History serves as a readily available documentary of past decisions and actions. British historian and academic George Macaulay Trevelyan (1876-1962), once said “Every true history must force us to remember that the past was as real as the present and as uncertain as the future.” This is pertinent to the United States in 2016 as it ponders the plan to admit Syrian refugees.
Fearing terrorism, many Americans are opposed to opening America to Syrian refugees, especially when the regional powers, Iran and especially (a richer and Arab country) Saudi Arabia, have done little. Presidential candidate Donald Trump believes the present vetting process is far too weak, and allowing these refugees into our country will surely allow a large number of terrorists to operate freely on American soil.
First of all, we must consider we do not elect the leaders of other countries. We must answer the call for refugees ourselves. Meanwhile England, Germany,Turkey, Lebanon – 29 countries are accepting refugees.
Dr. Ramy Arnaout of MIT and Harvard Medical School, now at the Beth Israel Deaconess medical center in Boston (Who also happens to be the child of Lebanese immigrants.), argues that it’s time for the U.S. to move aggressively in making room for more of the people displaced by the horrors in Syria.
Arnaout says …
“The mantle of that legacy now falls to us. Syria’s huddled masses yearn not to breathe free—a luxury in war—but to breathe at all. Do the words with which we caption our defining monument not include these people?
“Syria gave us Steve Jobs and Jerry Seinfeld. “The business of the American people is business,” said Calvin Coolidge. As Americans, we should know a bargain when we see one. Syria is a fire sale. Lady Liberty's “golden door” should be open with Syrian refugees first in line.
“The alternative is we keep that door shut—and consider outsourcing our conscience to oil sheikhs and mullahs.
“Do we want to trust the future of the world we used to lead to the mercy, generosity, and tolerance of the Saudis? Are we content to play second fiddle to the Germans and Greeks? Or can we begin to salvage our tattered reputation and sense of self by demonstrating some basic human kindness?”
(James Fallows. “Martin O’Malley Is Right: America Should Be Taking More Syrian Refugees.” The Atlantic. September 07, 2015.)
Despite claims by those such as Donald Trump who say that the Obama administration plans to accept anywhere from 100,000 to 250,000 Syrian refugees, by law, the administration can admit slightly more than 10,000 in fiscal year 2016, and no refugee commitments can be made beyond that.
Gina Kassem, who oversees the State Department’s refugee resettlement program in North Africa and the Middle East, says the primary focus is on those in need. The entire process takes between 18 and 24 months.
“Mostly we focus on victims of torture, survivors of violence, women-headed households, [and] a lot of severe medical cases,” she says
According to Kassem, less than half of one percent of those from Syria who resettle in the United States are single young men. Those who are qualify as among the most vulnerable, either because of severe medical needs or minors who don’t have family to support them.
(Bill Whitaker. “How the U.S. screens Syrian
refugees. CBS News. October 16, 2016.)
Applying the History Lesson
Absorbing immigrants and refugees is always disruptive—for any nation, for any kind of refugees.
It may be beneficial to look back to the 1970s and President Gerald R. Ford's unwavering support of human rights as South Vietnam fell to the North. To be honest, President Ford is largely a forgotten man – a president who served a mere four years, a man who pardoned Richard Nixon after Watergate and who opened the doors of America to Vietnamese refugees after the fall of Saigon. He did both of these things at great political risk to himself – he lost the election of 1976 to Jimmy Carter – while believing that uniting the country in dark times was of the utmost importance.
By the time President Gerald R. Ford
took office in 1974, the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam
War had been radically reduced. In 1975, renewed fighting saw
communist-supported North Vietnamese forces pushing closer to Saigon,
the capital of South Vietnam, which was still a U.S. ally.
Saigon,would soon fall to the North and the process of reunifying
Vietnam would begin.
Facing the fall of South Vietnam, President Ford acknowledged the serious human rights issues facing many South Vietnamese residents. These included forced relocation, being held as political prisoners, and even death. Many abandoned their homes and sought asylum and refugee status in the United States and other Western nations.
Ford quickly organized a humanitarian, emergency military effort to evacuate refugees to the U.S. in 1975. In less than a week, thousands of Americans and tens of thousands of Vietnamese would be evacuated from Saigon as the North Vietnamese Army closed in on the capital city.
One hundred and thirty thousand Vietnamese left South Vietnam that April, ten times the number for which the State Department had planned. In the final phase alone, in just over 14 hours’ time, Marine helicopters lifted out almost 8,000 U.S. military personnel, South Vietnamese, and their dependents—about 5,600 from Tan Son Nhut airport, another 2,206 from the roof and courtyard of the U.S. embassy in Saigon, and dozens more from other locations.
(Bartholomew Sparrow. “Inside America's Massive,
Messy Evacuation From Saigon.” New Republic. April 29,
2015.)
The act had been strongly supported by President Ford and opposed by those who feared an influx of Southeast Asian refugees after the end of the conflict in Vietnam. Many Americans at the time believed that a large number of refugees would deflate wages and create a social burden. At the time, unemployment in the United States hovered near double digits.
