What Do We Already Know About the Syrian Refugees?

What do we know about the religious and political beliefs of refugees and asylum seekers who have entered the United States these past eight years?

The U.S. takes more than twice as many refugees as all countries from the rest of the industrialized world combined. But for leftist activists, the number of refugees entering the U.S. is never enough and our borders should be open for all.

However, these same activists seem to only care about the resettlement of Muslim refugees and rarely, if ever, speak out for persecuted minority Christian refugees. Why?

The previous administration admitted more Muslim refugees to the U.S. than any time in our history. A closer examination of this reveals startling evidence that the motivation to resettle Muslim refugees is not based on humanitarian concern. Rather, the reasons may be political.

According to a report by Pew Research (July 22, 2016), when it comes to political and social views, Muslims are far more likely to identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party (70 percent) than the Republican Party (11 percent) and to say they prefer a bigger government providing more services (68 percent) over a smaller government providing fewer services (21 percent).

In other words, Muslim refugees, when they become eligible to vote, overwhelmingly support the Democratic Party and remain on public assistance. Christians, on the other hand, are more likely to vote with the Republican Party and become self-sufficient. Tragically, this could be one of the major reasons persecuted minority Christians were basically ignored these past eight years.

Refugee resettlement should be based on persecution and threat of death, not on politics.

“There is strong evidence that many Muslims hold views that clash with Western norms,” says CFI President Jim Jacobson.

• In the United Kingdom police recorded more than 11,000 “honor” crimes between 2010 and 2014. A British think tank counted 18 honor killings in that country from 2010 to 2014.
• A 2013 survey sponsored by Pew Research Center found that 99 percent of Muslims in Afghanistan and 91 percent of Iraqi Muslims favored making Sharia law the official law of their countries.
• A 2011 Pew survey found that 40 percent of Pakistani Muslims believed it is often or sometimes justified to kill a woman engaged in premarital sex or adultery in order to protect the family’s honor.

Of the 10,000 Syrian refugees admitted to the U.S. over the past 12 months, less than .5 percent were persecuted minority Christians.

Christians Freedom International supports President Trump’s executive order on immigration and is calling for the privatization of the refugee resettlement program. Christian Freedom International is an interdenominational human rights organization for religious liberty, helping persecuted Christians and their communities world-wide, including emergency and disaster relief, Bible distribution, medical assistance, food, water, clothing, tools, schools, habitat improvement, aid to the disabled, education, pastor and child sponsorship, advocacy, refugee & asylum case-work, vocational training, resettlement assistance and self-help initiatives.

Christian Freedom International has assisted in the resettlement of Karen Christian refugees from Burma and assisted Christian asylum seekers from around the world. CFI operates a housing facility to assist persecuted Christian refugees’ transition to self-sufficiency.