Immigration Executive Order: Compassion starts with protecting our own

President Trump’s Executive Order imposing temporary restrictions on immigration from seven countries has drawn plenty of attention.  It may seem heartless to turn away a bride who is eagerly awaiting the opportunity to be with her groom or a recently widowed woman who wants to be with her son. Unfortunate as some of these cases may be, the risk of continuing the current policy of unvetted entry would be disastrous. 

While it fits the media narrative to claim that President Trump has selected Muslim countries to target, these seven countries were selected by President Obama back in 2015 when he signed restrictions into law. These seven countries are a lawless cesspool of terrorism and there is no way for the US to vet people and confirm they are not members of ISIS, Hamas or Hezbollah.  We are one of the wealthiest and most technologically advanced nations in the world.  Yet, we lack the ability to keep track of known terrorists in this country (e.g. 9/11 hijackers).  Imagine Syria where there are no computers or databases.  Allowing someone from one of these seven countries into the US poses a substantial risk.

Let’s put things in perspective. A few hundred people were prevented from entering this country for a few months until we have a system in place to vet them.  This is a small number of people for a short period of time. The risk of allowing everyone into this country far outweighs the reward.  The female terrorist who came into this country on a fiancée visa killed innocent Americans at a Christmas party in San Bernardino.  It doesn’t matter if 99 of the 100 who are denied entry are good people; we cannot risk having 1 out of the 100 being a terrorist.  This is not baseball where batting 300 is great. Bat 999 against terrorism and dozens of lives will be lost.

To Chuck Schumer, what is your alternate proposal?  What level of vetting do you propose and how do you intend to perform that vetting in these lawless countries with no computers, databases or records?  Is your idea then to let everyone in without any vetting and take our chance and hope for the best? And when one of them turns out to be a terrorist, you can conveniently shed more fake tears and demand more gun control?

Our threats have evolved. We do not have Soviets piling missiles in Cuba. Instead, we have Islamic terrorists pretending to be refugees or showing up on a fiancée visa going to Marathons in Boston and Christmas parties in San Bernardino to kill Americans. The President placed his hand on the Holy Bible and swore to protect us against all enemies foreign and domestic. He is trying to do his job.  Let our compassion start HERE, protecting our own. Nothing is more American than that.