The typical xenophobic response to the prospect of bringing
thousands of Syrian refugees to America has generated claims that ISIS is using
the mass migration from the Middle East as a means to secretly attack the
United States.
Those pushing this dubious claim, including some members of
Congress, express concern that ISIS jihadi attackers were slipped into the
refugee/migrant population — those desperately fleeing the brutal Syrian civil
war and other post-Arab Spring chaos — as a means of placing Islamic State
killers on American soil.
insisting that the vetting of refugees is a thorough process, it’s perhaps more
important to realize the origins of this apparent canard.The fact is that ISIS has aggressively worked at shaming
those Muslims fleeing the Middle East for Europe, labeling them sinners and
traitors to their religion, as well as the self-proclaimed caliphate.The latest issue of Dabiq, the Islamic State’s English-language
magazine – yes, they have their own slick propaganda publication – warns that the
refugees’ journey into “crusaders’ lands” is unforgivable. In
response to a 3-year-old refugee child’s body washing ashore in Turkey, the ISIS
magazine ran the heart-breaking image of the drowned child under the headline
“The Danger Of Abandoning Darul-Islam” — or the lands of Islam. According
to The Washington Post, the article chastised Arab refugees making the
perilous Mediterranean crossing.
indecency’
After citing certain
traditions of Islamic jurisprudence, the Post reports that the article scolded
as follows:Sadly, some Syrians and Libyans
are willing to risk the lives and souls of those whom they are responsible to
raise upon the Shari’ah — their children — sacrificing many of them during
the dangerous trip to the lands of the war-waging crusaders ruled by laws of
atheism and indecency.The magazine story concluded that
“voluntarily leaving (the lands of Islam) for (the lands of infidels)
is a dangerous major sin, as it is … a gate toward one’s children and
grandchildren abandoning Islam for Christianity, atheism or liberalism.”
This theory of shadowy jihadis assigned to mix with the refugees
first emerged in a report by Buzzfeed last year that relied upon one or two
ISIS sympathizers in Europe who asserted that 4,000 terrorists were placed within
in the fleeing populace. These sources claimed that the clandestine terrorists
would launch spectacular attacks in Europe soon. More than a year later, no
such acts of terrorism have occurred.
Then, right-wing websites latched onto the story and soon
the claims of 4,000 intrepid ISIS fighters within the refugee outflow grew to as
much as 500,000 terrorists – a figure that, even by the very broadest
definition, represents far more people than the entire ISIS membership.
What’s more, why would those who volunteer to fight for ISIS
engage in many months living in squalor in Middle East refugee camps, followed
by an exhausting and dangerous trek to Europe, just so they might be picked for
resettlement in the U.S.?
Surely easier ways exists for ISIS troops to make their way
to America, including simply walking across the Canadian border.
When Iraqi refugees began arriving on U.S. shores in the
past decade, we never witnessed a major clamor about the vetting process that
ensured the acceptance of only “safe” asylees. Yet, the overall Iraqi population
included many vengeful Sunni and Shia Muslims who were responsible for killing American
troops, often through terrorist-style bombings.
Despite all this, some in Congress are buying into the
assertion that the refugees from Syria, as well as Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya,
deserve special scrutiny because they just might be agents of ISIS.
Earlier this year, Congresswoman Candice Miller of Michigan,
chair of the House Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, along with
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and
Subcommittee on Counterterrorism Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y.), sent a letter to
National Security Adviser Susan Rice expressing concerns about the prospect of
desperately fleeing refugee blocs including some terrorist elements.
administration is preparing to accept up to 10,000 Middle Eastern refugees,
Miller, a Harrison Township Republican, issued a statement that read in part:
that refugees undergo a rigorous, multi-layered screening process that involves
multiple intelligence, security and law enforcement agencies. While I
have confidence in the process, I am concerned that we lack credible
intelligence on many of the individuals who present themselves for admission as
refugees. Many could very well be connected to any one of the many
terrorist groups operating in the region.
on 9/11, when terrorists exploited our visa system, it would be unconscionable
to think we would significantly increase the number of Syrian refugees allowed
into the U.S. without first outlining the corresponding security and screening
measures that would be necessary. Additionally, we need to ensure that the
information collected on the ground used to base admission decisions is in fact
credible to determine that the people we are admitting are not threats to the homeland.”
I tend to agree that the possibility that "sleeper" terrorists are hiding among the refugees is remote, that they could get into the US more easily and will less hardship through Canada or Mexico. But they should still be thoroughly checked out.