Letter to editor

A reply to David Morris:

Just to begin with, the numbers you mention are horribly incorrect. At this time the government has increased the number of Syrians that MAY be admitted as refugees, not migrants or immigrants, from 2,500 to 10,000.

Immigrants are admitted under another program completely. Certainly not “hundreds of thousands,” as you claim. Reported by KPBS public radio today (Nov. 19), the number of refugees who have actually been admitted is about 250 with a few hundred more “in process.”

Each refugee admitted has gone through a thorough investigation that can last up to three years in some instances.

So, yes, I still believe the United States can easily, and safely, accept a few thousand Syrian refugees fleeing the horror that is ISIL. The European nations are doing so much more with numbers that may reach the millions.

Historically, almost every racial or religious group that has migrated, or immigrated to the U.S. as a refugee, has faced persecution and bias usually based on fear of the unknown. The Italians, Irish, Jews, you name them. The Negroes had no choice, having originally been forcibly shipped to our country as slaves.

And just how has that worked out? The U.S. is the greatest, most powerful, freest, country in the world today. You, Mr. Morris, and I, along with 350 million or so others are the luckiest people on Earth today to live in the United States, especially those of us here in Ramona.

Ron Peterka

Ramona