An Underwhelming Response From the US

Photo Credit: Ognen Teofilovski/Reuters

With the United States being such an international power, one would think their actions in the Syrian refugee crisis would be substantial. However, the United States has failed to take effective action when helping migrants from Syria. Although they are the largest donor of humanitarian aid, America as a country has not carried their share when it comes to taking in refugees and offering assistance to the countries that are.

The main reason the United States hasn’t accepted as many Syrian refugees is the complexity of their security checks, not to mention the varying degrees of opinion American citizens have towards letting Syrians into the nation. The United States, as of November 2015, have taken in about 2,290 refugees, or 0.0005 percent of the total amount of Syrians searching for safety. The United States has many reasons for its strict policy on Syrian refugees. One is that numerous governors, around 31 total, throughout the country have already announced their disfavor of the refugees and have stated they won’t allow the Syrians into their state. Another issue resides in Congress. With the amount of gridlock existing in government, and a Congress that only wants to further complex America’s security, there appears a slim hope for any pro-refugee legislation to pass. Additionally, the public is very split on whether or not to let in a mass of Syrian refugees. After the Paris attacks, 53% of Americans said they did not want to accept any Syrians into the US. The current atmosphere of the United States is leaning towards restricting any Syrian refugee access into the country. As for America’s relation to Germany, the majority of news on the issue simply connects Germany’s policy of openness as putting the US to shame. When compared to Germany, America’s global moral is on the line as an international influence.

However, a main reason that Germany is more involved in the Syrian refugee crisis than the United States is sheer geography. The proximity of the European Union to the area of conflict has simply made Syrian refugees a European issue. Also, the German public, at least in the beginning, were much more open to accepting refugees than American citizens. The politicians in Germany were also more open to the situation than those in America. Any German politician that would have made such statements as the American governors mentioned above would have been exiled to the political fringe. The United States must also deal with much more gridlock than the government in Germany. Although Obama is pro-immigration, he must contend with a Republican Congress that puts security above humanitarian values. Yet, tides are changing in Germany. Policies are becoming more restrictive when addressing numbers of refugees to accept. However, even though Germany is getting stricter, they are still thousands of steps ahead of the United States. Whether this is an advantage or disadvantage for Germany as a nation in comparison to the United States is up to debate. Germany’s moral in the international community is better valued, but their nation is facing numerous domestic consequences as a result of accepting such a large proportion of refugees. Only time can tell which country made a better decision in regards to the crisis.

Yet, even if Germany does face backlash from accepting Syrian refugees, their action is one of humanitarian assistance and regard for human lives. This characteristic of a nation is invaluable when it comes to policy. Although the United States’ decision is more focused on security, which is still an important value to hold, the nation should be making at least a somewhat reasonable effort in aiding the refugees. If a Republican is elected in November, this hope will soon be lost. However, if a Democrat is in office, maybe more light will be shed on how critical the Syrian refugee crisis is and appropriate action will be taken.

Sources:

http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-09-03/what-s-us-doing-help-syrian-refugees

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http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-11-17/german-response-to-refugees-puts-u-s-to-shame