Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper did himself and his state proud Monday by responding to a simple question in a fashion that reflects American values. Explaining that he will not try to block Syrian refugees from coming to Colorado, Hickenlooper said, “We can protect our security and provide a place where the world’s most vulnerable can rebuild their lives.”
Good for him.
There are any number of legitimate and heart-felt responses to the unconscionable attacks in Paris on Friday night. People of good will around the world were saddened, appalled, horrified and hurt. And it is only human nature that more than a few Americans’ thinking went quickly to wondering just how many operational B-52s the Air Force has left. If anybody warrants carpet bombing it is the cult of death called the Islamic State.
But seeking justice for murdered innocents or wanting to rid the world of a demonstrated evil is one thing. Taking it out on refugees fleeing for their lives, displaced at least in part by that very evil, is something else again. Xenophobia is neither an appropriate nor effective response to terrorism.
Nonetheless, on Monday at least two dozen governors across the country vowed to block Syrian refugees from coming to their states. President Obama has said the United States will accept 10,000 Syrian refugees in the next year.
It is far from certain that those governors have the legal authority or the physical ability to keep refugees out. Anyone lawfully in the United States (and not on parole or under some other legal restraint) is free to move around at will. Americans have always prided themselves on the lack of anything like an internal passport; we do not have “papers.” There are no checkpoints or guard towers at state lines. And governors have no say as to where people can travel.
None of that stopped a series of politicians from saying profoundly stupid things. Several, including Donald Trump, Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz, wondered aloud whether the United States should admit only Christians from Syria. Trump reportedly went so far as to say that as president he might close Mosques. Chris Christy has said he would even bar orphans under 5 years old.
This is ugly. It also ignores the fact that the situation the United States faces is wholly unlike that of Europe. Nine million Syrians have been displaced by the fighting devastating their country and they are overwhelming nearby Europe. Syria has no such proximity to this country and there will be no such human flood.
Moreover, no Syrians will be admitted until vetted for 18 months. That cannot ensure that there will not be anyone of poor character among 10,000 refugees, but it will almost certainly make it prohibitively time consuming for actual terrorists. Islamic State killers would find it quicker and easier to get a non-Syrian passport and come here with a tourist visa or ostensibly on business.
The security risks are overrated and do not warrant the genuinely nasty tone of the debate. The United States does not have religious tests and we are not about to fortify state lines. But fear makes people say foolish and hurtful things. It is exactly the response terrorists seek.
Hickenlooper correctly represented a state and a people that are above that.
