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U.S. should not take in Syrian refugees
Letter to editor
lettereditor

Editor, How do you commit mass suicide? You bring 10,000 Syrian refugees into the country, as the present administration wants to do. Homeland Security has stated that they are unable to perform proper background checks. Given the abysmal security situation in Syria and the fact that the United States does not maintain a permanent diplomatic presence in the country, it’s difficult for U.S. authorities to gather the information they need to thoroughly vet a Syrian applicant.

According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Syrian refugees are very young, with over half of all refugees from Syria under the age of 18. It is dangerous to take young, able-bodied men into the country.

FBI Director James Comey revealed that his agency is investigating suspected supporters of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in every state across the U.S. The FBI director explained that in general it was “highly unlikely” that federal agents are going to be the first to notice “someone acting in strange ways” on social media, at religious institutions, at educational institutions and in the community. If the department is having a hard time investigating present dangers, what will it do with 10,000 more potential threats?

The United States has accepted 2,178 Syrian refugees since the civil war began there in March 2011. The refugees have been admitted to 138 cities and towns in a total of 36 states — with California, Texas, Michigan, Arizona and Illinois taking the most.

The White House issued a statement saying, “There was no specific or credible threat to the United States.” If I remember correctly, there wasn’t a credible threat before 9/11. Let’s not commit mass suicide.

Len Calderone
Midway

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