Letter writer: Asheville should take sober view of refugees

Graphic by Lori Deaton

A report from the Gatestone Institute (http://avl.mx/2w6) titled, “A Month of Islam and Multiculturalism in Germany: July 2016.  Islamist terrorism has arrived in Germany” is a must-read for any American who believes that bringing refugees into America is safe.

The report chronicles numerous attacks on Germans just in the month of July. Examples: “July 15. At least 24 women were sexually assaulted at a music festival in Bremen … Police have been able to identify only five perpetrators, all of whom are migrants from Afghanistan … groups of men surround women in order to grope them …”

And, “July 24. A 21-year-old Syrian asylum-seeker murdered a 45-year-old Polish woman and her unborn baby in a machete attack in Reutlingen.” And, “July 25. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere revealed that German authorities are currently investigating 59 refugees because of the ‘suspicion that they are involved in terrorist structures.’”

With this evidence of what can happen when refugees are accepted into a country, it makes more sense to care for refugees by providing financial assistance to support refugee camps in safe neighboring countries. Jordan has already agreed to accept refugees in exchange for interest-free loans. FBI Director [James B.] Comey has admitted it is not possible to vet refugees from countries where records of their lives have been destroyed.

For the sake of our own security, those in Asheville who have been considering accepting refugees need to take a sober view of how other countries have suffered from the decision to do so.

— Maureen DiRienzo
Hendersonville

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

About Letters
We want to hear from you! Send your letters and commentary to letters@mountainx.com

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

18 thoughts on “Letter writer: Asheville should take sober view of refugees

  1. boatrocker

    Don’t worry, Sharia law originating from the Middle East is already here.
    They’re called Baptists, and it’s why we can’t buy beer before 12 noon on a Sunday.
    As for terrorism in WNC, yea, they finally caught Eric Rudolph.

  2. NFB

    This:

    “For the sake of our own security, those in Asheville who have been considering accepting refugees need to take a sober view of how other countries have suffered from the decision to do so.”

    From somebody in Hendersonville.

    Your concern is noted.

    • The Real World

      Well, you have to figure she’s aware of some efforts related to the issue but, she didn’t happen to describe them. A quick internet search produced this: https://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com/2016/06/30/ashville-north-carolina-you-are-next-federal-refugee-contractor-has-come-to-town/ There’s probably more online but, I didn’t look further.

      I gave it a heavy scan; interesting as were some of the comments at bottom. My view is that managed immigration to this country is a given and should be. But, real consideration needs to be made about this recent massive influx to the Western World. And, really, why is it happening this way? For whose benefit? Clearly it is intentionally engineered. My understanding of migrants related to The Korean and Vietnam Wars was that they were primarily the women (wives, then or later) and children of US servicemen (and perhaps later her parents or siblings, etc). That isn’t the case here. So, why exactly are we not helping these people get resettled in their own or nearby countries?

      We have the benefit of examining the results of how it’s been working in Europe over the last 2 years. That transition has been sobering, indeed. Much theft, rape, assault, diseases like TB, burdens on schools and health care from huge language & culture barriers and enormous additional costs.

      We are talking about a VERY different culture. Yesterday in Germany, a migrant (separated from his wife) went to where she and their children were staying, dumped flammable liquid on her and set her on fire (in front of the kids). WHO DOES THAT?!! That’s a mentality of a different century. (I guess Allah was on her side b/c although she suffered severe burns she survived but he managed to torch himself in all that insanity and died).

      This migration thing needs to SLOW DOWN and real consideration take place. Imagine that radical idea.

      • Thomas Paine

        Thank you for researching the topic and having a sensible and sober judgement on the issues. Immigration is compassionate only if it leads to tolerant assimilation. With vetting and education, it is a boon to our country. Otherwise it is invasion. The olive branch should be extended whenever possible. Those who would follow barbaric Islamic practices like earlier Jewish and Christian law, would hurt women and children for their savage beliefs. Only the bayonet could stop them from poisoning our lands and shattering our culture. If immigration leads to Afghani food trucks, cool music and dance, and kite fighting societies, all the better. If it leads to anti-western regressive sentiment, then send them back to their region. They may come to realize their own humanity through their strife and seek a better world, Inshallah.

      • Huhsure

        “WHO DOES THAT?!!” asks TRW calmly.

        You imply that somehow these bad people are bringing in a kind of violence just unheard of in this country.

        It’s not unheard of, he’ll it’s not even uncommon in this country. Not even uncommon THIS YEAR in this country.

        Perhaps Americans should get “extreme vetting” before we can be allowed to leave the US.

