The Refugee Challenge
by Todd Deatherage
It is often said that we are a nation of immigrants, and since our founding and throughout our brief history, America has also been a refuge for people fleeing war, violence, repression, and persecution.
We all know the story of religious dissidents who were among the earliest immigrants to our shores. And in more recent years, America has become a haven for religious and political refugees from around the world. In fact, since 1975 we have resettled over three million refugees into communities around the country. This is our history, and it’s a good and true story and one that should make us proud. As we struggle to respond to last week’s attacks in Beirut and Paris, we should remind ourselves of this good American story, while at the same time recalling that it’s not the entire story. For instance, we did much too little to provide a safe haven for Jews and others fleeing the Nazis in the 1930s. Take a visit to Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, and you’ll see on display a letter written by Sen. Robert Taft in 1939 in which he explains his opposition to allowing 20,000 children to enter the US as refugees.
Moreover, though millions of refugees have come and largely been welcomed and assimilated, some waves of refugees have engendered fears here at home. I recall the political outcry to the resettlement of Cuban refugees in my native Arkansas as part of the reason for the defeat of our young governor, Bill Clinton, back in 1980.
Fear is a powerful motivator, and Daesh (ISIS) has demonstrated its desire and ability to perpetrate evil deeds and cause good people to be afraid. Some political leaders are either acting out of their own fears or, sensing the mood, capitalizing on ours. But at times like this we must all be even more vigilant about remaining true to our values and rejecting the voices of fear mongering among us as we seek necessary and appropriate responses. And we would do well to remember that it was the triumph of fear that resulted the internment of Japanese Americans in the 1940s.
Effective pursuit of American security is not unrelated to our living and acting in ways that are consistent with our values. A sound refugee policy includes a rigorous screening process, but it does not close the door to people in genuine need, nor does it discriminate based on religious or ethnic identity. To lack the creativity to meet the refugee challenge any other way than to say we will accept none, or that will only accept Christians, is not only morally questionable, but undermines our interests because it is a betrayal of American ideals.
