Editorial Board
Welcoming the Next 10,000 Syrian Refugees
Investing in safer and better integration is in America's interest.
Get ready for the next wave.
Photographer: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty ImagesAfter a late-summer surge, the Obama administration has met its goal of admitting 10,000 Syrian refugees in 2016. The Republican House Freedom Caucus considers that 10,000 too many, preferring to stop resettling Syrians until the administration can “assure no terrorists or individuals with radical sympathies or views will be admitted.”
Such fears are largely misplaced. Few, if any, classes of travelers to the U.S. face greater scrutiny. Nevertheless, the process for admitting refugees from Syria can be tightened. And at least as important, the process of integrating them into American life can be improved.