        • Thomas Paine

          Huhsure,
          Sadly unreasonable violence is ordinary in every country. However, we have a lot more than other western societies. Yet, compared to the middle eastern countries we are pacifists. It is very common, especially in Afghanistan, for people to abuse children when they act up. Not spanking, but boiling water in the face. This is barbarism of the highest order.
          However, you are quite right that statists in the US would eventually take power used to keep Americans safe and use it to “vet,” all would-be travellers to see if they were worthy to leave America. Your insight will hopefully illustrate to you and all else reading this the abhorrent nature of state power that we have blindly accepted for far too long. It is not civilized to have a society built on Faustian bargains that allows for mass murder on an industrial scale to maintain our empire.

          • Lulz

            Exactly. And the violence continues in major cities for political reasons. Hence why the nation is quickly fracturing into one end with those mainly aligned and live off the government, the left AKA the democrats and those who are the one’s they want to fleece, AKA the republicans who are now really the middle class. Think about that. We’re seeing more and more wealthy people support the left now because they make more money off of and have insider connection to the government than the people who don’t.

        • The Real World

          Huhsure – irrational comment. Anyone with basic comprehension skills would grasp what I put forth.

          • Huhsure

            Oh, your message couldn’t have been clearer: These are hateful, violent, diseased people who are just too different to assimilate.

            And my point is perhaps they’re not hateful and violent enough to fit in in modern America. And my secondary, unstated, point was that I find your xenophobia appalling.

      • luther blissett

        “My understanding of migrants related to The Korean and Vietnam Wars was that they were primarily the women (wives, then or later) and children of US servicemen (and perhaps later her parents or siblings, etc).”

        That’s a grave misunderstanding in the case of Vietnam, where it was very much refugee-driven (‘boat people’ ring a bell?): those who had assisted the US were initially evacuated and resettled, but after the turmoil spread to Cambodia and Laos and countries of first asylum were overwhelmed, the US broadened its policy and accepted a total of around 750,000 refugees. Your “as long as it involves sex with American military men” rule is a strange one to apply.

        The Indochinese refugee crisis helped establish the infrastructure by which the US currently screens and resettles refugees: it has been used for Cubans, Iranians, Soviet Jews, Yugoslavians (including Bosnian and Kosovar Muslims), Afghans, Iraqis.

        “FBI Director [James B.] Comey has admitted it is not possible to vet refugees from countries where records of their lives have been destroyed.”

        That’s chaff. You’re going to trust the records of Assad’s secret police to vet Syrians? You’d rely on the records of Saddam Hussein’s torture squads to screen Iraqi refugees? The UNHCR process is long, detailed and well-documented, in spite of the nonsense talked about it.

        https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/11/20/infographic-screening-process-refugee-entry-united-states

  3. Troubled Traveller

    I think Ms DeRienzo should be expressing gratitude that the indigenous inhabitants of North America didn’t espouse her immigration values when her ancestors were looking for a home.

    Some suggested reading; the plaque on the base of The Statue of Liberty, the US Constitution, the US Bill of Rights, the US Department of Homeland Security website, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement website, the US Customs and Border Protection website, the Bible (Matthew 22:34-40).

    It is incomprehensible to me that an entire nation of immigrants, built on the oppression of indigenous peoples and by the hands and backs of immigrants of ALL colors and origins is engaged in such hypocritical discussions regarding immigration.

    • The Real World

      More irrationality….
      a) discussion is good, not bad — it’s what thinking adults do.
      b) apparently you aren’t able to discern what’s different about America (and the world) today versus 150, 200 and 300 years ago. Hint: alot is; give it a good think and you’ll realize.

      • Troubled Traveller

        Hypocritical, uninformed discussion is a useless waste of energy for those of us that have studied the facts and are open-minded enough to consider this issue in regarding ALL of myriad of components.

      • boatrocker

        I have a history book at home with ( I think) a Thomas Nast cartoon in it.
        It depicts all the early 1800’s types of immigrants (think Irish, English, Dutch, German, etc) dressed in tacky suits waving off a recent immigrant (think Poles, Italians, Greek, Slavic) in rags trying to sell apples. Meanwhile, the early 1800’s immigrants’ shadows are projected on a brick wall in back of them showing them as paupers in rags selling apples from only a few generations ago. It would be easier to show the darn thing but I can’t find an example online.

        But yea, I think I see what’s different about ‘Murica now. Hypocrisy has been mainstreamed and accepted as long as the mean old immigrant looks like a Muhummad or Akmed. I guarantee every ‘well thought out argument’ against immigrants from Syria has been used by the Cherokee at one point.

        Call it what it is- hypocrisy.

        • boatrocker

          Ahhhh, there she is.

          I stand corrected. Joseph Keppler, 1893, “Looking Backwards”
          Look it up at your own peril, Trumpeters.

  4. boatrocker

    Huh, interesting.

    Numerous comments (after being after being posted for subscribing to Mtn X’s terms of agreement) have been mysteriously deleted.
    Sigh.

Leave a Reply to NFB ×

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.