Tennessee, Reject Fear-Based Anti-Refugee Policies

Tennessee is a beautiful state with the smokies, mountain grandeur, colorful trees, plants and various wildlife.  I have not lived here my entire life but have been here as a tourist numerous times until making the conscious decision to make this my home.  Allowing refugees from Syria is a concern of the many residents and visitors who treasure this land for what it is and fear that such people would present a threat to our lives and existence.

Statistics from various resources have stated that majority of the refuges are women and children who are fleeing a life of rapes, starvation, brutality, bombings and chemical weapons.  The reports show that refuges are the least likely to be terrorists and place a threat on our good land.  In fact, refugees are often the victims of the terrorists.  ISIS wants us to reject refugees and accelerate fear, it is difficult to know what the right thing to do is and we can never be too safe. There are some strict security measures already in place in our country with a rigorous screening process of refugees, which takes approximately 18 months, so our borders are ultimately safe.  We are not an open border policy. 

Some read for your own references in making your own educated decisions regarding these issues are http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/17/syrian-refugees-us-states-refuse-immigration and http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/17/why-syrian-refugees-are-no-threat-commentary.html Refugees are not terrorists and a terrorist would not want to go through this lengthy process.  As American people, we have to stand by our standards and morals of compassion and justice for all, without allowing bigotry and fear to override our sense of humanity and empathy for all.

Tennessee is one of the states that has not made a commitment to allow refugees into the state and we are asking the Governor to reconsider the Anti-refugee proposals and consider giving these people a chance at a better life, providing appropriate safety measures in the process.  You can help by signing and sharing this petition.  As stated in a previous petition, this is a humanitarian crisis with a scale unseen since World War II. Our actions in the coming days will determine how history remembers America's response in this defining moment.