Austin letter: Refugees

The Senate could soon meet to vote on a bill that increases screening measures for Syrian refugees entering the United States. If it passes, the president has promised to veto it. This is by far the worst decision he could make.

Let’s look at the two sides. Every single one of the GOP candidates is against accepting refugees from Syria. That’s not unintelligent, seeing as how one of the attackers in Paris had come in from Syria as a refugee. Meanwhile, Obama has promised to allow 10,000 refugees into the country. The new bill, if passed, will restrict refugees from entering until they have been approved by national intelligence, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.

It’s astonishing that the president doesn’t see the benefits of the bill. He still gets to let in refugees, but there’s a significantly lower chance that one will be a terrorist from ISIS. He’s stated that restricting the entrance of refugees is against the core values of the U.S., and I agree with him on that. With this bill, we can be humanitarian without also being risky.

Wake up, Mr. President. They’re trying to compromise with you.

This story was originally published December 7, 2015 at 5:36 PM with the headline "Austin letter: Refugees."