Helping Syrian refugees fits within United States’ principles

By Harry Reid

Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015 | 2 a.m.

The federal government has many obligations, but chief among them is to protect the American people from harm. As ISIS continues to spread its campaign of terror across the globe, the United States stands committed to combating terrorism. Our government will do everything possible to protect the people of this nation.

In this fight against the evil ISIS, it is absolutely crucial that we, as Americans, do not lose sight of our nation’s core principles. Those principles are eloquently etched into the base of the Statue of Liberty:

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me”

All across Europe and the Middle East, there are huddled masses of Syrian families desperate to find refuge from the Syrian conflict and the ISIS reign of terror. Millions of Syrians have fled their country for neighboring nations such as Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. But the crisis in Syria continues to worsen, and people are forced to seek refuge. What else can they do? On a daily basis, Europe is being flooded by people in search of safety and a better life — mothers cradling infants and fathers carrying children in their arms.

The nations of Europe have helped. Greece, Germany and others have accommodated the enormous influx of people as safely as possible. But they are overwhelmed. The United States must do its part. We have a rigorous screening process when we accept refugees. The refugees we are accepting are women and children and older men with families. Only 2 percent are men of military age.

I have been disgusted in recent days to see some shun the American tradition of displaying compassion to those in need, of sheltering those fleeing death, torture, rape and oppression. Apparently, they have learned nothing from history. We cannot repeat the dark days of the 1930s, when many Americans resolved to turn away the helpless refugees fleeing Adolf Hitler. Or our imprisoning of innocent Japanese-Americans during World War II.

And yet it seems many are destined to go down that path again. Some in the Republican Party have suggested we categorically block all Syrian refugees. One Republican candidate for president suggested we should even turn away 5-year-old Syrian orphans. Two other Republican candidates for president implied that the United States should have some sort of religious test for refugees. They’re saying, “Only Christians.”

Some Republicans say we should be shutting down Muslim houses of worship in America and ban Muslims from government service. Two of my friends who serve in the House are proud Muslims. Their religion has only made them better people.

Some Republicans say we should reject refugees fleeing persecution on the grounds that they are Muslim, but that’s not America.

We must pause and think about who these people are. They are not our enemies. They were expelled from their homeland by the same evildoers we are fighting. All they want is to find safety and to restart their lives. To deny our moral obligation to these struggling people would be to abandon our principles.

We are not the nations of Europe. There is an ocean between the United States and Syria, preventing millions of Syrian refugees from appearing on our shores. In the United States, the refugee screening process takes place well before an individual comes to our borders.

On average it takes 18-24 months for a refugee to make it through the process and come to the U.S. That’s why only 1,800 Syrian refugees out of the millions who are fleeing Syria have been admitted since the start of the conflict.

Our government accepts only the most vulnerable of the Syrians — survivors of violence and torture, those with severe medical conditions, and women and children. But security precautions are not taking a backseat in the process.

These Syrian refugees are real people. The images of their plight are heartbreaking. Earlier this year, the world was stunned to see the photo of a drowned Syrian boy whose body washed up on a Turkish beach. That picture was on the front page of newspapers around the world. At that time, Democrats and Republicans responded with calls for compassion and action. I urge Republicans to remember that little boy. We must help where we can.

We are America. We come to the defense of the defenseless. We come to the aid of those in need. And right now we are needed. We, as a nation of freedom, should not forsake our duty and obligation to these struggling people.

Harry Reid is a U.S. senator for Nevada.