I've been seeing a lot of uninformed hysteria (as opposed to well-informed hysteria) flying around the social media lately concerning the Syrian refugee program. Most of these 'concerns' boil down to 'OMG MUSLIMS!', but at heart it's a more basic paranoia of the Different.
When people hear that X number of Syrian refugees will be offered asylum, the image in their heads is a huge crowd of dirty, disheveled, swarthy-looking people muttering in some unknowable guttural language standing behind a gate. A uniformed guard opens the door, and they all come pouring in.
Does anybody realize what it takes to get into this country?
Everyone is fingerprinted, photographed, their name and vital data is run through a series of databases and transmitted to numerous federal agencies. They are questioned, often at length, and their education, background, and work history is scrutinized.
And THAT is just for a tourist visa. The refugee application process is slow, exhaustive, and exacting.
Is it CONCEIVABLE that one of the Syrian refugees could do some bad things? Who knows? It's possible that one of the children who got the polio vaccine could grow up to be the next Hitler. It's a nonsensical line of reasoning.
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