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Carmen Flores

Mrs. Reed

American Literature

26 October 2016

Americas Duty Regarding the Refugee Crisis

Dear Future President,

We hold these Truths to be self evident that all Men are created equal, that they are

endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and

the Pursuit of Happiness (Declaration of Independence). All Americans should know these

resounding words.Written into history by a founding population of people who came to this land

looking for opportunity, freedom, and salvation. Our very country was shaped and inspired by

the message that no man was born to be oppressed, and everyone deserves a chance for a better

life. America is not entirely white and not entirely native. We are united in the fact that most of

our ancestors came to this country in order to pursue those inalienable rights of life, liberty, and

happiness.

Today, our country faces a very real breakdown and confrontation of these values. The

refugee crisis has drastically affected the world around us as well as being an important point of

debate and controversy in our nation. Migrants from Syria, Afghanistan, Kosovo, and other war

torn countries are fleeing their countries in thousands to seek asylum. In fact, worldwide over 21

million people have been forced to leave their homes and seek refuge abroad. They run away

from war and loss, in Syria alone over a quarter of a million people have already been killed in

the brutal Civil War and conflicts with the extremist group ISIS. These people are not only

leaving everything they know behind, but also risking their lives and their family's lives in a
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desperate attempt to reach safety. According to the National Organization for Migration, over

3,770 migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean sea in 2015 alone. While we sit by

and do nothing hundreds more men, women, and children die a month.

Knowing these facts, it saddens and worries me to see the growing opposition

against the acceptance of these people in need. As of recently, the Obama administration had

raised the number of refugees America will take in, for the next year, to 110,000. Sadly, many

Congressmen and others are vocally against this, wishing instead to bar all immigration into the

United States. They defend their words with the fear of terrorism and retaliation a massive influx

of middle east immigrants brings, saying we may be letting terrorists and extremists infiltrate our

country. Against their words however is the evidence. Since 2001, over 800,000 refugees have

found the U.S. as their home yet none of them have been found to have committed any act of

domestic terrorism.

Refugees are people the same as you and me. They are people fleeing horrible situations

in order to rightfully obtain Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Turning them away goes

against the fundamental ideas our country was based upon, and condemns them to more

suffering. Instead of banning immigrants, we need to accept them and open our doors. We need

to help open up safe routes to save the lives of so many, and establish resettlement programs to

help torture survivors, those in need of medical aid, and those who have unseen scars of horrors

we cannot imagine. As the next President, its your responsibility to kick start this. Do not let

extremist groups such as ISIS control us out of fear, but instead let their actions inspire

generosity and kindness. Refugees deserve the same chance for a happy life as anyone else does.

Sincerely,
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Carmen Flores

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