Antelope High School

Home of the Titans

Principal, John Becker
Phone: (916)782-6565 ext. 1047

Daniele Marie Roberts

7801 Titan Drive
Antelope Ca, 95843

Governor Jerry Brown

c/o State Capitol, Suite 1173
Sacramento, Ca 95814

To Whom It May Concern:

Hello Governor! Did you know that in 2016, the United Nations identified almost 13.5 million Syrian
refugees requiring humanitarian assistance, of which over 6 million are displaced internally within Syria, and
over 4.8 million refugees outside of Syria? My name is Daniele Roberts and I attend Antelope High School as a
sophomore. The past couple weeks my Honors English 10 class has been analyzing the novel Night by Elie
Wiesel, and have become very intrigued on the situation regarding the Holocaust. Recently, I have acquired
information regarding the Syrian refugee crisis and thought I would write to address my views on the situation.
First, I want to start off by saying that I believe current lawmakers decisions pertaining to the refugee crisis are
ultimately ineffective, and will not have any positive impact regarding their current situation.

To my understanding, 11.5% of [Syrias] population has been killed or injured since the crisis erupted
in March 2011, and the current number of wounded is put at 1.9 million. (Black). An average Syrian
refugees life expectancy has dropped from 70 years old in 2010 to 55.4 [years old] in 2015 (Black). The life
expectancy dropped almost 15 years in a 5 year time span. Imagine another 5 years from now, that is crazy!
Overall, the loss of Syrias economy was billions of dollars. That is a whole lot of money. It is found that the
root of the problem stems from the Islamic State (Black). The Islamic State is an extremist group that
attempted to set up its own country governed by its version of Islamic law (Black). This group may also be
known as the terrorist group ISIS. The Islamic State has captured parts of Syria and Iraq (Black).
Unfortunately, because of this, Syrian civil war has created what can be known as the worst humanitarian crisis
of our time. More than half of Syrias population during the war have been killed or even forced out of their
houses. These Syrians refugees are simply fleeing from the threat of their safety. Violent crimes such as terrorist
attacks should not be generalized or related to Syrians, especially when they are not responsible for the start of
all this upgrade. Although, not all Syrians are harmful, governors across the U.S. have chosen to believe that
afew Islamic State fighters will slip in with the refugees like spies (Kuslor & Matthews). Currently, there is a
lack of security spreading through Syria, were authority is being brought on by force and threats. The American
people are skeptical when it come to accepting Syrian refugees into the U.S..

From what I have seen in recent articles, the Syrian refugee crisis, and WWII are very similar. It was
during World War II that the U.S. put strict limits on refugees fleeing Europe (Geller). These limits were
influenced by the idea of anti semitism,which resulted in prejudice against the Jewish population and led the the
Holocaust. This is very similar to the Syrians case, because many Syrians who practice the Muslim faith are
often falsely associated by the American people with terrorism. In addition, people tend to isolate the Syrians
because they look and act different than the American People. It is as simple as that. As a well- developed
country we fear anything different than what we do. We are stubborn and often put up a guard when it comes to
opening up to others beliefs or interests. Not only that, but it has also been said that during WWII, some were

4635 Elverta Road, Antelope, CA 95843

 Antelope High School
Home of the Titans
Principal, John Becker
Phone: (916)782-6565 ext. 1047

also worried the Nazis would plant agents, spies and saboteurs among the
Jewish refugees and that they would pressure the Jews, particularly those
whose families were still in Germany, to act as agents on behalf of' Germany " (Geller). Again, this is similar to
the fact that the U.S. government remains skeptical towards admitting Syrians into our country. They believe
this for many security purposes, which is definitely something that should be considered for the sake of the
American population. Opening up to a large group of foreign people definitely does, put the U.S. in a very
vulnerable state. All of these points definitely reveal the relationship between WWII and the Syrian refugee
crisis.

In disagreement with the lawmakers decision and beliefs, refugees should be able to seek
asylum in the U.S.. It is totally understandable why political officials would be concerned, but it really
should come down to the fact that there are innocent victims of violence in their homes who need this
countries help. We need to do something about it, not just provoke the current issue. In accordance to
the Migration Policy Institute, only three [refugees] have been arrested on charges of planning
terrorist activities of the the 784,000 refugees resettled in America since the 9/11 incident in
2001(Kuslor & Matthews). Three is a very slim number in a very large time span. It is an especially
small number compared to the number of refugees lives we will save if the effort is put forth. This is
not a time for selfish actions and decisions to take place. A difference and change needs to be made
starting now. In addition to this fact, the U.S. governors that are refusing to accept Syrian refugees are
not only morally wrong and indifferent, but they are also helping the Islamic State (Kuslor &
Matthews). The Islamic State is getting what they want. They are hoping that other nations reject the
refugees so they can stay trapped in Syria under the Islamic States power and influence. However, this
is not about power, strength or wealth, but about restoring peace among the nations and attending to
the needs of the victims. It is not Syrians faults for being associated with these racist and petty
accusations. If the U.S. does not take action, it will long be regretted when something terrible
happened, and our nation did nothing to stop it.

In conclusion, the U.S. government should put themselves in the shoes of the Syrians and think about
their desperation to flee from terror spreading in their home country. They are faced with a constant fear from
the Islamic State. Imagine if America was facing the same issue. Would it not be the same goal for us to flee
and keep our families safe? We need to turn the tables and think what America would do. It is not okay to
blame the whole Syrian population. America should vote to accept Syrian refugees, while using a screening and
vetting system that can contribute to limiting all terrorists from the U.S. Thank you so much for your time.

Sincerely,

Daniele Marie Roberts

Antelope High School Student
Respectful. Responsible. Proud
GO TITANS!

4635 Elverta Road, Antelope, CA 95843