America Has Always Accepted Refugees.
When President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order on January 27,2017 to suspend refugee admissions for one hundred twenty days, Trump claims this was not a ‘ Muslim ban’ but an attempt to further review security procedures. Syrians were seeking safety and refuge from their war torn country. As political and religious minorities, they were cast out of their own lands and were seeking asylum wherever they could go. Often without food,water, and funds to sustain themselves. They ran across borders, jump on to boats,hitched rides with unknown consequences to their choices. Why would people leave everything they know and throw themselves into a world of hate and mistrust? Pack only the things they could carry, risk their lives and their children’s lives for the sake of hope of a better life in America? The environment in America is hostile and dangerous.The people in America don’t want them there and fear them. The Syrians will be alone and far away from their own culture and lifestyles.About three million refugees have come here and have been resettled in the U.S. since Congress passed the Refugee Act of 1980, which created the Federal Refugee Resettlement Program. This is the current national procedure for the screening and admission of refugees into the United States.
America has a long history of accepting exiles from places of war, famine,natural disaster, and the politically and religiously persecuted. It has a four hundred year old history. This started in 1620 when a weary group of European political and religious refugees from England boarded a ship called the ‘Mayflower’ and sailed off from Southampton,United Kingdom in hopes of a better life in an unknown and possibly hostile new world. Their leader, William Bradford would refer to them as ‘Pilgrims and 102 of them left the comforts of civilization for the wild unknown world of America. Why would anyone do this,leave their homes,families, and comforts for a vast terrifying unknown place? The environment in America is savage and dangerous.The native people who live there do not want them there and fear and mistrust them. The Pilgrims will be alone and far away from their own culture and lifestyles?
What was so appealing to these groups of different people who seem to constantly want to come to a place like America. Why don’t they just stay in their own countries and figure out how make things better?
In the early 1600’s young William Bradford started joining a group of people committed to changing the corruptness of the Church of England called The Separatist. The Separatist questioned the English government’s views on freedom. Separatists were not supportive of the idea of a national church. However not conforming was a treasonous act and punishment of arrest,violent torture and abuse and death caused them to flee to The Netherlands.
Living in another foreign country was hard on the English refugees. The Dutch were peaceful but far too liberal for them and they began to feel even more isolated and alone. They needed to find a place they could freely live according to their faith.They had heard of the “New World” and many British settlements in Virginia and the Eastern seacoast. They decided they would petition the Crown of England for settlement rights in hopes of creating a new home to practice their faith and live their lives without fear of the government. They knew the “new world” was full of dark forests, wild animals and savage people but the want for a better life for their families and the hope of freedom to live their own lives without threat overrode their fear of the unknown.William Bradford spoke of the bravery of the 102 people who boarded The Mayflower ,with the fierce determination against the elements of sea travel to finally land in Plymouth Bay Cape Cod, in November of 1620,as ‘the last march of exile from England.’ The hardships they suffered would be worth it for the Puritans were in a place they chose that was safe from constant persecution. The oppression in their homeland was more frightening to them then the “new world threats were.
Similar feelings for the Syrian refugees. The war in Syria shows no signs of ending. People have fled to neighboring countries but hope is lost for them ever returning.Living in neighboring countries as poverty stricken exiles since they can’t obtain work permits,the refugees live in constant fear. Refugees endure violence by locals who resent their presence. International aid is unable to keep up with the demand for services. Many children remain unable to be educated or receive proper medical care. Many host countries(like Libya) do not have the resources to help the thousands of homeless,hungry people and aid puts a strain on their own infrastructure.The images of welcoming countries in Europe and the United States on television and social media are so appealing to people that a long brutal journey is worth any suffering they may endure. Prospects for work,homes and education is worth risking their lives for when certain death in their own country is their only other option.
When the Wampanoag natives saw the Puritans come ashore and try to settle they were not all welcoming and accepting. Governor William Bradford suggested in his manuscript, ‘Bradford’s History Of Plimoth Plantation’ “all this while Indians came skulking about them,and would sometimes show themselves aloof ,But when approached near them,they would run away.” The Wampanoag were out to make an alliance against a rival tribal group. The massive deaths created by the disease prior to Pilgrims arrival, lead to a political crisis. The Wampanoag had been virtually wiped out, a powerful rival tribe to the west, the Narragansett, has been basically untouched. The hostility between the Wampanoag and the neighboring Narragansett had limited contact between them, the disease had not spread to their enemies. Massasoit’s people were not only devastated by loss, they were in danger of domination. Tisquantum(Squanto) did help teach the colonists how to grow food, serve as a translator for them, and help build the political alliance with the Wampanoag but it was not all about noble intentions. It was politically motivated. The Whampongs wanted something in return for their charity.
Why should America accept Syrian refugees? Because it helped in displacing them. The United States government is one of the most aggressive participants in the civil war in Syria. The United States has accepted no responsibility for their actions. The global failure to aid Syrian refugees is viewed as a humanitarian one,specially in Europe, where hundreds of thousands have arrived in recent months. U.S policies have destabilized the Middle East in massive ways. Three directly link the U.S. to the wave of Syrians fleeing violence: fracturing Iraq, proliferating arms throughout the region, and continuing air strike operations against the Islamic State..The United States is far from the only nation responsible for funding widespread violence in Syria. For example, roughly 10 percent of Russia’s total weapon exports flow directly into Damascus.The United States can expect something in return for their charity.Refugee resettlement counters ISIS narratives. Countering ISIS recruitment to radicalize youth vulnerable to war scorn areas,should be a major priority in foreign policy.
The United States has a long history of assisting refugees. We are a nation of immigrants and refugees trying to make a place where we can live and work in peace. Lawmakers owe the American and Syrian peoples a public discussion that is based in fact not fear. Democracy is not a spectator’s sport.
