The President has clear Constitutional authority to pause immigration from countries and regions known to be incubators for jihadi terrorism in defense of U.S. national interests.
Refugees are a serious problem, but the solution is not to relocate large, unvettable populations to the United States. The President has clear Constitutional authority to pause immigration from countries and regions known to be incubators for jihadi terrorism in defense of U.S. national interests. Here are six reasons why.
1.
Immigration can benefit a nation, but the test of the wisdom of immigration is whether it benefits a nation.
America is a nation of immigrants, but it is also a philosophy; immigrants who share American values are the ones who benefit the nation.
2.
There is no effective way to vet people from war zones where the security services have collapsed.
There is no reason to believe that security services in Syria, Iran, or some other nations would answer our vetting questions honestly or accurately. We should expect those security services to manipulate us to place agents of their own. In addition, terror-supporting governments like Iran’s would also prefer to see America import a class of radicals who could be influenced to stage attacks.
3.
We must carefully evaluate a potential refugee’s group affiliations and public statements, including social media history, to determine if they share American values.
These values include equality for women, a refusal to establish a state religion, and respect for sexual and religious minorities. Membership in an Islamist organization ought to be disqualifying for potential refugees admitted to the United States. If a vetting process does uncover evidence of membership in an Islamist organization, whether the Islamic State (ISIS) or the Muslim Brotherhood, that should disqualify someone from immigration. Social media searches should be done, as many of these Islamist movements have strong online presences.
4.
We cannot ensure that immigrants from Islamic regions will not turn to jihad themselves, in either the first- or second-generation.
The most generous efforts to include immigrants in Western society have also produced jihadist violence. Multiple studies have shown that second-generation immigrants are twice as likely to radicalize as were their parents. There is an obvious national interest in preventing the development of internal American communities aligned with terroristic jihad.
5.
Refugees can be handled more cost-effectively in the Middle East than by bringing them to the United States.
It costs ten times as much to bring refugees to the West as to handle them closer to home. Given the scale of the crisis, that fact is of obvious importance because it lets us help more with the resources we can devote.
6.
Those pressuring the incoming administration to solve the refugee problem need to take on board the responsibility of the previous administration in creating it.
The Obama administration did not enforce its red line on attacks against civilians in Syria, including chemical attacks, to smooth the path toward its nuclear deal with Iran. The resulting destruction by the Assad regime is the main driver of the refugee crisis from Syria. The incoming administration needs to address the policies creating refugees, not just those for handling refugees.