America is a land of immigrants – and some of those immigrants have been people fleeing strife and persecution in their homelands. The Syrians are just the latest in a very long line of people coming to this nation because their homeland has gone to shit. With each new wave of immigration, there have been people who have screamed to close the borders, to limit the number of people coming in, that this new wave of immigration will be horrible for the nation. Look at what happened when the Irish, Chinese, Italians, Jews, Cubans, and Bosnians came to America over the last two hundred years. 

Each wave, most of the people settled peacefully and assimilated. They worked and raised families. They added foods, words, and traditions to their local communities and the nation as a whole. And a small portion became criminals and terrorists. Yet, the nation has survived. 

I don’t think most of the people opposing allowing the refugees in are doing so because of racism. They have legitimate safety concerns. For the other side to completely ignore those concerns is naive. However, I still believe that the good outweighs the bad, and that in a generation or two, the Syrians will just become another part of the American landscape.