Republicans, Refugees and the Hysterical Politics of Fear

[peach174]

Feds admit: ‘We have no outside data’ on Syrian refugees

Feds admit: 'We have no outside data' on Syrian refugees
In a blistering cross-examination of officials responsible for the U.S. refugee resettlement program, it was revealed at a Senate hearing Thursday that more than 90 percent of Syrians who apply for refugee status get approved despite very little data being available to check for security risks.

The officials who run the program also either don’t know or refused to say how many refugees have become terrorists once resettled on U.S. soil, nor could they say what percentage of refugees they are able to positively identify before letting them into the country.

Until Syria has a data base for them to be checked, anyone of them can lie and get in.

 

[Fueri]

WWWWAAAAAAHHHHH People want to be safe instead of sorry WWWWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

Please tell me what is wrong with wanting them to handle the refugees(if they must) WITHOUT endangering the American people? PLEASE INFORM ME

You cowards don't want to "handle" the refugees. You don't want to touch them at all. You want to send them back to be slaughtered by the tens of thousands.

You are heartless, gutless, yellow-bellied herd animals. The Gnu Right.

They have been enduring this violence for nearly 2 millennia. Why should they be special? Are you wanting to bring in all the innocents from the ME and Africa?
What makes a person a coward by not wanting to put their lives in danger? That would be called SMART. Werent you in the military? You would figure an all knowing god like you would understand that simple concept of survival.

you'll notice he didn't add 'brainless' to the ad hominem rant. likely an oversight, but when one is riding the logical fallacy train that hard we can't expect much.

there is no counter to the points presented as issues with this vetting process, as they are acknowledged by the same people that are supposed to be doing the job, so logical fallacy is the only avenue open. I say Bravo for at least going all in on that.

this is about a process. the facts of the holes in this vetting process are acknowledged by the people tasked with the performing task itself. we need to deal with that. not doing so is reckless, at best, and that goes all the way to the White House which is employing a lot of these same tactics instead of answering to the issues.

 

[tinydancer]

This is right from UNHCR. It doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy.


"Those who do hope to resettle must register with the UNHCR bureau closest to their camp; U.N. personnel there act as the first vetting system to weed out fraudulent cases.

However, despite the UNHCR’s “zero tolerance” policy, “resettlement activities are particularly vulnerable to fraud because of the benefits they offer ... and fraud can occur almost anywhere,” according to the organization’s resettlement handbook."

US Vetting 9,000 Syrian Refugees To Weed Out Jihadists Before Granting Asylum

 

[tinydancer]

Truly who during the vetting process is going to answer any of these question with a YES!

"Have you in the past ever fought for ISIS?"

"Have you been radicalized?"

"Do you want to be resettled to commit jihad?"



Come on now.

 

[Coyote]

Truly who during the vetting process is going to answer any of these question with a YES!

"Have you in the past ever fought for ISIS?"

"Have you been radicalized?"

"Do you want to be resettled to commit jihad?"



Come on now.

The vetting process is not based on the answers they give.

 

[peach174]

Truly who during the vetting process is going to answer any of these question with a YES!

"Have you in the past ever fought for ISIS?"

"Have you been radicalized?"

"Do you want to be resettled to commit jihad?"



Come on now.

The vetting process is not based on the answers they give.

It's not based on outside data either, admitted by our own government, which it should be.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

Unlike refugees of the past, the ones from Syria are militant Muslims. Syria has a long history of terrorism directed against Israel and the West and a demonstratable hatred of the non-Muslim world. Yet we're expected to forget about that and welcome them inside our borders because their own government tried to kill them? Have you asked yourself why they're refugees from their own government? Maybe because they were a violent threat?

1. From where are you getting this information that everyone in Syria is a "militant Muslim"?

2. Show us this "demonstration" of hatred of the non-Muslim world that's apparently shared by all Syrians.

3. They're not refugees from "their own government", they're refugees from ISIS.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

Truly who during the vetting process is going to answer any of these question with a YES!

"Have you in the past ever fought for ISIS?"

"Have you been radicalized?"

"Do you want to be resettled to commit jihad?"



Come on now.

The vetting process is not based on the answers they give.

It's not based on outside data either, admitted by our own government, which it should be.

Of course it's "based on outside data", and our government has not "admitted" anything close to that.

 

[BlueGin]

It's funny how The Right castigates The Left for being all about "fweewings" when utterly shameful crap like this is going on. Fear is a "feeling" too and like many feelings not always rational.

