Politicians Fail To Vet Violence

As panic grips some segments of America over the idea of allowing Syrian or other Middle Eastern refugees to settle in the United States, a few simple observations should be kept in mind. The statistics show, notably, that the risk of a terrorist being among those who pass through the rigorous vetting already in place is extremely low. 

According to research published recently by the Cato Institute, since 2001, not one of the 859,629 refugees admitted to the United States has carried out a terrorist attack. By comparison, 1 in 22,541 Americans committed a murder last year alone, according to the institute. 

U.S. politicians are big on finding imaginary threats to rail against. Witness the many governors who announced their desire to block refugees from their states, which prompted the House of Representatives to double down, passing an anti-refugee bill. Given the Cato numbers, it would be pretty easy later to claim victory over this made-up boogeyman. But America’s leaders have so far failed to find their voices about all the actual violence . . . or any solutions.