What the Media Isn’t Saying About the Refugee Crisis in the Middle East

Here’s a question all liberal, open border politicians must answer as it relates to the refugee crisis: if wealthy Arab and Muslim countries are concerned about the security, fiscal, and cultural problems associated with admitting mass numbers of Syrian refugees, why should America be the guinea pig?

Following the widely viewed picture of the dead toddler washed up on the shore of Turkey, liberal NGOs dealing with refugee resettlement feel they have their bloody shirt moment in their relentless quest to flood the country with tens of thousands of additional refugees from the Middle East. But anyone who follows the Middle East can appreciate that prudent policy is a lot more complex than heartrending images of individual babies dying while fleeing an Islamic Civil War. For one thing, most of the migrants appear to be adult males. And the story of the drowned boy also appears to be more complex than initially thought.

Certainly the images of gruesome torture of Christian minorities in Syria should conjure up just as much righteous indignation and calls to admit refugees, yet we have only admitted 28 Christians from Syria this year – just 2% of all refugees from that country – according to State Department data. Likewise, of the 11,164 refugees admitted from Iraq this year, just 193 were Yazidi. Why have we admitted 70,000 refugees from around the world this year but have taken in just 28 individual Christians from Syria and 193 Yazidis from Iraq – the most persecuted people of our time?

Why has the refugee program ostensibly become a Muslim resettlement program and why is it the western, predominantly Christian countries that are tasked with taking in so many Muslim refugees when the Gulf States, which share the same language and religion, turn a blind eye?

I know what you’re thinking – with all the persecution of Christians transpiring in this country, maybe this is not the last remaining asylum for persecuted Christians. And evidently, liberals believe that those who peacefully decline a service while asserting Christian beliefs should be thrown in jail but are clamoring to bring in tens of thousands of fervent Sharia adherents who, let’s just say, don’t always express their religious convictions peacefully. But I digress.

A number of NGOs and sitting Democrat senators are calling for the admission of as many as 200,000 refugees next year, including 100,000 Syrians. You won’t get this perspective from the mainstream media, but take a look at this chart of the top host countries to refugees worldwide and you will see that we are, by far, the most generous. Americans don’t need sanctimony from the open borders crowd.

As you can see, the U.S. admitted 73% of the world’s refugees in 2014. Now, obviously, that will change in the final tally for 2015, as European countries such as Germany are being flooded with record numbers of refugees. But America has been the leading host country for years, accepting 448,463 refugees since FY 2009. With all the security risks and the public charge we are forced to incur, it’s more than high time for other countries to do their fair share.

Also, in addition to refugees, no other western country has admitted so many immigrants from indigent countries over the past decade. As the Center for Immigration Studies shows, this has resulted in a massive strain on our welfare system, representing a huge break with 100 years of past immigration policy that avoided those who were likely to become a public charge. In total, as of 2010 the U.S. was the destination of 20% of the world’s migrants even though we account for just 4% of the global population. America also has its own migrant crisis from Central America. Americans don’t need lectures on compassion.

Notice how few refugees are taken in by Latin American countries or East Asian countries. And as we mentioned before, what happened to countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Emirates? The five richest Gulf nations have yet to admit a single refugee from Syria this year!

What do they know about security policy that some western liberals do not?

America has taken in over 100,000 Somali refugees since 1993. We are paying for it to this day with growing radicalism in the areas they settled – to the extent that the U.S. Attorney from Minnesota said they have lost control over many individuals in the local Somali community who’ve connected with foreign fighters. And although the public charge is certainly not as grave as the security issues, it is still important nonetheless. Among refugees from the Middle East, 91.3% received Food Stamps and 73.1% received Medicaid.

On Wednesday, the Obama administration will “consult” with Congress on the number of refugees they plan to admit for the next fiscal year and from which parts of the world. Conservatives should gird for battle.

As we approach another anniversary of 9/11, let’s not forget that immigration is the front line in the defense against terror. (For more from the author of “What the Media Isn’t Saying About the Refugee Crisis in the Middle East” please click HERE)

Watch a recent interview with the author below:

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