Dominick Nordin

April 23rd, 2017

Professor Baker

Cause and Effect

The United States is a haven for refugees who are looking to escape political collapse or

instability. The need for refugees to find a new home is growing everyday as governments

around the world become unstable. Many of these refugees are innocent families that are in

desperate need. As this need is growing, many countries such as the United States are answering

the call to help these refugees in their despairing situation.

Recently Syria has entered into a civil war with no end in sight. Millions of refugees have

fled the country in order to escape death and chaos. There are different fractions in Syria that are

fighting one another and many innocents have been caught in the middle. The civilians have

either been forced to flee, join a fraction, or fallen to the persecutions of war. Countries around

the world have seen what is going on in this country and many have helped the people of Syria.

Numerous Syrian refugees have applied to go to the US. President Barrack Obama has pledged

to help the people of Syria. But with his term coming to close, New President Donald Trump has

harsh views on how to deal with refugees. Recently he has barred anyone from certain countries

including Syria to be able to come into the US. The United States is known to be a haven to

refugees in times of need. With this new policy in place, it will be hard for future refugees to be

able to come into the United States.

According to statistics published on the White House website, only less than one percent

of Syrian refugees have made it through initial screening to come to the US. And of those who
do make it through the initial screening, it will take two years for the US intelligence community

to investigate them and make sure they will do no harm in the US. The United States is correct in

this case. In many countries that have accepted an overwhelming number of Syrian refugees,

there has also been an increased amount of terrorist attacks. Such as the truck driving over many

French civilians all in the name of terrorism or the bomb attacks in public places across Europe

due to the Syrian conflict. The United States does not want this to happen to the people of

America and that is why their stance on accepting Syrian refugees is so harsh.

There still needs to be a middle ground for those who truly need aid. Many women and

children need a safe place to live and raise their youth. So far, the United States has allowed

8,000 Syrian refugees to enter the country. Roughly 78 percent of those refugees are women and

children. The US is making progress but others say they are hardly making a dent to helping

those in need. Almost five million refugees from Syria have fled from their country and most are

still looking for a new home. The United States has been an icon throughout history to help

people who want political freedom from their home countries, but as time goes on the US has

made it harder and more difficult to let people live in their country.

In the past, the US has allowed many refugees from all over the world to live in their

country. This country is built upon immigration after all. The US government used to have ads

overseas to tell them to come live in the great USA and live a life full of freedom. That is no

longer the case. This is still a land for freedom, but reserved for the few. The world as we know it

is changing and the US is changing with it. There are more terrorist attacks than ever been

before, thus making the process of indicting someone to allow someone in our country a whole
lot harder than it used to be. It is understandable that our government is doing this because they

want our country to be safe for its citizens.

The US has a set goal to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees by the end of this year but it pales

in comparison to what we have done in the past. When the US was active in the Vietnam conflict

in 1975, the US accepted more than 125,000 Vietnamese refugees. When we compare our

country to the other countries that have helped the Syrian refugees we are lacking. Canada has

helped over 25,000 Syrian refugees in a matter of a few months. Sweden has taken more than

100,000 refugees alone. Then Germany takes in a whopping 300,000 asylum petitions since

2011. Even these numbers seem imperceptible compared to Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Jordan

has allowed roughly 650,000 refugees and Lebanon has welcomed over 1 million. Turkey hosts

more than any other country. Turkey has allowed more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees in their

country. The US needs to step up their game if they still want to be known as the worlds icon for

political freedom.

Although the United States is lagging when it comes to a refugees haven, if you can

make it into the country there are plentiful benefits to enjoy. Our rock-hard constitution gives us

all certain rights as civilians that we often dont appreciate if we are born into it. The politics in

our country are not as corrupt as others where it will threaten to collapse. The United States still

reigns as a political freedom asylum, many people from Mexico all the way to Central America

still flock to the United States with visas or no visas.