With Syrian refugees, uphold U.S. values
Last Tuesday night, U.S. senators shared a room with Refaai Hamo, a Ph.D. engineer who lives in Michigan. This week, they are expected to debate blocking people like Hamo from even being in the United States.
Hamo was a guest of President Obama for the State of the Union. He fled to Turkey from Syria with four of his children in 2013 after a Syrian government missile killed his wife, one of his daughters and five other family members. Without a residence permit, he could not work in Turkey and life was miserable. After two years, he was given refugee status, and he and his children moved to Troy, Michigan, last month. He says he wants to “make a lasting contribution to humanity.”
Also in the gallery was Ahmad Alkhalaf, age 9. First his family home outside Aleppo, Syria, was bombed. He moved to his grandparents’ home but it was also bombed. Finally a bomb hit the refugee camp he was living in, killing his three siblings. Ahmad lost both his arms. He finally found safety in Boston.
Hamo and Ahmad are the kinds of people fleeing spectacular Syrian violence who U.S. senators will consider turning away in debate starting Wednesday.
Senators will take up a bill co-sponsored by Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., of Concord. The so-called American SAFE Act passed the House in November, 289-137. It would stop Syrian arrivals until unspecified additional screening is added.
Sixty senators would have to vote to debate the bill for it to then move to a debate and vote. President Obama has said he would veto the measure.
Concern about security is understandable, especially given the recent arrest on terrorism charges of two Iraqis who came to the U.S. as refugees. The U.S. certainly must have a thorough vetting process for them, even though about half the Syrian refugees who have come to the U.S. so far are children.
The good news is it does. Refugees are scrutinized more aggressively than any other kind of traveler. They are interviewed multiple times, fingerprinted and have their information run through multiple intelligence databases. The average refugee waits about two years before being cleared.
About 12 million Syrians have been displaced; the U.S. has taken in about 2,500. The first Syrian refugees in Charlotte, a family of five children and their parents, arrived in October. Three weeks later, N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory joined a growing list of governors requesting that no refugees be sent to their states.
Meanwhile, Syrian children suffer from famine, with government officials using starvation as a weapon. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday called that a war crime.
The U.S. should be a refuge for these children and their families. Congress must ensure that America’s vetting procedures continue to be tight without turning these fragile victims away.
This story was originally published January 18, 2016 at 9:22 AM with the headline "With Syrian refugees, uphold U.S. values."