# The stupid - it burns! (Isil infiltrating u.s.-bound refugees) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 20, 2015, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupid-it-burns-isil-infiltrating-u-s-bound-refugees/738050 "2015-11-20T04:55:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2015, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupid-it-burns-isil-infiltrating-u-s-bound-refugees/738050/101 "2015-11-23T18:31:59Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > True. Especially since we already know that they have infiltrated refugees in Europe. It is quite reasonable to assume that they will do the same for refugees to the USA. > [Islamic State reveals it has smuggled THOUSANDS of extremists into Europe | World | News | Express.co.uk](http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/555434/Islamic-State-ISIS-Smuggler-THOUSANDS-Extremists-into-Europe-Refugees) Only “reasonable” to someone with a profound ignorance of the differences between the two areas vis-a-vis refugees, coupled with a strong desire to remain ignorant by refusing to learn anything. ---
**Author:** ![LunarPlexus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@LunarPlexus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LunarPlexus)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupid-it-burns-isil-infiltrating-u-s-bound-refugees/738050/102 "2015-11-24T20:12:07Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > And some of us are not **elucidator** groupies, so we wouldn’t know that. Maybe luci should have “sarcastic” branded on his buttocks? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupid-it-burns-isil-infiltrating-u-s-bound-refugees/738050/103 "2015-11-24T20:34:34Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > And some of us are not **elucidator** groupies, so we wouldn’t know that. True, some of us are roadies. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupid-it-burns-isil-infiltrating-u-s-bound-refugees/738050/104 "2015-11-25T00:44:47Z")
> [@LunarPlexus](#): > > Maybe luci should have “sarcastic” branded on his buttocks? Couldn’t I just have a tattoo like your Mom’s? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupid-it-burns-isil-infiltrating-u-s-bound-refugees/738050/105 "2015-11-25T01:43:15Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Couldn’t I just have a tattoo like your Mom’s? Look, don’t get me wrong: you’re hot and all, but you couldn’t pull it off like she does. . ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupid-it-burns-isil-infiltrating-u-s-bound-refugees/738050/106 "2015-11-25T01:49:01Z")
Pics, or it didn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![Donald\_Rump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Donald\_Rump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donald_Rump)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupid-it-burns-isil-infiltrating-u-s-bound-refugees/738050/107 "2015-11-25T02:17:00Z")
[Canada](http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/24/americas/canada-syrian-refugees/) is taking 25,000 refugees. As I read somewhere, the problem with North America is an improper division of resources. The Americas got the power, the Canadians the virtue and common sense. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupid-it-burns-isil-infiltrating-u-s-bound-refugees/738050/108 "2015-11-25T03:41:40Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > _Those_ are the unscreened refugees to which I refer. At no point have I claimed that unscreened Syrian refugees reach the USA. You know that those people are NOT refugees (despite the terms used in the media)? Those are _asylum seekers_–a completely different thing. By constantly bringing them up in a thread about the mindless reactions of Americans towards true _refugees_ coming to the U.S. you are implying that they are analogous, and is disingenuous. (It’s also exactly what the pandering, attention-whoring presidential candidates are doing.) It’s precisely the conflation of these two totally distinct things that’s problematic, and the focus of the thread. You don’t seem to have a clue about the process of U.S. refugee resettlement–or you didn’t when the thread began. There is, in fact, a downside to trying to get into the U.S. through the refugee process. A person being considered for refugee status comes under intense scrutiny by the U.S. intelligence apparatus. They have to show affirmatively that they are being persecuted, and then have their entire background vetted. On the other hand, you know the guys that committed the Paris attacks? They were Belgians. They could’ve just come to the U.S. as tourists, if they’d wanted—with a visa waiver. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupid-it-burns-isil-infiltrating-u-s-bound-refugees/738050/109 "2015-11-25T06:18:58Z")
Sure, but what kind of “background checks” are possible in a civil war type situation? The Syrian government is going to help out? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupid-it-burns-isil-infiltrating-u-s-bound-refugees/738050/110 "2015-11-25T06:55:19Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Sure, but what kind of “background checks” are possible in a civil war type situation? The Syrian government is going to help out? From [Time Magazine](http://time.com/4116619/syrian-refugees-screening-process/): > [@](#): > > Every refugee goes through an intensive vetting process, but the precautions are increased for Syrians. Multiple law enforcement, intelligence and security agencies perform “the most rigorous screening of any traveler to the U.S.,” says a senior administration official. Among the agencies involved are the State Department, the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security. A DHS officer conducts in-person interviews with every applicant. Biometric information such as fingerprints are collected and matched against criminal databases. Biographical information such as past visa applications are scrutinized to ensure the applicant’s story coheres. However your [Argument from Personal Incredulity](https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/personal-incredulity) is noted. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupid-it-burns-isil-infiltrating-u-s-bound-refugees/738050/111 "2015-11-25T10:16:09Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Sure, but what kind of “background checks” are possible in a civil war type situation? The Syrian government is going to help out? That is an excellent point. Probably what will happen is that very few Syrians will be granted refugee status anyway, for this very reason. (Indeed, comparatively very few have gotten it so far.) What many people don’t seem to understand is that the number for refugees which the administration announces every year is just a theoretical cap. Often that number isn’t reached, because it isn’t possible to complete the security checks. This is what has happened with Iraqi refugees. Until the rise of ISIS, there was a steady flow of Iraqis being granted refugee status. Then, with the war conditions affecting northern Iraq in addition to Syria, it has become increasingly difficult for Iraqis to be adequately checked, and in the past year and half, the number of Iraqi refugees being granted status has dropped to a trickle. So you know what happens? They just don’t get processed. They’ve been waiting even longer than two years, now. In a way, all of these promised or projected numbers of coming Syrians being granted status which have been bandied about (often completely falsely, such as some numbers Trump has pulled out of his ass) _ **don’t really matter** _. It doesn’t matter how many are announced for the cap, if they can’t be vetted. Probably in the end very few Syrians will be granted refugee status in the U.S. while the war continues, no matter what number is officially projected. All of this hand-wringing and political posturing is just bullshit, and the bill just passed in the House is a shamelessly gratuitous farce. It’s also an insult to all the people in the Dept. of State, DHS, CIA, FBI and military intelligence who–on a regular basis, year after year–have been doing these refugee security checks quite competently already. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupid-it-burns-isil-infiltrating-u-s-bound-refugees/738050/112 "2015-12-01T15:46:33Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > . . . On the other hand, you know the guys that committed the Paris attacks? They were Belgians. They could’ve just come to the U.S. as tourists, if they’d wanted—with a visa waiver. DHS recognizes this is the real potential risk, and is has started to take action, as explained in [this interview today of DHS director Jeh Johnson](http://www.npr.org/2015/12/01/457974677/after-paris-attacks-u-s-tightens-visa-waiver-program) about visa waivers. On the other hand, he reiterates (indirectly) that this stupid bill in the house is carrying coals to Newcastle: [QUOTE=Dept. of Homeland Security director Jeh Johnson] The refugee program, **as it currently exists** , is probably the most thorough, multi-layered, time consuming way for anyone to cross our borders and come into this country. [/quote] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupid-it-burns-isil-infiltrating-u-s-bound-refugees/738050.md?page=5)