A Syrian refugee family finally made it to the United States after three years of waiting.
Only the state they were supposed to arrive in, Indiana, wouldnt let them in.
The unidentified Syrian refugee family, which includes a mother, father and 5-year-old son, made it to Indiana from the country of Jordan after escaping Syria, ABC News reported.
But just hours before they were scheduled to arrive, the state of Indiana sent a letter to Carleen Miller, executive director of Exodus Refugee Immigration, that said the state would no longer accept Syrian refugee placements, according to ABC News.
This came after Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and many other U.S. governors said they would not accept refugees in their states following last weeks Paris attacks, in which an attacker allegedly had ties to Syria and Syrian refugees, according to BuzzFeed News.
When all looked lost for this refugee family, Chris George, the executive director of Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services in Connecticut, came to the rescue and found housing for the family, according to ABC News.
Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said Connecticut will welcome all refugees, ABC News reported.
"These people have been screened by Homeland Security and they should be welcomed here, he said. "Its the American thing to do. Its the right thing to do."
This may only be the first of these scenarios to happen to Syrian refugee families, as more states look to deny Syrian refugees from entering the country.
But the experience these refugees face isnt lost on The New York Times' Nicholas Kristof, who said in his column aptly titled They Are Us that members of his family came to the United States in much the same way Syrian refugees seek entry today.
Kristofs dad was a refugee from Eastern Europe who came to the United States in 1952.
My dad sailed to New York, bought a copy of the Sunday New York Times to teach himself English, and took the train across the country to a welcoming Oregon, Kristof wrote. When Indiana today shuns desperate refugees, it is shunning people like my family."
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright wrote for Time magazine that she and her family came to the U.S. after leaving their country, Czechoslovakia, too.
This issue is personal to me, because it was 67 years ago last week that my family and I arrived in the U.S. to begin a new life in exile from our native Czechoslovakia," she wrote. "I will always feel an immense gratitude to this country, one shared by the millions of other refugees who have come to our shores in the years since including Eastern European Jews, Hungarians, Vietnamese, Somalis, Cubans and Bosnian Muslims.
Others have also pointed to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, whos father was a Syrian migrant, USA Today reported.
Kristof and Albright both agreed that letting Syrian refugees into the country is the best practice one that will show terrorists that the United States isnt faltering by their efforts and that America supports its families.
By showing that we value every human life, Albright wrote, we can make clear to the world where we stand.
Only the state they were supposed to arrive in, Indiana, wouldnt let them in.
The unidentified Syrian refugee family, which includes a mother, father and 5-year-old son, made it to Indiana from the country of Jordan after escaping Syria, ABC News reported.
But just hours before they were scheduled to arrive, the state of Indiana sent a letter to Carleen Miller, executive director of Exodus Refugee Immigration, that said the state would no longer accept Syrian refugee placements, according to ABC News.
This came after Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and many other U.S. governors said they would not accept refugees in their states following last weeks Paris attacks, in which an attacker allegedly had ties to Syria and Syrian refugees, according to BuzzFeed News.
When all looked lost for this refugee family, Chris George, the executive director of Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services in Connecticut, came to the rescue and found housing for the family, according to ABC News.
Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said Connecticut will welcome all refugees, ABC News reported.
"These people have been screened by Homeland Security and they should be welcomed here, he said. "Its the American thing to do. Its the right thing to do."
This may only be the first of these scenarios to happen to Syrian refugee families, as more states look to deny Syrian refugees from entering the country.
But the experience these refugees face isnt lost on The New York Times' Nicholas Kristof, who said in his column aptly titled They Are Us that members of his family came to the United States in much the same way Syrian refugees seek entry today.
Kristofs dad was a refugee from Eastern Europe who came to the United States in 1952.
My dad sailed to New York, bought a copy of the Sunday New York Times to teach himself English, and took the train across the country to a welcoming Oregon, Kristof wrote. When Indiana today shuns desperate refugees, it is shunning people like my family."
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright wrote for Time magazine that she and her family came to the U.S. after leaving their country, Czechoslovakia, too.
This issue is personal to me, because it was 67 years ago last week that my family and I arrived in the U.S. to begin a new life in exile from our native Czechoslovakia," she wrote. "I will always feel an immense gratitude to this country, one shared by the millions of other refugees who have come to our shores in the years since including Eastern European Jews, Hungarians, Vietnamese, Somalis, Cubans and Bosnian Muslims.
Others have also pointed to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, whos father was a Syrian migrant, USA Today reported.
Kristof and Albright both agreed that letting Syrian refugees into the country is the best practice one that will show terrorists that the United States isnt faltering by their efforts and that America supports its families.
By showing that we value every human life, Albright wrote, we can make clear to the world where we stand.
