Lenny Curry on Syrian Refugees

[PeeJayEss]

I don't really care the actual number.

What is the plan once their civil war ends?

Are they going to be naturalized citizens?  Will they have visas?  Is there a plan in place to get them back home?  Are we expecting them to stay here?

What if they get here and don't like it?

Do they have a choice to go back after their war depending on who's in charge?  Who's responsibility is it to get them home?

1,000 or 10,000,000.... it doesn't matter.  Has an exit plan even been discussed?

If they are legally admitted, then they have are legally permitted to be here and have a legal path to permanent residency and citizenship. If they come here as refugees, the status of the war/crisis they fled is immaterial. If they want to go back when (if) it is over, they can make that decision on their own. The US government doesn't just control the remainder of their life once they get here.

It's basically just an exception in a typical immigration policy.

[Adam White]

My mother was an immigrant to both the USA and the UK. Granted, she wasn't a refugee, but she moved to the UK at a time when people with her accent were widely considered terrorists. She's not a terrorist and none of her family are or were.

I wouldn't be here today if my mother hadn't been allowed to make either of those moves. Based on this, some of you may feel that is reason enough to tighten our immigration controls. But I digress...

Refugees are just immigrants. Syrians are just people like you or me. We are a country founded on immigration and we are a country of people who pride themselves on their values and the "American dream". If we honestly believe the USA is the greatest country in the world, then we should live up to our own hype and prove it.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

The US has been accepting refugees since before WWII; this isn't a new phenomenon that nobody has thought about before:

http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-asylum

I realize this.  The numbers sounded large to me, but that's because this is another issue that I haven't given a second though to until recently.

Seems like the US takes in between 55k to 75k annually as is, so even though the numbers seem large, they're not.  Based off of what I read from this site http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/refugees-fact-sheet the 100k number that I've been seeing could be a new cap number the fed is seeking as a total allowed for the year and not specifically Syrians..

Thanks for the website to get things started on my end..

Edit:

I also didn't realize until just a bit ago that refugee is more than a word describing someone fleeing their homeland, but it's also a protected class of person with their own set of rules. 

I guess I could have read into this more before originally posting, but that's not really the MJ way... 

[TheCat]

[coredumped]

I know it's a joke, but new borns and their mothers aren't the concern.

[Adam White]

I know it's a joke, but new borns and their mothers aren't the concern.

The only people who are concerned are racists.

[spuwho]

I know it's a joke, but new borns and their mothers aren't the concern.

The only people who are concerned are racists.

If you want to be technical, not liking Syrians is not racist. "Syrian" is a catch all term for a group of various indigenous tribes and backgrounds living west of the Euphrates.

Its similar to calling someone an "American" which isnt a race either.

If you wanted to be racist you would reject Arameans, one of the larger races in the region.

[Know Growth]

It would be interesting to see,if given the chance, opportunity or polling question, which areas of Jacksonville prospective Syrian residents would chose.

And likely the newcomers would 'cluster'.

[Tacachale]

I know it's a joke, but new borns and their mothers aren't the concern.

The only people who are concerned are racists.

If you want to be technical, not liking Syrians is not racist. "Syrian" is a catch all term for a group of various indigenous tribes and backgrounds living west of the Euphrates.

Its similar to calling someone an "American" which isnt a race either.

If you wanted to be racist you would reject Arameans, one of the larger races in the region.

If you want to be technical, race is a social construct with no inherent meaning. But the meaning is clear enough.

[jph]

I know it's a joke, but new borns and their mothers aren't the concern.

Then how come Lenny Curry and co. don't want to let them come over as refugees?

[brainstormer]

You are right Tacachale, this is pathetic and embarrassing.  Any idea why the mayor decided to take a public stand on this at all?

He took a stand because he misses his old job of GOP chair. Basically it was an easy headline and a way to suck up to Scott.

Does he even know we have a large Syrian population living in Jacksonville? Has he taken the time to meet with them to hear their stories?

As I stated earlier in this thread, refugees going through the official vetting process are not who we should be worrying about. Those who want to harm us will come with stolen passports as tourists, or illegally enter the country by some other means. ISIS isn't interested in waiting years for their members to go through an official refugee process to enter this country.

It was disgraceful what the Indiana governor did this week. The parents with their child fled their country almost 4 years ago and are just now getting to come to the United States. What rational person thinks that they could be terrorists?!?! Americans have lost their frickin minds.

What bothers me even more is that providing refuge to those who are in need is a Christian value. Most of the resettling organizations in America are Christian based. Yet those politicians shouting anti-refugee hatred claim to be Christians! Such ignorant hypocrites!

I've been so upset this week by what's happening in our country. I could keep going but will spare all of you the lecture.

[Tacachale]

You are right Tacachale, this is pathetic and embarrassing.  Any idea why the mayor decided to take a public stand on this at all?

Presumably he's just falling in line with other Republicans, who've decided to make it another backward issue they can be on the wrong side of history with.

[TheCat]

I know it's a joke, but new borns and their mothers aren't the concern.

Actually, it's not a joke.

[mtraininjax]

You guys are missing the larger point, this issue is not about Syrians, its about American borders, period. Syrians are just one group, what about those who are fleeing terror in Beruit? What about the killings in Nigeria, a bomb blast kills 31 in Yola. Human rights issues in China and North Korea.

Everyone wants to leave their crappy old country and come to the US, when the US cannot even take care of its own people. At some point, someone with Grande Huevos is going to have to take a stand and fight for the people inside the United States and say, he, we're sorry, we got to take care of our own people first.

Just like American cannot be the world's policeman, it cannot be the savior of last resort.

[Adam White]

I know it's a joke, but new borns and their mothers aren't the concern.

The only people who are concerned are racists.

If you want to be technical, not liking Syrians is not racist. "Syrian" is a catch all term for a group of various indigenous tribes and backgrounds living west of the Euphrates.

Its similar to calling someone an "American" which isnt a race either.

If you wanted to be racist you would reject Arameans, one of the larger races in the region.

If you want to be accurate, there are no such thing as races because that concept is antiquated and is no longer accepted. So the word racism doesn't have anything to do with race - it refers to others who are different from you (in layman's terms).