Syrian Refugees In Michigan Respond To U.S. Resettlement Hesitations : NPR.
Days of speculation and anxiety followed the Paris attacks. Then, last week, the Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed that two of the suicide bombers did pass through Greece last month as part of the wave of refugees fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa.
In the U.S., the emotional debate about whether or not to shut Syrian refugees out altogether gained new traction in presidential politics.
A months ago if I asked many Americans for their thoughts on Syria and the Syrian refugees crisis, most would have nothing (negative or positive) to say.
Today, after the Paris attacks, it seems that many Americans know all there is to know about Syrian refugees and have decided to declare a verdict!
Today, I received the following that I chose to share in here.
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Listen Up America!
In a little house in Amsterdam seven people huddled. They were afraid for their lives and indeed only one will survive. Anne Frank’s Jewish family was hiding from the Nazis who hated them. They tried to get away. They applied for emigration status to both England and the United States of America, but in the 1940s… Continue reading
In the aftermath of the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris last week, many Americans and U.S. politicians are demanding that somebody do something. What they want to be done and why they want it to happen, however, are more difficult questions.
A number of governors and GOP presidential candidates responded this week by recoiling in fear, arguing that our first step should be to take action against Syrian refugees. They want to deny entry to a group of people who, as far as we can tell, had nothing to do with what happened in Paris. While investigators found a Syrian passport near one of the suicide bombers,…. These Are The ‘Dangerous’ Syrian Refugees You’ve Been Hearing About.
Syrian refugee Nujeen, 16, waits to be carried from the shoreline to the road after landing on the Greek island of Lesbos with her older sister Nisreen
JERSEY CITY, NJ – SEPTEMBER 18: The Darbi’s, a Syrian refugee family that just resettled in Jersey City, NJ must begin the process of acclimating to life in America, Sept 18, 2015. (Willa Frej/Huffington Post) *** Local Caption ***
A migrant, who protects himself from the rain with a plastic trash bag, walks through a mudpath of the “New Jungle” migrant camp in Calais, where thousands of migrants live in the hope of crossing the Channel to Britain, on October 21, 2015. European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker has called a mini-summit in Brussels on October 25 to tackle the migrant crisis along the western Balkans route, his office said. AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUEN (Photo credit should read PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images)
In this Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015 photo, Maaesa Alroustom, center, is kissed by her mother, Suha, as her father, Hussam, back, sits with her brother Wesam in their apartment in Jersey City, N.J. The Alroustoms are Syrian refugees after fleeing their war stricken country. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Mahmud, 28 and his bride Firal, 25, from the Syrian city of Kobane show their rings, as they arrive with other refugees and migrants on the Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey on October 8, 2015. Europe is grappling with its biggest migration challenge since World War II, with the main surge coming from civil war-torn Syria. Greek premier Alexis Tsipras said on October 6, 2015 that Athens would upgrade its refugee facilities by November to tackle the growing influx from Syria as the EU pledged 600 extra staff to help. AFP PHOTO / DIMITAR DILKOFF (Photo credit should read DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP/Getty Images)
GEVGELIJA, MACEDONIA – OCTOBER 23: A elderly Syrian man holds his arm broken on the voyage from Syria at a refugee reception centre on October 23, 2015 in Gevgelija, Macedonia. Despite the worsening weather, thousands of migrants have continued to arrive daily in Former Republic Of Macedonia and the small border town of Gevgelija, as they continue their journey on towards western Europe. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
A Syrian child holds a watermelon after they were distibuted near the Akcakale crossing gate between Turkey and Syria at Akcakale in Sanliurfa province on June 16, 2015. Some 23,000 people have fled from Syria to Turkey between June 3 and 15, the UN refugee agency said. “New fighting in northern Syria has seen 23,135 refugees fleeing across the border into Turkey’s Sanliurfa province,” during that period, spokesman William Spindler said, citing figures given by Turkish authorities. AFP PHOTO / BULENT KILIC (Photo credit should read BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)
A man from Syrian town Aleppo poses with his child in front of a mound of life jackets as he arrive with other refugees on the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey on an inflatable boat on October 2, 2015 near village of Skala Sikaminias, Greece. Despite bad weather due to the upcoming Autumn, migrants and refugees are risking their lives in search of a better one in the European Union. Officals have warned that a rise in migrant deaths is expected as weather conditions gradually worsen. (Photo by Matej Divizna/Getty Images)
Migrants, who have just arrived by bus, queue in the rain at a refugee transit camp that has been set up on the border of Greece with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on October 22, 2015 in Idomeni, Greece. Despite the worsening weather, thousands of migrants have continued to arrive at the small border village as they persist in their journey on towards Western Europe. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
In this photo taken on Friday, Oct. 2, 2015, Syrian refugee Ali Shaheen, 62, and his wife Abeer, 52, who came from the countryside of Damascus, Syria, pose for a picture shortly after arriving on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos. Me and my wife are old and we cant walk, we were mistreated in Turkey, we are so tired,” Ali said. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