Republicans' anti-refugee rhetoric is shameful and despicable — and probably good politics

As I write this, 26 Republican governors (and one Democrat) have said publicly that they oppose bringing Syrian refugees to their states, with most saying they'd refuse to accept them; by the time you read this, the other five Republican governors may have made similar statements. Meanwhile, every major GOP presidential candidate has come out against bringing Syrian refugees here, and Ted Cruz has introduced a bill to bar any Syrian refugees from settling in the United States.

This hurricane of xenophobia and cynical opportunism makes for a truly odious display. But sadly, it's also good politics for Republicans, at least in the short term.​

Yes...politics is certainly playing a big part. Let's analyze the reality.

Before we go any farther, we should acknowledge a simple fact: If you're concerned about stopping ISIS from committing an act of terrorism in the United States, the 10,000 Syrian refugees who will be admitted after a rigorous vetting process is one of the last things you should be worried about. It's possible (though far from necessary) for a member of ISIS to get to Europe by posing as a refugee, since large numbers of Syrians are somewhat chaotically making their way to places like Greece, and once they're on European soil they can move freely between countries. But the process of getting to the United States as a refugee is completely different.​

Rightwing Histrionic#1 -- we don't know who they are!!!! they could be anyone!!! they aren't vetted well!!!!!

The vetting process is far more extensive for a refugee coming in than it is for, say, someone with a tourist visa. It can take upwards of 2 years before they are admitted.

4 Things To Know About The Vetting Process For Syrian Refugees

Refugees are screened by several different agencies
Their first point of a refugee's contact is with the U.N. High Commission for Refugees. The UNHCR refers people to countries based on whether they have any family members there and where resettlement makes the most sense, say U.S. officials. If that's the U.S., then refugees are vetted by the National Counterterrorism Center, the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center, and the Departments of State, Defense and Homeland Security. Fingerprints are taken, biographical information is collected. They are then each individually interviewed by U.S. officials trained to verify that they're bona fide refugees.

Refugees from Syria are then subject to additional screening that looks at where they came from and what caused them to flee their home, stories that are checked out. All of this occurs before a refugee is allowed to set foot in the country.

It's a lengthy process

As you might imagine, all of the vetting, from interviews to fingerprinting, takes a while. On average, officials say it's 18 to 24 months before a refugee is approved for admission to the U.S...​

Histrionic #2: why should we be paying for them when we got xyz homeless people and people in poverty? (this one was a shocker to hear because it's the first time I've heard any concern from the Republicans for the welfare of homeless people and their actions in cutting programs demonizing the poor as parasites indicate quite the opposite).

Physical resettlement
There are nine different nonprofit groups, six of them faith-based, that help refugees settle in the U.S. Volunteers with the groups help refugees find homes, furniture, school supplies and jobs.​

Oops...looks like you don't have to pay for it unless you want to, people volunteer because they feel it's the right thing to do - another faux objection.

Histrionic #3: omg omg a refugee disappeared in Louisiana...no one knows where he is!!!!!!! We've got to stop taking Syrian refugees!!!!!

Reality check: umh...no...he was never missing.

Catholic Charities: One Syrian immigrant briefly settled in Baton Rouge before moving; he never went missing
Baton Rouge received one Syrian refugee over the summer, a man Catholic Charities helped for a few days before he left to meet family in another state.


Catholic Charities said Tuesday the man is the only Syrian refugee they have helped recently, and Louisiana State Police confirmed he had left Baton Rouge for Washington, D.C.


But the news of that one man set off a flood of phone calls Tuesday to the organization, especially from misinformation that made some people believe the man had gone missing, Catholic Charities Executive Director David Aguillard said.


One caller even made several threats while on the phone with Catholic Charities, especially against Syrian refugees. State Police said they are investigating the threats and take them seriously.​

Now IS there a need for concern? Some, but far less than the hysteria demands.

Objections of governors and members of Congress

Some officials, including FBI Director James Comey, worry there are what Comey has called "gaps" in the vetting process. Experts say U.S. intelligence in Syria isn't very good, because the U.S. lacks much of a presence on the ground. So there's no way to compile a thorough watch list of possible terrorists from Syria against which refugees can be checked. Administration officials are briefing governors and members of Congress about the process, but lawmakers may try to pass legislation calling on the administration to suspend its refugee resettlement efforts.​

The groups most responsible for helping refugees - whether they are Burmese, Somali, or Syrian are often our religious institutions and other non-profit charities. Kudos to them, for they are struggling to keep our nation's moral compass pointed in the right direction. When all those Central American children were flooding the border, they had the courage to take them in and help them while the wingnuts picketed their bus and yelled slurs.

