White House Addresses Fears Of Syrian Refugees As Terrorists
In the wake of terror attacks, Syrian refugees are seeking a safe place to go, and in other nations, leaders and citizens question the safety and wisdom of allowing the refugees in. Stories of terrorists moving in the guise of refugees has further added to this fear. A number of somewhat confused and contradictory stories have surfaced, and many people simply don’t know what to believe.
Sunday evening, the White House social media accounts responded to the fears, asserting that no Syrian refugees who have entered the U.S. have been arrested on charges of terrorism.
Recently, news that Syrians were trying to enter the United States through the southern border has spread, increasing fears and concerns about safety. Republican Presidential hopeful Donald Trump has used the news to bolster his campaign for a wall at the border.
Though his post got a lot of support, with tens of thousands of shares and around 80k likes within a few hours of posting, rumor debunking site Snopes found a problem with one part of Trump’s version of the story. Specifically, though it’s true that a number of Syrian refugees did attempt to enter via the border between Texas and Mexico, they didn’t attempt to sneak in — they reportedly presented themselves to proper authorities and sought legal entry.
An official statement from the Department of Homeland Security, published through KTXS, confirms this:
DHS confirms that on Tuesday, members of two Syrian families, two men, two women and four children, presented themselves at a port of entry in Laredo. They were taken into custody by CBP and turned over to ICE for further processing.
Trump’s assertion that, unlike these “caught” refugees, others might have made it into the country, isn’t his alone. The fear that terrorists could sneak into the country via the Mexican border is hardly new.
However, the White House has recently addressed concerns that terrorists would pose as refugees, in part through an infographic found here. The first step in the nine-step process, and an addendum to step seven, are reproduced below.
Though a number of governors and other politicians have called for halting the process of admitting refugees, and specifically for improving the process of screening immigrants, the processing as described above is quite thorough, and by no means a brief or simple process — and according to the White House infographic above, fewer than 1% get through it. Further, the Department of State reports that the time from application to admission and resettlement takes an average of 18-24 months.
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Still, members of the public express doubt, and the White House released another statement, again in the form of a sharable graphic, Sunday evening, answering the question of how many Syrian refugees have been caught any any actions related to terror attacks: none.
FACT: Zero Syrian refugees that have resettled in the U.S. have been arrested or removed on terrorism charges. pic.twitter.com/bi3iv5zzi6
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 22, 2015
FACT: Zero Syrian refugees that have resettled in the U.S. have been arrested or removed on terrorism charges.
As for limits on refugees, and who can be admitted, according to the American Immigration Council, this is a matter set annually by the president and Congress — it’s not something the president can simply decide to do on his own, against the will of the rest of America’s governing body. Moreover, aside from security concerns, refugees can be turned away on grounds including health, previous deportations, and even polygamy.
In short, Syrian refugees are entering the country, and some are coming via the Mexico-Texas border, but the process is slow and thorough, and the latest White House statement asserts that there are no current threats of danger from these immigrants.
[Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images]
