“You’re safe at home now.” These are the words of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to a group of Syrian refugees arriving in Canada.
I would like to present a few facts about the Syrian refugee crisis, with a goal of providing a bit of perspective.
Canada has agreed to accept 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of February 2016. Canada has a total population of approximately 35 million people.
The United States has committed to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees over the course of 2016. The United States has a total population of approximately 319 million people.
Taking a look at these numbers, we see that Canada has committed to accept about 1 Syrian refugee for every 1,400 persons in Canada. Meanwhile, the United States has committed to accept about 1 Syrian refugee for every 31,900 persons in the United States.
As a proportion of total population, Canada has agreed to accept almost 23 times more Syrian refugees than the United States has committed to accept.
Refugees to the United States undergo an intense level of screening before they are permitted to enter the United States. In fact, they undergo a higher level of screening than any other persons who are permitted to enter the United States.
Steven Katz, a U.S. war veteran who served from 2003 to 2009, including two tours of ground combat duty in Iraq, pointed out that in a recent poll, a majority of Americans support U.S. airstrikes in Syria and Iraq to combat ISIS (also known as ISIL), but don’t share the same enthusiasm for accepting Syrian refugees. Mr. Katz summed it up nicely: “We’re willing to bomb, but not provide refuge to those trying to escape from the bombing. What does that say about our national character?”
I am distressed that so many of my fellow citizens appear to be closing their hearts to persons who so desperately need our help. We are a nation of immigrants. We can and should open our hearts and do more.