In a May 1975 article in the New York Times, Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) commented that "barmaids, prostitutes and criminals" should be screened out as "excludable categories." Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) "charged that the [Ford] Administration had not informed Congress adequately about the number of refugees" -- as if anyone actually knew during the chaotic evacuation. "I think the Vietnamese are better off in Vietnam," said George McGovern in Newsweek.
Vietnam refugee Quang X. Pham, who
served as a Marine pilot in the Persian Gulf War and authored the
book A Sense of Duty: My Father, My American Journey, recalled
...
(Quang X. Pham. “A Lesson in
History: Resettling Refugees of Vietnam.” All Things Considered.
Public Radio. January 14, 2007.)
To pave the way for these refugees’ arrival, Ford had been gathering a coalition of church groups, southern Democratic governors, labor leaders, and the American Jewish Congress to secure housing and jobs. Nonprofit groups, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Civitan International, and the International Rescue Committee, sponsored families while providing food, clothing, and shelter until the refugees could support themselves as the non-profit International Rescue Committee coordinated the Herculean effort.
Pham remembers …
“I am not aware of any other politicians, antiwar protesters, esteemed journalists or celebrities visiting Fort Chaffee, Ark., where my family was temporarily housed for two months. But Gerald Ford did.
“April 1975 was indeed the cruelest month for us. But thanks to President Ford's leadership, we experienced America's kindness and generosity during our darkest days. We owe him our deepest gratitude in remembrance.”
(Quang X. Pham. “A Lesson in
History: Resettling Refugees of Vietnam.” All Things Considered.
Public Radio. January 14, 2007.)
(Cynthia A. Bily. “Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975.”
immigrationtounitedstates.org.
2015.)
Maintaining Human Rights With a Historical Significance
Michael Crichton – American
best-selling author, physician, producer, and director – said,“If
you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf
that doesn't know it is part of a tree.” I believe America is the
tree of freedom and liberty. In order for us to nurture its future,
we must always be open to saving those in peril from war and
destruction.
Like Vietnam of old, Syria is suffering
from a terrible war, and like Vietnam, the refugee crisis can be tied
to America's involvement in a regional conflict. Who can deny the
United States was at least partly responsible for the refugee crises
as the U.S.-led war in Iraq changed the region? Is it time to help
refugees again? Brookings Institute reports over 80 percent of
Americans, across party lines, believe strongly in the Golden Rule
(spelled out as treating others as you want them to treat you).
Brookings claims …
“Even in the middle of a U.S.
presidential campaign that has been breathtaking in its exaggerations
and racism, with devastating terrorism providing fuel, 59 percent of
Americans say they are ready to accept Middle East conflict refugees,
and 56 percent express openness to Syrian refugees specifically.
These numbers increase dramatically among millennials (18 to 34 year
olds), with 68 percent saying that they are supportive of taking in
refugees from Syria and other Middle Eastern countries.
“Not surprisingly, and as on many
other issues, there is a deep divide across party lines, with 77
percent of Democrats expressing openness compared to 56 percent of
Independents and 38 percent of Republicans. Among Trump supporters,
only 22 percent are supportive, compared with 80 percent of Clinton
supporters and 81 percent of Sanders.
“This majority could be larger, if it
weren’t for exaggerated fears: A plurality of those who oppose
receiving Middle East war refugees (46 percent) name concern about
terrorism as the principal reason. Yet, Americans overestimate the
terrorist threat emanating from refugees. When asked to estimate the
number of refugees charged with terrorism since 9/11, only 14 percent
say it’s fewer than five, while 28 percent estimate it to be 100 or
more. The actual number is 3.”
(Shibley Telhami. “America’s
puzzling moral ambivalence about Middle East refugees.” Brookings.
June 28, 2016.)
If the U.S. could have started taking in hundreds of Syrians in 2011, when the country's civil war began, think of how many innocent lives might have already been saved. In large part this did not happen because President Obama's administration was extremely worried about the very terrorist threat that Republicans are hyping now. It's led the administration to be so cautious in processing applications that barely any refugees have qualified to come.
Once upon a time, in the 1970s, political divisiveness was very real, but it existed in a context that still allowed strong, committed leaders to uphold the United States' place as the moral conscience of the world. Then, without caving to fear mongering by political opposition and to raw, unfounded emotional anxieties of worried citizens, American leaders like President Gerald R. Ford understood the importance of the creed of fueling the lamp beside the golden door. They took their case to the American people who fiercely defended liberty, and they found unparalleled resolve in the brave people of the land.
In New York harbor, the mighty woman with the torch still stands as a beacon to those in exile. However, some now would gladly extinguish her flame of freedom while exhorting their baseless fears. Terror wins when America becomes walled and isolated to the rest of the world. It must not betray its very fabric of diversity. When one seeks freedom our shores represent the heart of the nation – let it forever remain open to those who share our desire for liberty.
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