Refugees from Afghanistan and Syria take selfies after arriving in boats on the shores of Lesbos on November 2, 2015 near Molyvos, Greece. Lesbos, the Greek vacation island in the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, faces massive refugee flows from the Middle East countries. (Photo by Etienne De Malglaive/Getty Images)
HATAY, TURKEY – OCTOBER 28: Ibrahim Ahmad wearing an inhaler mask is seen in a Syrian family’s room in Reyhanli district of Hatay Province in southern Turkey on October 28, 2015. Syrian families who fled the war in their country and took shelter in Turkey live in rental houses, tents set up by the volunteers or derelict buildings in Hatay’s districts. The number of Syrians in Hatay’s Reyhanli has reached 95,000 as the Syrian civil war continues in its 5th year. (Photo by Burak Milli/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
A Syrian family with two-and-a-half-month-old triplets and their relatives with more babies wait for transportation after disembarking with other migrants and asylum seekers from two government-chartered ferries at the Greek port of Piraeus, about 12 kilometres (7 miles) from central Athens, on October 21, 2015. Some 5000 refugees and migrants arrived to the port of Piraeus by government chartered ferries from the islands of Lesbos and Chios. AFP PHOTO / LOUISA GOULIAMAKI (Photo credit should read LOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images)
HATAY, TURKEY – OCTOBER 28: A Syrian family is seen inside their room in Reyhanli district of Hatay Province in southern Turkey on October 28, 2015. Syrian families who fled the war in their country and took shelter in Turkey live in rental houses, tents set up by the volunteers or derelict buildings in Hatay’s districts. The number of Syrians in Hatay’s Reyhanli has reached 95,000 as the Syrian civil war continues in its 5th year. (Photo by Burak Milli/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
SANLIURFA, TURKEY – SEPTEMBER 24: Halim Rasim, 6, a Syrian refugee boy who fled Idlib with his family, poses with his pet cat at a tent city in the Akcakale District of Sanliurfa, Turkey on September 24, 2015. 260 thousand Syrians who have escaped war and found asylum in Turkey are now living in camps with opportunities that mean they don’t miss what they’ve left behind. (Photo by Aykut Unlupinar/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
SANLIURFA, TURKEY – JUNE 06: A Syrian woman holds a kid in her arms as they cross into Turkey from the borderline in Akcakale district of Sanliurfa on June 06, 2015. Hundreds of Syrians who fled from Syria after clashes between Syrian government forces and opponents in Rasulayn region of Al-Hasakah, have crossed into Turkey since Wednesday. (Photo by Halil Fidan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Cruz told reporters that we should accept Christians from Syria, and only Christians, because “There is no meaningful risk of Christians committing acts of terror.”
via Ted Cruz’s Religious Test for Syrian Refugees – The New Yorker.
Donald Trump: Syrian refugees a ‘Trojan horse’
via CNNPolitics.com
DETROIT (AP) – 
Gov. Rick Snyder said in a statement Sunday that the state is postponing efforts to accept refugees until federal officials fully review security clearances and procedures. He added that Michigan is “proud of our rich history of immigration” but that Michigan’s “first priority is protecting the safety of our residents.”
November 16, 2015
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has announced he is refusing Syrian refugees relocating to his state.
In a news release Sunday Bentley said, “After full consideration of this weekend’s attacks of terror on innocent citizens in Paris, I will oppose any attempt to relocate Syrian refugees to Alabama through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. As your Governor, I will not stand complicit to a policy that places the citizens of Alabama in harm’s way.”
According to the release Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is working diligently with federal agencies to monitor any possible threats. To date there has been no credible intelligence of terror threats in Alabama.
http://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article44975574.html
Boise – Two activist groups squared off in downtown Boise today over the federal refugee program. It’s a topic that’s generated quite a bit of debate in the magic valley… As a group fights to shut down the refugee center at the college of Southern Idaho. More than one hundred citizen activists gathered today in Boise to protest the federal refugee program.
The group…Three percent of Idaho…Stands for conservative protections of the constitution and community safety. Their protest — centered on the college of southern Idaho’s refugee program — comes off statements from federal agency leaders.
FBI director James Comey said they were ready to screen additional refugees from Syria…But gaps exist in the system.
A toddler migrant is plucked from the water by a volunteer lifeguard after a boat carrying around 150 refugees started to sink in the Aegean sea
Human tragedy: The body of a child lies on a beach on the Greek island of Lesbos, after 22 people – including nine children and four babies – drowned when their boat sank during the perilous crossing
Saviour: A lifeguard rescues a child as a boat with refugees and migrants sunk, while crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos
Horrific: Most of the migrant vessels making the dangerous journey are in bad condition and are heavily overcrowded
Despair: One man struggles to stay on board the boat as the rough seas force the passengers to take evasive action
Hanging in there: One desperate refugee woman hangs on a rope having escaped the half-sunken catamaran carrying around 150 refugees
Sorrow: One young boy screams and cries in terror as the boat wildly rocks in the strong currents off the coast of Lesbos
Too young: The body of a young boy, who drowned while making the perilous crossing from Turkey, lies on a beach on the Greek island of Lesbos. It was one of the worst accidents in Greek waters since the mass migrant flows started after the war in Syria
Sinking ship: An overcrowded refugee boat begins to sink off the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey