By editorial board • 

Letting fear drive our policy cedes the field to our foes

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Comments

Horse with no name

Thanks for the clear thoughts on this topic.

Seabiscuit

Regardless of safety concerns, Trojan horses, or that side of the argument, who is going to put these "refugees" up and who is going to pay for it?

In this very paper over the last several months, including this week, there have been articles published and editorial opinions published about the homeless, the plight of the homeless and the lack of funding and housing for the homeless.

So, instead of securing shelter and heat for our own homeless "widows and orphans"...we will take any possible housing that they could be put into and give it to refugees, who for one reason or another, do not wish to stay in the refugee camps in nice tents with heaters in their own countries and possibly even lend a hand to correcting the problems in their own country.

So, when these folks get here, I'm glad it will not be me explaining to our own homeless why they are still homeless, living in plastic garbage bags, tents and cardboard mansions while people from another country on the far side of the world are getting privileges and benefits they could only dream of.

It is wonderful to help people, but don't our own folks in need of help rate that help first? We can do it for foreigners for "humanitarian" reasons, but we can't for our own?

Lulu

Well, there are times when fear is not only legitimate but a reliable indicator of what not to do. "Our values" should first address the everyday problems facing this country--including but not limited to homelessness, mass shootings by people with their own screwy "manifestos," distrust of police in major metropolitan areas [and vice versa], child abuse/neglect, corruption in high places, alcoholism, spiraling hardcore drug use--and I don't mean marijuana--lack of affordable health care even among the insured, general feelings of hopelessness/disenfranchisement. Have you ever crossed the street because someone on your side appeared suspicious/dangerous/odd? Have you felt that sense of doubt? This is your primitive instinct communicating and has nothing to do with your "values"--it's plain common sense.
Frankly, there are enough problems in this country without inserting additional edginess and resentment into the mix.
As far as historical precedents in welcoming the huddled masses, have we forgotten "no Irish/Italians/Jews/ need apply"? Shooting German shepherd dogs? Strange fruit hanging from Southern trees? Manzanar? John McCain certainly has been vociferous in the past about bombing some of God's children. Maybe he's mellowed.
There are two Americas--the bumper sticker country and the real one.

Scott Gibson

I can understand the "let's help our own first" argument, but I think there is a significant distinction. First, many of America's homeless have mental health and addiction problems that lead to chronic homelessness. This is not true for all, and we must do what we can for those in need. But I reject the idea that America must get all of its problems corrected--including homelessness--before helping others in need. What we can do for Syrian refugees can be life transforming and in some cases life saving. Many, many of these people are highly capable with marketable skills, ready to work and eager to learn. All they need is the opportunity. The News Register editorial board is right--to turn them away is to deny our own values. I for one would open my home as a gateway to a new life for Syrian refugees. We can work on our chronic social problems and welcome those in need from war-torn lands at the same time. We have done it for our entire history. This is not time to stop.

Lulu

I see your point, Dr. Gibson, but it's not very realistic. Picture 200,000 Syrian refugees suddenly settled in this country. The older ones don't assimilate and don't want to. The Boston Marathon bombers grew up here and later became terrorists. Consider Syrian teenage girls--they'll want cell phones and Westernized dress only to be murdered by their own family members as "honor killings". This is a tribal country where people are stoned to death for nothing (usually the victims are women--they're buried up to their necks; the men, on the other hand, are covered in dirt to their waists--guess which gender can't escape in time?). There are all sorts of heinous human rights violations in Africa--filthy water and no medicine. How about North Korea, where millions are literally prisoners of the government?
Where do we stop?

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