Nov 16, 2015

for what it's worth, french authorities have pointed to a belgian national as the mastermind behind the paris attacks.

i think that the holocaust still looms large over this sort of policy, as it should. and i'm not sure how invoking the paris attacks serves as anything other than fear mongering on a rhetorical level.

are there national security concerns? absolutely. but while i'm not naive enough to think that we can thwart any pending attack, this is precisely what we have intelligence services for, right? to weed out people who are threats during the immigration process or to identify people who become radicalized once they live here?

i understand concerns about letting people from the middle east into a country, even if it's only on a gut-reaction level. but i don't think turning away refugees on the basis that some terrorists could slide in with them is a defensible position.

it goes without saying that the overwhelming majority of fleeing syrians are fleeing exactly the kind of terror that is being cited as a reason to turn them away.

 

Nov 16, 2015

we shouldnt let what these animals did strip us from our humanity, you are talking about defenseless children, women...old people..that cant fight..that have nowhere to go

the situation is tricky, but remember...these people did nothing wrong, and denying them all safe place is letting the bad guys win

 

Nov 16, 2015

America is so large, it has a moral obligation to accept more. As long as proper background checks are done, it shouldn't be a problem. The process should not be rushed though.

 

Nov 16, 2015

This is like the 10th time they've "declared" war on ISIS. Changing someone's email password isn't gonna get a lot done tbh

 

Nov 16, 2015

lol

 

Nov 17, 2015

For posters wondering whether the Boston bombers were refugees: the Tsernaev brothers came with their parents to the US on a tourist visa in 2002—and then asked for asylum. They didn't go through the refugee resettlement process. They were not refugees but asylees (though the two terms often get confused).

 

Nov 18, 2015

So because we haven't solved all of society's ills we should cease all humanitarian efforts?

There's valid points of view on both sides of this issue, but this cartoonish logic that somehow implies the US can adopt a stridently cold and isolationist stance toward the world is just laughable.

 

Nov 16, 2015

I don't think this is true at all but ok honey

 

Nov 16, 2015

It's annoying if you just wanna read this thread. He doesn't offer anything. No opinions or thoughts all he does is comment on other people's posts without really saying anything himself.

 

Nov 16, 2015

can you please shut the f--- up? not every thread needs your condescending quips holy s---. just f---ing keep a thought inside for once.

 

Nov 18, 2015

It "seems like" that's the priority because of the newscycle and the national debate surrounding Paris, Syria, etc. Helping vets continues to be a major issue (that many politicians grand stand on btw) - from Civil War pensions to the GI bill to the public's rejection of Vietnam vets (admittedly a nadir) to #SupportOurTroops, assisting fmr members of the military has been a part of the national framework since nearly our founding.

Again, you're well-intentioned, but conflating two separate policy issues. The public officials against bringing refugees here are ignorant at best, fear mongering at worst.

 

Nov 18, 2015

What do you want me to say? It's not an either/or scenario. We have the resources to do both. Yes, it's important to take care of veterans. Yes, we are morally obligated to stop genocide. Injecting veterans issues into this debate is silly and disingenuous.

 

Nov 16, 2015

I am offended, I ain't building nothing.

 

Nov 16, 2015

...

 

Nov 16, 2015

The entire world is to blame for allowing this to go on for years because everyone wanted a certain person to be the president if Syria and used isis at some point thinking we could wipe them out once we done with it

No one thought they will get this big and now we dunno how to deal with it

 

Nov 16, 2015

I think that's an okay idea... but my caveat is that if the children aren't assimilated properly, they'll become resentful of the culture/socioeconomic gaps, get their head filled with whatever voodoo bs radicalized people do, and go rogue

i think you made a post a few days ago about this being akin to school shooters, which i thought made sense. cultural and institutional issues fester then eventually explode

 

Nov 16, 2015

Hey Americans, please stop acting like 4000 refugees is something you can't economically handle, that's pure foolishness

 

Nov 16, 2015

We have huge Syrian community here

 

Nov 16, 2015

No one who's going to do something horrible is going to have any trouble getting here legally, whether we accept refugees or not. And what makes you think people can't be radicalized who already belong here? This looks like irrational fear to me.