U.S. Congress Succumbs to Fear After Terrorists’ Assault on Paris and Beirut

Guest blogger: Dylan Recht, third-year law student, University of San Francisco

On Thursday November 19, 2015, the House of Representatives voted 289-137 in favor of a bill that would limit Syrian and Iraqi refugees entering the United States. The bill was incited largely by the terrorist attacks on Beirut and Paris in the first two weeks of November 2015.

The limits imposed by this legislation would subject refugees from Iraq and Syria to extra vetting procedures by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security. This is in addition to the processes that already take about two years to satisfy which includes screening by: (1) the U.N. High Commissioner, (2) Interpol, (3) the U.S. Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, (4) the U.S. State department Lookout Support System, (5) Local law enforcement, (6) the National Counterterrorism Center, (7) the U.S. Department of Defense, (8) U.S.C.I.S., and (9) U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. This legislation will effectively bar Syrian and Iraqi refugees from entry. This bill does not comport with the humanitarianism embodied in our nation’s principles of freedom and liberty.

The bill would still have to pass the Senate, and President Obama has said that he will veto the bill if it does pass. If somehow this bill or any of the other proposed bills that prevent Syrian and Iraqi refugees from seeking shelter in the United States do pass, the judiciary will likely be unable to invalidate the laws. Congress has been given deference in immigration and foreign policy laws under their “plenary power” over regulation of immigration matters. In many areas of immigration law, limits based on national origin are imposed as a matter of routine. For example, the visa bulletin and priority dates limit the allocation of visas to people based on their national origin. In the realm of immigration law, the Supreme Court has failed to uphold conventional constitutional protections by merely accepting federal legislation if it touches on the subject matter of foreign policy or immigration. Any constitutional challenge to a law that limits the number of refugees based on national origin will likely fail to achieve meaningful redress in U.S. courthouses due to this wholesale deference.

By passing this bill in the House, both Republicans and Democrats have been swept up in a reactionary assault on liberty and social justice. By pandering to both latent anxiety from 9/11 and reinvigorated panic from recent events, the Congressmen who introduced and passed this bill are pushing an agenda that is largely self-serving: they wish to cement their seats in Congress, painting a portrait of themselves as defenders of the nation’s safety and security. Their constituency is frightened, but the fear cannot be harnessed for Congressmen’s personal gain via their constituents’ support. In times like this, fear cannot be a vehicle to further any person’s career, but should be evaded altogether. As a global community we need to dispel fear and unify in the face of terror, and we cannot allow terror to incapacitate our nation’s humanitarianism and intellect.

Congress cannot let fear override the fundamental values encapsulated in our nation. Our values of freedom and liberty must overshadow any visceral trepidation caused by terrorists. Following the ISIS attacks on the global community in Paris and Beirut last week, our nation and others like it must hold fast to the principles that lead refugees to our open arms. We must be willing and able to help those in need in the face of terrorism and unrestrained killing. Punishing those fleeing from bloodshed and tyranny in the name of safety is impulsive and harmful. The discrimination against Muslims and others from nations being torn apart by radicals is wrought with bigotry, racism, and xenophobia. That practice will only marginalize and ostracize them in our globalized society, and perpetuate the cycle of violence through a shift of attitude that vilifies all the people trapped in volatile homelands.
We cannot let our elected representatives abandon refugees in the wake of this recent epidemic of terrorism. Our society must preserve compassion and altruism even during some of the world’s darkest moments.

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