are also checked against those collected by the Defense Department during operations in Iraq.
12. Case reviewed at United States immigration headquarters.
13. Some cases referred for additional review.
Syrian applicants must undergo these two additional steps. Each is reviewed by a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services refugee specialist. Cases with “national security indicators” are given to the Homeland Security Department’s fraud detection unit.
14. Extensive, in-person interview with Homeland Security officer.
Most of the interviews with Syrians have been done in Jordan and Turkey.
15. Homeland Security approval is required.
If the House bill becomes law, the director of the F.B.I., the Homeland Security secretary and the director of national intelligence would be required to confirm that the applicant poses no threat.
16. Screening for contagious diseases.
17. Cultural orientation class.
18. Matched with an American resettlement agency.
19. Multi-agency security check before leaving for the United States.
Because of the long amount of time between the initial screening and departure, officials conduct a final check before the refugee leaves for the United States.
20. Final security check at an American airport.”
I would ask you to to have more faith in this long process than you currently do. However, let’s not be naive, “risk 0” does not exist and my concern over this very matter would be more on the people, muslim or not, who become radicalized on the Internet and who are currently living here.
It is our duty, as people living in a stable country, to show our humanity towards those who literally, have been through the worst for years. Thankfully, I have not seen war for myself but they have, from death to famine and more. After the Paris attacks, French president Francois Hollande still announced that France would be welcoming about 10,000 Syrian refugees, if not more.
Furthermore, on October 1st 2015, President Obama was telling us to “…tally up the number of Americans who’ve been killed through terrorist attacks over the last decade and the number of Americans who’ve been killed by gun violence”. Those numbers are appalling (as of October 1st 2015):
*Number of Americans killed by terrorism in the last decade : 24
*Number of Americans who have been killed by american-owned guns in the last decade: 280,024
I think it’s time to put things back into perspective other than scaring people about a non-existing “open-door policy”, the GOP wants uninformed people to believe in, regarding the Syrian refugees.
As a foreign citizen living in the US (don’t be scared I am European), I would like to finish my answer with these famous words from Emma Lazarus, which, for the majority of Americans, define the essence of what makes the United States past, present and future:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/11/20/us/why-it-takes-two-years-for-syrian-refugees-to-apply-to-enter-the-united-states.html