U.S. Should Favor the Most Vulnerable Religious Refugees - Doug Bandow

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U.S. Should Favor the Most Vulnerable Religious Refugees
The purpose is not to discriminate against Islam, but to recognize the unique situation of non-Muslims in the Middle East.
By Doug Bandow • March 16, 2017

Last week, the Trump Administration made another attempt to revamp U.S. visa and refugee policy. The latest effort appears to be far better planned and executed than before. More limited in scope and reasonable in application, it at least will avoid the spectacle of travelers being turned away in mid-flight.

There still are doubts about its impact. The terrorist threat posed by visa holders and certified refugees is quite small. By almost any measure the most dangerous nation is Saudi Arabia, which is not mentioned by the administration. Perfect safety is impossible, and the U.S. pays a price if it increasingly walls itself off from the world—in business, education, culture, sports, politics, and more. That Americans are tempted to do so is a good reason to rethink a policy of unnecessarily promiscuous military intervention, which creates enemies around the world. The U.S. would not feel as much pressure to hide behind a national barrier if the authorities were not busy bombing, invading, and occupying other states, as well as backing repressive governments of all stripes. Washington sometimes appears determined to make as many enemies as possible.

One of the most controversial aspects of the original executive order was a provision offering priority to Christian refugees. This was taken as a form of religious discrimination and cited in legal arguments against the measure. So the latest iteration includes no similar preference.

Continued: http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/u-s-should-favor-the-most-vulnerable-religious-refugees/