The Republican candidate for U.S. Congress District Nine, Joan Lasonde, recently expressed her opposition to admitting more Syrian refugees into the U.S., providing four points to support her position.
"The United States recently met its target of admitting 10,000 Syrian refugees," Lasonde said. "My opponent for the U.S. Congress, Jan Schakowsky, supports expanding that number to 'at least' 100,000, a tenfold increase. President Obama also recently endorsed an additional 11,000. Either way, that would be a horrible mistake."
Joan Lasonde
Lasonde's first point focused on America taking care of Americans. She believes that charity begins at home with veterans, homelessness and children.
Her second point expressed concerns related to the possibility of ISIS terrorists posing as refugees and being allowed into the U.S.
Jobs were the subject of her third point. She cited Germany as an example, where more than half of refugees are unemployed.
Lasonde's final point rested on the percentages of Syrian Christian versus Muslim refugees entering the U.S. While 10 percent of the Syrian population is Christian, only 56 of the 10,801 refugees admitted to the U.S. were Christians. As such, she questioned the vetting process used in the Syrian refugee program.
Additionally, Lasonde shared Turkey's proposal of building a safe zone in Syria where the refugees can stay until they can return to their homes. She expressed her support of helping the refugees find safety in their own country.
"Longer term, the real solution for Syria is peace, allowing its refugees to return home," Lasonde said. "Towards that end, a nice start would be if the Obama administration would explain clearly to America who we are fighting for, who we are fighting against and for what goal. The public sure doesn’t know."
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