Following the recent conflict known as the Syrian Civil War, mass migrations of refugees have begun to seek shelter in the United States and various other parts of the globe. My interest in this topic began as a result of the 2016 Presidential Debates among Democrats and Republicans. Both political entities clash over their philosophical views on whether or not to assist the refugees. The topic is highly contentious with the majority of Americans opposed to welcoming Syrians and others arguing as to how the refugees could benefit America and how it is our duty to provide care. This research topic furthers my own thinking on the topic as I support providing aid to the refugees, but it has also opened my eyes to the reasoning of opposing viewpoints. Throughout my life, I have traveled to parts of Europe in the hopes to gain true understanding of other cultures and develop a sense of tolerance for my fellow man and this topic heightens this natural urge. This experience has molded me into an understanding individual with a passion to learn about other cultures. As a writer, I am qualified to write about this due to an immense amount of time researching the topic, looking at all aspects of the situation, and developing a well-rounded opinion on the subject matter.   

"Facts about the Syrian Refugees" provides solid numerical counterarguments to "facts" conjured up by various politicians regarding the Syrian Refugees in America. Despite false claims made by various politicians such as Ted Cruz and Donald Trump that the majority of refugees were male, the majority were in fact 67% females and children. Another piece of anti-refugee rhetoric that was rebuked by FactCheck.org was a claim by Ted Cruz that only 3% of refugees in US were Christian (this is true), which was later explained to be due to the ethnic cleansing of Sunni Islamic believers in Syria during the Civil War. Both examples only provide concrete evidence that politicians are willing to lie in order to gain votes. Despite several instances of calling out of Republican politicians, the authors remain fairly unbiased and reliable due to the information portrayed in the article simply being fact checking statistics. 

Alex Nowrasten begins the article, "Syrian Refugees Could Help America, We Should Welcome Them", by stating Americans are not doing enough in order to aid the Syrian Refugees despite the nation being capable of doing so. The author argues that the refugees would provide an economic boost to the nation as they would take the lower skilled jobs that many Americans are unwilling to work and as a result, lead to the creation of new jobs. Nowrasten provides a strong argument for the benefits of allowing refugees, but fails to remain unbiased about the topic by firmly standing by his opinion while almost completely ignoring the opposing argument. He is, however, extremely qualified when it comes to matters of his professional opinion on the topic. His career as an immigration policy analyst at the Cairo Institute for Global Liberty and Prosperity has given Nowrasten the professional credentials necessary to be classified as an expert within the field. Nowrasten puts forth his reputation as an author as well as an immigration policy analyst with his argument presented within the article.  

Gallup's "Americans Again Opposed to Taking in Refugees" presents numerical statistics regarding the American population's support and opposition to allowing Syrian refugees into America. With over 60% of Americans in opposition to accepting refugees, 37% in support, and the remainder being undeclared, this follows the American trend of being opposed to immigration since the 1800's. The United States has had a history of being opposed to accepting refugees from years dating back to well before 1939 as a result of various immigration waves through the centuries creating an Nativist policy on the Homefront. Gallup goes on to explain the reason for modern opposition is due to fear of terrorist activity following the events that occurred in Paris. The article manages to remain neutral in terms of bias due to its purpose being primarily to provide numerical statistics regarding support and opposition to immigration/refugees. The only thing that this article has at stake is its reliability due to truthfulness or falseness regarding statistics. However, this is irrelevant when it is discovered that Gallup gathers its information by taking polls among the population so that it represents an accurate percentage of Americans.

This question of whether or not allowing Syrian refugees can be beneficial to America is arguable due to the polarizing views regarding potential terrorism colliding with humanitarian and economic philosophies. Two key elements that are preventing the acceptance of Syrian refugees are the widespread panic stemming from international terrorism and the need for security in the American homeland. As a result of the modern fear of domestic terrorism, the majority of Americans oppose allowing the refugees as a result political fear mongering and potential economic backlash. Others disagree by theorizing the inclusion of refugees into American society could be seen as largely beneficial. I propose that we must not let our concealed fears compromise the American Dream. The American dream strives for the equality of all people despite race, religion, class, and the absolute desolation of prejudice. However, the American people have long held the tendency of sacrificing their rights and freedoms for a small portion of security. The Syrian refugee crisis is not an exception to this as we have allowed our fears of terrorism to portray the helpless refugees as the militants that they are fleeing. The solution will undoubtedly lie within the compromise of the two viewpoints on the matter by allowing the refugees but using extensive background checks and security measures until they are proven to be responsible citizens. As a result, both my paper and my multimodal assignments will feature heavily how the themes of security and fear correlate to one another and how they can negatively impact the humanitarian efforts of aiding the refugees. After looking at a variety of sources regarding the pros and cons of this situation, I was and still am a supporter of allowing refugees on American shores but due to listening to opposing sides, have decided that a political compromise is the best solution for the issue. 

