Dismantling the fear of Syrian refugees

This archived article was written by: Alex Holt

Like many of the European nations, the United States is also asking itself the Syrian question. Should we allow these refugees into our country?
Conservatives like presidential nominee Donald Trump believe allowing these refugees into our country spill disaster and it opens the doors for terrorism to spread with unprecedented speed.
This fear persuaded at least 31 governors to ban the “resettlement” of Syrian refuges within their states despite not having legal authority to do so and many other governors to be openly against and hostile to the idea of refugees.
Fueling the fire, Trump tweeted on September 26th that Syrian refugees are like a bowl of Skittles sprinkled with a few that “would kill you,” which is grossly over-exaggerating the threat of terrorism in this country.
This statement combined with others made Trump has caused many politicians including Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz to inflate the number of suspected terrorists coming into the country.
Trump used Hillary Clinton’s statement that the US should do more and bring in at least 65,000 refugees a year, which is a 500 percent increase in the amount that the Obama administration is taking in, to promote his anti-refugee rhetoric.
This hysteria on the number of terrorists that enter the country is damaging, false and simply wrong.
If you take a look at the numbers, various sources from the Migration Policy Institute, the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the National Counter-Terrorism Center show that out of the 784,000 refugees that have resettled in the US since 9/11, only three have been connected to terrorism, and none of them were connected to terrorist actions have resulted in attacks in the US
This ratio is so low that more people are killed each year in the US by automobiles, swimming, peanuts and even cows according to John Oliver, host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight.
With such low a number, there is no argument that the US shouldn’t accept these refugees, after all our country is a nation from all backgrounds and places.
Other nations like France and Belgium still welcome refugees despite having terrorist attacks within their borders because it is the worth the risk to do so.
The election is under 40 days away and America has to decide now whether or not it should allow in these refugees.
Before you decide to follow in Trump’s banter and be fearful of the prospect of refugees in America, just remember that we have more people and objects here that kill people then refugees ever have.