This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
One of the many responsibilities of Congress and governors is to temper the public's knee-jerk reactions to events, but they now are leading the charge by curtailing or outright banning Syrian refugees.
Never mind that only three of the last 742,000 Syrian refugees have been arrested for terrorist activities. Never mind that it will take a year — or less — for ISIS to adjust and focus infiltration through other countries. Then, presumably, our country will add the new countries of infiltration to our "no enter" list.
And, of course, this could go on ad infinitum. It apparently is asking too much for our nation's leaders to take in those who are terrorized more than we are by ISIS and, as we can, improve our vetting process (not a bad process currently) of all refugees as we learn.
We need to remember that a larger percentage of our citizens have terrorized U.S. citizens than that of all refugees — and even of Syrian refugees.
The Statue of Liberty and her promise to the world must remain our guiding light if we are to remain the United States of America that makes us proud.
Errol Remington
Salt Lake City