Christian groups break with GOP over Syrian refugees
Faith-based groups, who play a key role in resettling refugees to the United States, say they are dismayed by the wave of anti-refugee fervor set off by the Paris terrorist attacks and are urging supporters to contact elected officials on behalf of victims of the Syrian civil war.

Evangelical Christians, as well as Christians more broadly, are a core group in the Republican electoral base and are among the most passionate advocates for aiding refugees.

A push by Republican presidential candidates to ban Syrian refugees "does not reflect what we've been hearing from our constituencies, which are evangelical churches across the country," said Jenny Yang, vice president for advocacy at World Relief, an evangelical organization that helps resettle refugees. "Most of the people have been saying we want to continue to work with refugees, that what happened in Paris ... doesn’t reflect who refugees are."​

So you can't even think, much less write, for yourself...

That about sums it up.

 

[BlueGin]

WWWWAAAAAAHHHHH People want to be safe instead of sorry WWWWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

They want people to be mass murdered so they have something to whine about and blame republicans for later.

 

[peach174]

Truly who during the vetting process is going to answer any of these question with a YES!

"Have you in the past ever fought for ISIS?"

"Have you been radicalized?"

"Do you want to be resettled to commit jihad?"



Come on now.

The vetting process is not based on the answers they give.

It's not based on outside data either, admitted by our own government, which it should be.

Of course it's "based on outside data", and our government has not "admitted" anything close to that.

read post # 41
Maybe you should watch a few of the hearings on c-span because they did.

 

[Coyote]

Unlike refugees of the past, the ones from Syria are militant Muslims. Syria has a long history of terrorism directed against Israel and the West and a demonstratable hatred of the non-Muslim world. Yet we're expected to forget about that and welcome them inside our borders because their own government tried to kill them? Have you asked yourself why they're refugees from their own government? Maybe because they were a violent threat?

The US refused access to European Jews, most particularly East European from Axis states because they were considered "undesirables" and a conduit for infiltrators. The argument against Syrian refugees is much the same.

Their own government is Assad. Assad is not exactly a model ruler but the latest in the line of ruthless dictators with horrendous human rights abuse record, intolerance of any political dissidents. Maybe that is why his people rose up and why he is indiscriminantly slaughtering them and turning them into refugees. The other "government" at play is ISIS from which refugees are also fleeing.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

Truly who during the vetting process is going to answer any of these question with a YES!

"Have you in the past ever fought for ISIS?"

"Have you been radicalized?"

"Do you want to be resettled to commit jihad?"



Come on now.

The vetting process is not based on the answers they give.

It's not based on outside data either, admitted by our own government, which it should be.

Of course it's "based on outside data", and our government has not "admitted" anything close to that.

read post # 41
Maybe you should watch a few of the hearings on c-span because they did.

No, they didn't - no matter what WND claims in their headlines. A lack of Syrian governmental computer databases does not mean that "they have no outside information". You do realize that we have the largest intelligence network in the world, right?

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Unlike refugees of the past, the ones from Syria are militant Muslims. Syria has a long history of terrorism directed against Israel and the West and a demonstratable hatred of the non-Muslim world. Yet we're expected to forget about that and welcome them inside our borders because their own government tried to kill them? Have you asked yourself why they're refugees from their own government? Maybe because they were a violent threat?

The US refused access to European Jews, most particularly East European from Axis states because they were considered "undesirables" and a conduit for infiltrators. The argument against Syrian refugees is much the same.

Their own government is Assad. Assad is not exactly a model ruler but the latest in the line of ruthless dictators with horrendous human rights abuse record, intolerance of any political dissidents. Maybe that is why his people rose up and why he is indiscriminantly slaughtering them and turning them into refugees. The other "government" at play is ISIS from which refugees are also fleeing.

Difference being exclusion of Jewish refugees was born out of bigotry and hypotheticals. There really are terrorists among Syrians.

 

[peach174]

Truly who during the vetting process is going to answer any of these question with a YES!

"Have you in the past ever fought for ISIS?"

"Have you been radicalized?"

"Do you want to be resettled to commit jihad?"



Come on now.

The vetting process is not based on the answers they give.

It's not based on outside data either, admitted by our own government, which it should be.

Of course it's "based on outside data", and our government has not "admitted" anything close to that.

read post # 41
Maybe you should watch a few of the hearings on c-span because they did.

No, they didn't - no matter what WND claims in their headlines. A lack of Syrian governmental computer databases does not mean that "they have no outside information". You do realize that we have the largest intelligence network in the world, right?

