Much has been brought to the worlds attention in the wake of the Paris shootings last Friday, which left at least 129 people dead and 350 more injured.
Some have used the occasion to debate over whether Muslims are to blame, especially since the Islamic State, which claims to follow Islamic beliefs, took credit for the attacks. Others have used the attacks as an opportunity to further their political agenda, especially when it comes to immigration, gun violence and foreign policy.
But on Monday, the topic of conversation focused on refugees, specifically those from Syria, and the fear over letting them enter into new countries.
These concerns started when Marine Le Pen, the leader of the conservative Front National Party, asked France to no longer accept migrants or refugees because of the attacks. The party said in a statement that one of the attackers had passed through Greece and Serbia last month on his way to France.
Our fears and our warnings on the possible presence of jihadis among the migrants coming into our country are thus unfortunately made real by these bloody attacks, the party said in the statement.
Fear over migrants has only continued throughout Europe, according to Quartz. Poland, which has accepted refugees from the Middle East and Africa, said that it wont be allowing in the amount of asylum-seekers it promised it would, Quartz reported.
Syrian refugees have long been entering European nations, given that those countries have open border laws that allow refugees a quick entry into the country, Quartz reported.
This is also something thats garnered attention stateside. As of Monday morning, Mississippi, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Michigan and Alabama have all said they wont accept Syrian refugees, according to BuzzFeed News.
The terrorist attacks in Paris have brought renewed attention on the U.S. refugee program, specifically the threat that ISIS could exploit the process to infiltrate and attack the United States, BuzzFeed reported. Several Republican lawmakers and presidential candidates have called on the administration to stop taking Syrian refugees, citing security concerns.
One of those Republican candidates is former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who said on CNNs State of the Union that there should be a religious test for refugees who want to come to the United States and that the U.S. should focus specifically on bringing in Syrian Christians, according to The Atlantic.
In addition to that, Jake, I would say that there are a lot of Christians in Syria that have no place now, Bush told CNN. They will be either executed or imprisoned either by Assad or by ISIS. And I think we should have we should focus our efforts as it relates to refugees for the Christians that are being slaughtered.
His call was met with some skepticism by Jake Tapper, who said itd be hard for screeners to know who is Christian and who isnt, The Atlantic reported. Bush, rather contradictory, said, Well, we do that all the time. We do that. It takes almost a year for a refugee to be processed into the United States."
The comment didnt sit well with President Barack Obama, either. During his speech at the G20 summit Monday, Obama encouraged leaders to avoid using the Paris attacks as a moment to further their political agendas and feed dark impulses to blame Muslim refugees for the attacks, RawStory reported.
When I hear folks say that, 'Well, maybe we should just admit the Christians but not the Muslims,' when I hear political leaders suggesting that there would be a religious test for which person whos fleeing from a war torn country is admitted, the president said at the G20 summit, RawStory reported. When some of those folks themselves come from families who benefited from protection when they were fleeing political persecution, thats shameful. Thats not American, thats not who we are. We dont have religious tests to our compassion.
This isnt far off from what New York Times columnist Frank Bruni suggested in his piece The Exploitation of Paris over the weekend.
In the widely-shared article, Bruni said people were quick to use the shootings to further their own political agendas, whether it was about gun violence or immigration issues.
But Bruni, like Obama said Monday, urged people to promote compassion and allow France time to grieve before making it a piece of a political agenda.
Id like not to be told, fewer than 18 hours after the shots rang out, how they demonstrate that Americans must crack down on illegal immigration to our own country, Bruni wrote. I read that and was galled, and not because of my feelings about immigration, but because of my feelings about the automatic, indiscriminate politicization of tragedy. Its such a disrespectful impulse. And its such an ugly one.
Some have used the occasion to debate over whether Muslims are to blame, especially since the Islamic State, which claims to follow Islamic beliefs, took credit for the attacks. Others have used the attacks as an opportunity to further their political agenda, especially when it comes to immigration, gun violence and foreign policy.
But on Monday, the topic of conversation focused on refugees, specifically those from Syria, and the fear over letting them enter into new countries.
These concerns started when Marine Le Pen, the leader of the conservative Front National Party, asked France to no longer accept migrants or refugees because of the attacks. The party said in a statement that one of the attackers had passed through Greece and Serbia last month on his way to France.
Our fears and our warnings on the possible presence of jihadis among the migrants coming into our country are thus unfortunately made real by these bloody attacks, the party said in the statement.
Fear over migrants has only continued throughout Europe, according to Quartz. Poland, which has accepted refugees from the Middle East and Africa, said that it wont be allowing in the amount of asylum-seekers it promised it would, Quartz reported.
Syrian refugees have long been entering European nations, given that those countries have open border laws that allow refugees a quick entry into the country, Quartz reported.
This is also something thats garnered attention stateside. As of Monday morning, Mississippi, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Michigan and Alabama have all said they wont accept Syrian refugees, according to BuzzFeed News.
The terrorist attacks in Paris have brought renewed attention on the U.S. refugee program, specifically the threat that ISIS could exploit the process to infiltrate and attack the United States, BuzzFeed reported. Several Republican lawmakers and presidential candidates have called on the administration to stop taking Syrian refugees, citing security concerns.
One of those Republican candidates is former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who said on CNNs State of the Union that there should be a religious test for refugees who want to come to the United States and that the U.S. should focus specifically on bringing in Syrian Christians, according to The Atlantic.
In addition to that, Jake, I would say that there are a lot of Christians in Syria that have no place now, Bush told CNN. They will be either executed or imprisoned either by Assad or by ISIS. And I think we should have we should focus our efforts as it relates to refugees for the Christians that are being slaughtered.
His call was met with some skepticism by Jake Tapper, who said itd be hard for screeners to know who is Christian and who isnt, The Atlantic reported. Bush, rather contradictory, said, Well, we do that all the time. We do that. It takes almost a year for a refugee to be processed into the United States."
The comment didnt sit well with President Barack Obama, either. During his speech at the G20 summit Monday, Obama encouraged leaders to avoid using the Paris attacks as a moment to further their political agendas and feed dark impulses to blame Muslim refugees for the attacks, RawStory reported.
When I hear folks say that, 'Well, maybe we should just admit the Christians but not the Muslims,' when I hear political leaders suggesting that there would be a religious test for which person whos fleeing from a war torn country is admitted, the president said at the G20 summit, RawStory reported. When some of those folks themselves come from families who benefited from protection when they were fleeing political persecution, thats shameful. Thats not American, thats not who we are. We dont have religious tests to our compassion.
This isnt far off from what New York Times columnist Frank Bruni suggested in his piece The Exploitation of Paris over the weekend.
In the widely-shared article, Bruni said people were quick to use the shootings to further their own political agendas, whether it was about gun violence or immigration issues.
But Bruni, like Obama said Monday, urged people to promote compassion and allow France time to grieve before making it a piece of a political agenda.
Id like not to be told, fewer than 18 hours after the shots rang out, how they demonstrate that Americans must crack down on illegal immigration to our own country, Bruni wrote. I read that and was galled, and not because of my feelings about immigration, but because of my feelings about the automatic, indiscriminate politicization of tragedy. Its such a disrespectful impulse. And its such an ugly one.
