Debate on migrants escalates in U.S., Europe as France, others bring the fight to Islamic State
After the deadly terror attacks on Paris last Sunday, the world came together and grieved for the loss of at least 130 lives in the deadliest attack on French soil in decades. But, amid the grieving, the world’s leaders prepped plans of retaliation and cracked down on security to in a concerted effort to apprehend suspects and to prevent any future attacks. Amid the security crackdown, calls began to spread from cosmopolitan European countries to bedroom communities in the United States to rein in the relocation of migrants, specifically from Syria. As international authorities combed Paris suburbs for suspects and threats, Russia on Tuesday announced that it was coordinating its attacks with France on Syrian territories and acknowledged for the first time that a bomb destroyed a Russian charter jet that crashed more than two weeks ago in Egypt, killing 224. Days later, Russia launched a bombing blitz on ISIS targets, claiming to have hit a fuel depot and a factory. Russian missiles were covered with messages in support of Paris and in solidarity with the fight against terrorism. On Wednesday, the alleged mastermind of the Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was killed in a major police raid in Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris. Another key suspect is at large. Belgian authorities were also conducting fresh raids around Brussels after intelligence suggested credible links to a potential cell in the neighboring country, putting the nation on high alert of a “serious and imminent threat.” After it was revealed that one of the alleged attackers in Paris left behind a Syrian passport, many European countries, including France, urged tighter border security — or closing the borders altogether. Poland’s new right-wing government even suggested making an army of young refugees and sending them back to Syria to liberate their country. In the U.S., various groups and politicians claimed that President Barack Obama’s relocation plan for tens of thousands of Syrian refugees be scaled back or scrapped altogether. House Speaker Paul Ryan and his colleagues called for the plan to be blocked, saying it was better to be safe than sorry. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas criticized what he called the ineffectiveness of the vetting process; he even took a step further in saying that only Christian refugees should be allowed in. Republican front-runner Donald Trump called for surveillance of some mosques and a Syrian refugee database. Governors of a handful of states, including Texas have urged exemption from the refugee plan.