WND is just reporting what was said at the hearings.
In a blistering cross-examination of officials responsible for the U.S. refugee resettlement program, it was revealed at a Senate hearing Thursday that more than 90 percent of Syrians who apply for refugee status get approved despite very little data being available to check for security risks.
Read more at Feds admit: ‘We have no outside data’ on Syrian refugees

 

[theDoctorisIn]

The vetting process is not based on the answers they give.

It's not based on outside data either, admitted by our own government, which it should be.

Of course it's "based on outside data", and our government has not "admitted" anything close to that.

read post # 41
Maybe you should watch a few of the hearings on c-span because they did.

No, they didn't - no matter what WND claims in their headlines. A lack of Syrian governmental computer databases does not mean that "they have no outside information". You do realize that we have the largest intelligence network in the world, right?

WND is just reporting what was said at the hearings.
In a blistering cross-examination of officials responsible for the U.S. refugee resettlement program, it was revealed at a Senate hearing Thursday that more than 90 percent of Syrians who apply for refugee status get approved despite very little data being available to check for security risks.
Read more at Feds admit: ‘We have no outside data’ on Syrian refugees

No, that's just WND making shit up. Seriously, read the article. At no point during testimony did any representative of the US government say "90 percent of Syrians who apply for refugee status get approved".

 

[peach174]

Truly who during the vetting process is going to answer any of these question with a YES!

"Have you in the past ever fought for ISIS?"

"Have you been radicalized?"

"Do you want to be resettled to commit jihad?"



Come on now.

The vetting process is not based on the answers they give.

It's not based on outside data either, admitted by our own government, which it should be.

Of course it's "based on outside data", and our government has not "admitted" anything close to that.

read post # 41
Maybe you should watch a few of the hearings on c-span because they did.

No, they didn't - no matter what WND claims in their headlines. A lack of Syrian governmental computer databases does not mean that "they have no outside information". You do realize that we have the largest intelligence network in the world, right?

The same intelligence network that said there was WMD's in Iraq?
U.S. Intelligence on WMDs in Iraq

 

[peach174]

It's not based on outside data either, admitted by our own government, which it should be.

Of course it's "based on outside data", and our government has not "admitted" anything close to that.

read post # 41
Maybe you should watch a few of the hearings on c-span because they did.

No, they didn't - no matter what WND claims in their headlines. A lack of Syrian governmental computer databases does not mean that "they have no outside information". You do realize that we have the largest intelligence network in the world, right?

WND is just reporting what was said at the hearings.
In a blistering cross-examination of officials responsible for the U.S. refugee resettlement program, it was revealed at a Senate hearing Thursday that more than 90 percent of Syrians who apply for refugee status get approved despite very little data being available to check for security risks.
Read more at Feds admit: ‘We have no outside data’ on Syrian refugees

No, that's just WND making shit up. Seriously, read the article. At no point during testimony did any representative of the US government say "90 percent of Syrians who apply for refugee status get approved".

That is not what it said.
It said 90% gets approved despite very little data being available.
Not 90% gets approved.

 

[Coyote]

Unlike refugees of the past, the ones from Syria are militant Muslims. Syria has a long history of terrorism directed against Israel and the West and a demonstratable hatred of the non-Muslim world. Yet we're expected to forget about that and welcome them inside our borders because their own government tried to kill them? Have you asked yourself why they're refugees from their own government? Maybe because they were a violent threat?

The US refused access to European Jews, most particularly East European from Axis states because they were considered "undesirables" and a conduit for infiltrators. The argument against Syrian refugees is much the same.

Their own government is Assad. Assad is not exactly a model ruler but the latest in the line of ruthless dictators with horrendous human rights abuse record, intolerance of any political dissidents. Maybe that is why his people rose up and why he is indiscriminantly slaughtering them and turning them into refugees. The other "government" at play is ISIS from which refugees are also fleeing.

Difference being exclusion of Jewish refugees was born out of bigotry and hypotheticals. There really are terrorists among Syrians.

No...not really.

Was there bigotry? You bet. Just like with the Syrians.

Could there have been infiltrators amongst them? Yes, there could have and probably were a few. There were brave journalists who smuggled themselves into Nazi Germany. What makes you think the reverse wouldn't happen? There didn't exist the instant media and electronic communications then that we have now. But I'm sure the fear then was just as real as the fear now and just as "valid".

 

[BlindBoo]

ISIS has claimed that the next attack will be on Washington DC. Oh well. No use sitting around being afraid. Let it happen.

France just stopped the next one last night. But you go right ahead and keep believing in ISIS.