The carnage created by Muslim jihadists in Paris over the weekend must inevitably raise the question of continuing to allow Islamic immigration to the United States.
Of particular concern is that we have now discovered that at least two of the perpetrators of the Muslim massacre in France were masquerading as poor helpless Syrian immigrants, of the very kind President Obama is importing into the U.S. in droves. In fact, the president is accelerating the process by setting up foreign offices to expedite their transfer to our shores. Hillary Clinton, who wants to be our next president, also wants to import 65,000 more of them.
All this while ISIS is openly bragging that they have smuggled literally thousands of jihadis into the West through our well-intentioned but mindless refugee program.
Wisely, Michigan’s governor Rick Snyder is immediately suspending his state’s plan to process Syrian refugees. Alabama’s governor is doing the same. Bobby Jindal, Louisiana’s governor, wants more information about the refugees Obama is dumping into New Orleans. And several of the GOP candidates, including Ted Cruz and the pro-amnesty Marco Rubio, have called for an immediate suspension of the refugee program.
Even ruling class Republican Jeb Bush, he of amnesty proclivities, is now advocating that America’s refugee program be reserved for Christian refugees fleeing Islamic persecution. Certainly he is right to do so.
What public officials should say is this: “Our arms are open to refugees, but not to Muslim jihadists. Until we have a reliable way to tell the difference between the two, we simply cannot afford the risk.”
This does not at all mean we turn our backs on Muslims seeking refuge. Our refugee efforts with regard to Muslims fleeing war should be quite simple. There are 57 Muslim nations in the world. If we take Muslims at their word, Islam is a religion of peace. This means that there should be 56 havens of Islamic tranquility and stability as possible destinations for Muslim refugees fleeing war in their homeland. Let’s help them find the Islamic nation of their choice. Let’s even help them get there. Meanwhile, let’s bring Christian refugees to our shores. Muslim lands for Muslim refugees, Christian lands for Christian refugees.
The unfortunate reality is that, as things are configured right now, the refugee program in particular and Islamic immigration in general represent grave threats to the security of the United States and the safety of its citizens.
Our own FBI has made it repeatedly clear that we have absolutely no way to vet Muslim refugees from Syria. We have no access to Syrian records at all. No arrest records, no prison records, no record of scrapes with the law. Nothing. We have no way to identify those Muslim refugees that might represent a clear and present danger to us.
Until all Muslim immigrants, not just refugees, can be properly screened, the process should be suspended entirely. The risk of importing committed jihadis, like the ones who helped light up Paris, is simply too great.
While it is certainly true that the vast majority of Muslims are not terrorists, it is likewise certainly true that the vast majority of terrorists are Muslims. It is a lethal form of blindness not to recognize that plain fact.
It emerged over the weekend that there are a staggering 1000 active, ongoing investigations into ISIS-affiliated Muslims right here, right now, in the United States. There are active ISIS investigations in all 50 states. Simple prudence dictates that until those cases can be wrapped up, all of them, we should not add to the caseload by bringing more possible jihadis into the country. It is a form of political insanity and suicide to do anything else.
While some may argue that this is cold-hearted, let’s not forget that God did exactly the same thing with the ancient Moabites. “No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the 10th generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the Lord forever; because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way ... and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor...” (Deuteronomy 23:3).
Because of their ancient and abiding hostility toward Israel, God banned the Moabites, along with the Ammonites, from the assembly of Israel for 10 generations. Since a biblical generation was about 40 years, this was essentially a permanent ban on Moabite immigration, even though they shared a border with Israel.
Bottom line: if banning immigration from hostile nations was acceptable to God, it certainly ought to be acceptable to us.
Now rare exceptions certainly can be made. The Moabitess Ruth was welcomed in Israel, in part because she committed herself to full cultural and religious assimilation. “Your people shall by my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16).
No one has a constitutional or moral right to immigrate to the United States. The Constitution gives Congress unilateral authority to decide under what conditions those from foreign lands are admitted into our country. It’s time for Congress to imitate God by using that authority to protect the safety and security of the American people.
