Dear future president,

I am writing this letter to address the problem of terrorism in this country. Specifically Syrian refugees. Syria is now in its sixth year of their civil war, where Russians are helping to prevent rebels from overthrowing the Syrian government. Because of this, many civilians are in need of help. Many seek refuge in neighboring countries. America has agreed to take in 10,000 refugees. However, America has had a history of being attacked by terrorists from the middle east, which is where Syria is located. This may put us in danger if Syrian refugees are brought to America.

These civilians need help. Many innocent people are dying because of this war, and we are able to help to prevent that. Americans are promised the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If we just ignore this problem just because it doesn’t impact us, it shows that we only believe that Americans deserve that right, thus showing that America doesn’t believe in giving people equal opportunities throughout the world and that we are only interested in solving our own problems. Overall, it is really unethical to deny them the right to have safety in America.

On the other hand, there is the question of do we want to put ourselves in danger to save others in need of help. Let’s say we let in 40,000 Syrian refugees to the United States. What if one in every 5,000 refugees are or become terrorists. We have now brought 8 terrorists into our country. One terrorist has the ability to kill about 100 people. Assuming that all of the terrorists have separate attacks, 800 Americans could possibly die. If there are 8 terrorist attacks, all at around the same time, then Americans will feel like they aren’t safe.

In the end, it is really just a question of ethicality or security in America. Even if this event does result in the deaths of 800 Americans, the net lives saved is about 39,200 people. But do you want the risk of causing the deaths of those Americans? And are you okay with many Americans not feeling safe in America? How would you prevent possible terrorists from coming into the USA? I’m not telling you what to do with this issue. I’m just telling you to consider both sides. Don’t just think about the impact it will have in America. Consider it’s impact throughout the world.

Sincerely,

Brennan Scorelle.