Martin O’Malley Is Right: America Should Be Taking More Syrian Refugees

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James Fallows ‏@JamesFallows
Only Martin O’Malley says US should let in more Syrian refugees.
He is right, according to me http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/09/martin-omalley-is-right-the-united-states-should-be-taking-more-syrian-refugees/404131/ …


...while not a Syria expert, I agree that America should open itself to more of this latest wave of refugees. My reasons, in summary:

I am skeptical of the view that America should always “do something” about international disasters by intervening militarily, since the people urging that rarely have answers to the, “OK, what happens then?” question. But the “something” we can effectively and humanely do is take in some of those dislocated by chaos and cruelty.

Absorbing immigrants and refugees is always disruptive—for any nation, for any kind of refugees. But looking back, the United States has reason to feel better about those it has absorbed—from Hungary in the 1950s, from Vietnam and Cambodia and Laos in the 1970s, from Cuba and Russia in the 1980s, from Congo, Somalia, Burma, Nepal, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc recently, and other zones before and since—than about those it has turned away. Most notable in the second category are the Jewish refugees from Nazi-dominated Europe whom the United States declined to admit when there was still time.

Traveling around the country these past two years on the American Futures project, my wife Deb and I have been impressed by the opposite of what we hear from the Trump campaign. That is, the ongoing assimilation of immigrants and, particularly, refugees in unexpected locales across the country. You can read reports about Sioux Falls, S.D., and Burlington, Vt. here and here. If Germany with its 80 million people can stand this disruption, so can the more-diverse United States, with four times as large a population and 25 times as big a land mass.

And why do I mention Martin O’Malley? Because, according to The Guardian, of the 4,000 (actually only 22) Republican and Democratic candidates for president who were asked, only O’Malley said unambiguously that the United States should make room for more people from Syria.

from The Guardian’s article on presidential candidates’ views on Syria:



Martin O’Malley is right, and so is Ramy Arnaout. If the United States wants to “do something” about a humanitarian disaster, it can best help them, and help itself, by welcoming more of them here.


read more: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/09/martin-omalley-is-right-the-united-states-should-be-taking-more-syrian-refugees/404131/

Martin O'Malley @MartinOMalley
We as a compassionate people must do more to help those who flee war and famine.



Ruby Cramer ‏@rubycramer
the Guardian asks 22 pres candidates if US should take more refugees. Only O'Malley says yes. No reply from team HRC. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/07/refugee-crisis-immigration-us-presidential-candidates …

Katrina vandenHeuvel ‏@KatrinaNation
Good for Gov. O'Malley --He calls for U.S. to accept 65,000 Syrian refugees by next year http://wpo.st/2o_Z0

[HassleCat]

1. Seems reasonable

I'm not sure 65k is the exact number, but there probably is no perfectly correct number.

[elleng]

2. Heck yes!

[FSogol]

3. K & R. n/t