Effort to keep out Syrians is fear-mongering

What an embarrassment and shame for Ohio. Gov. John Kasich joined about two dozen Republican governors and a couple of Democratic governors who have declared their intent to bar Syrian refugees from being settled in their states ( Dispatch article, last Tuesday).

Discovery of a passport in Paris raised concerns that Islamic State militants might be moving westward among the hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said no government official can guarantee that Syrian refugees will not be part of any terrorist activity and that opening the door “irresponsibly” exposes Americans to “unacceptable peril.” To answer the points: Total safety is never guaranteed in the world population, though we must try. Terrorists can be foreign tourists of any stripe, if they are not on a watch list. Do we keep out tourists?

The United States does not let in refugees willy-nilly. They must pass background checks.

Furthermore, of the 4 million Syrian refugees, the United States has taken in only 1,854 since 2012, according to The New York Times. President Barack Obama wants to increase that number to 10,000 nationwide next year, and that is still a tiny proportion. A small number have become Ohioans. The refugees here have been, according to The Times, “the most vulnerable people in the war: single mothers and their children, religious minorities, victims of violence and