Persuasive Essay On Syrians

The specter of ISIS and the oppressive Assad regime have ravaged Syria’s cities and forced millions of citizens to flee the country. Now, as masses of newly-minted refugees search for a new home, our country’s leaders are debating how to respond. The United States has historically been a refuge for the oppressed, a haven for Emma Lazarus’s “huddled masses” to turn to in times of trouble. These huddled masses, however, hail from a land so synonymous with terrorism that it has been dubbed a “factory of terror” (Hollande, qt. by Mann). And with the nation’s fear of another terrorist attack polling higher than at any point in the last 14 years, politicians are wary of opening the gates (Sussman and Martin). They face a tricky balancing act: how
Syrians are people too, he presses, and we should meet their desire to come to America with acceptance, not cynicism. He blasts the “political grandstanding” and “demagoguery” of Washington and challenges his readers to remember that “when we’re fearful we make bad decisions.” Barring thousands of homeless refugees from the country on the grounds of an unsubstantiated fear of terrorist sleeper agents would be a nasty counter to our image of a nation of immigrants. This country was founded on the backs of immigrants. In fact, Kristof points out, if it were not for the country’s longstanding policy of refugee integration, his father—an Armenian refugee—would never have come to America. Kristof ends his piece with a powerful exclamation that the refugee issue is essentially a test of our humanity. The nature of his emotional structure is deliberate and subdued; a far cry from the fiery rhetoric of his counterpart. Furthermore, it is personal. His story puts a face to a faraway and oft-dehumanized crisis. These Syrians, like so many of our immigrant ancestors, are people too. His emotional case has the potential to cross political borders and appeal to all