When It Comes to Refugees, Obama's Values Are Quite Fluid

I'm going to start by saying if you can not tolerate facts, and facts that show that President Obama has shifting values when it comes to refugees from the Middle East, then you should stop reading this post now. I also want to warn you that there are some very graphic images contained in this post.

In recent days, following the bloody terrorist attacks in Paris, President Obama has been driving home the point that when it comes to admitting Syrian refugees into the United States, our values must remain in tack.  In other words, we should welcome them in, without all of the silly hand wringing about safety or unreasonable demands for assurances that the vetting process will be impenetrable.  Speaking at the G20 economic summit in Antalya, Turkey last week, the president said, "Slamming the door in their faces would be a betrayal of our values."



His moral high ground soared to amazing new levels, when speaking to a group before the start of a trade and climate change summit in the Philippines, the president derided and mocked republicans for expressing concern that some Syrian refugees might pose a security threat. "Apparently they are scared of widows and orphans coming into the United States of America.  At first they were too scared of the press being too tough on them in the debates.  Now they are scared of 3-year-old orphans. That doesn't seem too tough to me." The president must have missed the news that it was a female terrorist that detonated a bomb killing herself and injuring several police during the standoff in Paris.

When republican presidential hopefuls Jeb Bush and Sen. Ted Cruz said that the US should focus on taking Christian refugees that are being slaughtered. Obama bristled at the idea and demonstrating righteous indignation said, "When I hear folks say that maybe we should just admit Christians but not the Muslims, when I hear political leaders suggesting there should be a religious test for which a person fleeing from a war-torn country is admitted...that's shameful.  That's not American.  That's not who we are."  Both men also said there is no "meaningful" risk of Christians committing acts of terror. Which by the way, happens to be true. But a religious test would be a waste of time.  Radical Islamist terrorists love to kill. Lying about their religion would be a small price to pay if they could get into the country to kill.

The president's criticisms were also aimed at governors who have said they will not accept Syrian refugees.  However, the law is not on their side.  The decision on whether or not to admit refugees rests with the federal government.

If you're tempted to believe that this is just more political bickering--that Obama's boundless compassion for helpless people being killed by ruthless terrorists is resented by jealous, hateful, wimpy republicans out to stop the first black president from humanitarian work, I implore you to resist this temptation.

If our values as a nation are betrayed when we slam the door in the face of people fleeing persecution and death, then why has President Obama been doing exactly this for the past year?  Christians in many parts of the world are being raped, burned, tortured, drowned, beheaded and crucified by terrorists, primarily radical Islamist terrorists.  These heinous and brutal acts are being committed against people for no other reason than their faith, specifically their believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are truly a persecuted religious minority. Although I wish it were possible for each and every one of them to be granted asylum in the United States, I know that is not possible.  But one particular tragedy stands out among the many.  It is the plight of Iraqi Christians.  It stands out because they are in a country that is now controlled by ISIS.  These barbarians have pledged to exterminate Christians and have been hard at work to make good on that promise.

Some Iraqi Christians have been able to escape and numerous religious organizations and human rights groups have pleaded with the Obama Administration to grant them asylum.  The response has ranged from deafening silence to plain old excuse making.

The State Department says that a law established when FDR was president severely restricted immigration.  However, current US Immigration law makes provisions for people that are being persecuted for their religion, by either their government or by groups that one's own government either cannot or will not control.

President Obama has issued Executive Orders and couched many directives as memorandum (more than any other president) to make sweeping changes whenever he sees fit on a wide range of things such as immigration and labor matters. Yet the president won't use his pen to help the Iraqi Christians, even those who have made it to the United States.  Ignoring the genocide being committed by Islamic terrorists against Christians from the Middle East betrays our values as Americans, it's not who we are. Interestingly, following the massacre of 21 Coptic Christians in Egypt back in February, the president wouldn't acknowledge their martyrdom for their faith, he simply referred to them as "Egyptian migrants."

It's clear to me that President Obama's values are fluid--they change to suit him.  He's been tongue-lashing anyone that feels uncertain about admitting thousands of Syrian refugees into the country. Yet the cat has his tongue when it comes to Christian refugees.  Earlier this year when a small number of Iraqi Christians escaped Iraq and fled to the US by way of Mexico (yes, that border, the one that terrorists won't use to enter the US--yeah right), seeking religious asylum, they were denied. According to Lauren Mack, spokesperson for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in San Diego, of the 27 Iraqi Christians, some are still being held at the Otay Detention Center in San Diego, seven have been extradited, and five have been criminally charged for making false statements.  In total, 22 have been ordered out of the United States and five still have asylum applications pending.

As it concerns the Syrian refugees, I believe that we must do all that we can to help.  Because of civil war, they are targets of ISIS. But failing to take the necessary precautions to ensure that terrorists don't embed themselves with legitimate refugees is not only foolish but arrogant. While it's true that the US' process for relocating refugees is quite different than the process in Paris, it is in no way capable of ferreting out terrorists. This is what the nation's top security people have said. Officials from the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) have stated this in no uncertain terms. The problem is not with our capabilities.  We obviously have the technology and resources, but the problem exists on the other end.  Neither Syria or Iraq for that matter can provide vital background information for cross referencing.

This is why a bi-partisan House bill was introduced last week which seeks to temporarily block refugees from Syria and Iraq (for a few months) until four of the nation's top law enforcement and national security officials can declare that individuals coming into the country aren't security threats. President Obama has promised to veto it.  Apparently convinced that the nation's top security experts are misguided, the president, while speaking at a school yesterday in Kuala Lumpur, reiterated his belief that the nation must not succumb to fear.  He also took the opportunity to tug at heart strings when he said, "If you are a parent and you saw those kids, and you thought about what they had gone through, the notion that we couldn't find a home for them anywhere in the United States of America? that is contrary to our values."

Oh those fluid values of his.  President Obama is committed to admitting more Syrian refugees, even to the point of ignoring his own national security experts who only want time to keep us safe.  I say more Syrian refugees because since 2011, we've taken in 2,184 refugees from Syria. They're now living safely in different cities around the country.  However, of that number, only 53 Syrian Christians were allowed entry, the rest were Muslim, despite there being roughly 4 million Christians in Syria. And there's still the matter of the Iraqi Christians--deterred in a detention camp in San Diego, criminally charged and shipped back home to the terrorists.  I think it's high time that the president look inward and examine his own values.  Thankfully, few acts of terrorism here have been linked to refugees.  However, internet claims that there have been none are patently untrue.

At this point, there are only a couple of things that we can do.  The most important thing is to pray. As a Christian, I know that my brothers and sisters in Christ that are being killed in His name are incredible people of faith who are willing to die rather than deny Him or convert to Islam. The least I/we can do is to pray.  It is because of prayer that many of them have escaped the clutches of death. I'm also praying for the Muslim refugees, that they can find safe harbor until we can safely admit them. I'm praying too for our President, that God gives him wisdom and guidance. And I pray that the forces of evil--radical Islamist terrorists and their American sympathizers--are held back.

The other thing that we can do is to put aside our political differences and take a look at things without the glare of partisanship. We need to ask our legislators to work diligently to get the mechanisms in place that will ensure that refugees wishing to come into our country are truly coming for a better life, not to take lives. We have been blessed in this nation.  We have not had to experience repeated acts of terrorism like many other nations.  But if we let political ideology or personal loyalties cause us to put our national security on the back burner, we'll only have ourselves to blame if a Paris-style attack happens here.