by Vendela Krenkel ’20

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently announced President Donald Trump’s plans to lower the limit on number of refugees allowed into the United States from 45,000 to a record low of 30,000 annually. This is just one effort in a series of actions seeking to cut down on immigration, both for illegal immigrants and by making it more difficult to attain the legal ability to enter and reside in the States. Trump promised a “Muslim ban” while on the campaign trail, and nipping the ability of Syrian asylum seekers to be granted a safe environment is exactly how he has gone about this. As it was for the Bush administration, the government is not obligated to settle 30,000 refugees; they can choose to accept far less.

The Syrian Civil War has displaced more than five million people and the American government refuses to increase aid. (I guess this is Trump’s thing though, judging by how he “helped out” in Puerto Rico with his paper towel toss.) More than half of these asylum seekers are children; we should be doing more to aid the innocent people affected by violence-stricken environments. America is meant to be a place of freedom from tyranny and oppression, and rejecting those that are trying to escape from exactly that does nothing but spread prejudice.