Yesterday, President Trump signed new executive orders that ban entry into the US by citizens from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen for at least 90 days. These orders also halted the US refugee program for 4 months.
The EO banned all refugees from Syria. From a review of social media sites it is clear the vast majority of Americans don’t have a clue what the US does to clear a refugee before they are allowed into the country. Syrian refugees are vetted using the most rigorous standards.
If you are a Syrian refugee currently in the US you:
- Are a woman, child, elderly(over 60) or have a severe medical condition
- Were subject to a lengthy screening process conducted by the United Nations including multiple interviews to determine where in Syria you are from and who you know. You also had your iris scanned to establish your identity.
- Were subject to a 24 month screening process coordinated by the Department of Homeland Security that included:
- background checks by the FBI Terrorist Screening Center, Department of Department of Defense and other departments within DHS. These checks included checking your fingerprints against US and International terrorist data bases and a detailed review of all of the countries you visited or applied to visit, ever.
- In person interviews (multiple interviews) are conducted by specially trained DHS personalized.
- Paid the US Government back for your plane ticket here within 6 months
We live in a dangerous world. It is easy to fall into the trap of being scared of everybody. In this case, a quick Google search can go a long way to easing those fears. The results of that Google search can help the average American understand why our refugee program has resulted in far less violence than countries in Europe.
Perhaps President Trump should use Google more and Twitter less.
