The question this week at the Watcher’s Council forum was about the Obama Administration’s refugee resettlement program. As you might guess, the Council members were ag’in it.
Here was my submission:
I think it’s ill-conceived. There’s one thing that He Who Must Not Be Named is right about: we don’t need more immigrants, particularly immigrants who don’t speak much English, may or may not have any marketable skills, and who are impossible to screen.
However, there is a group of Middle Easterners and West Asians that we should accept. There are about 50,000 Afghan and Iraqi translators who have helped us over the last 15 years. They have the advantages of speaking at least some English, being (presumably) reasonably favorably disposed towards us, and they’ve already been vetted at least as well as we can vet people in the Middle East and West Asia. And we owe them a debt of honor.
So, forget the Syrians. Let the Germans take them. We should expedite the visas of Iraqi and Afghan translators and their families. We owe it to them.
Completely agree.
Remember the Hmong? Debts of honor seldom last an administration.
for the youngsters, a a wikipedia link about them. Note the opposition of a President and Congressional action
Too sensible. And not enough opportunity for graft.
Iraqis and Afghans…Is it because the US brought war upon them? I agree. The US should be responsible for causing so much horror. How about the Mexicans. The cartel war is a fight over the biggest ilegal drugs consumer market, and they fight with guns bought legally in the US, and many of those guns were (and maybe still are being) provided by the US goverment. Undoubtely Mexico has more English speakers and more “some English” speakers than Iraq and Afghanistan put together. Let’s drop in the cost of bringing immigrants; I am sure that it is much cheaper to bring immigrants from Mexico than from the Middle East.