This column reflects the opinion of the writer. Learn about the differences between a news story and an opinion column.
Require sponsorship for refugees
Regarding the Gary Crooks Nov. 22 Smart Bombs, “Fear of refugees is wretched”: Really? Why should Americans take risks when there are alternative ideas for taking care of refugees? They could, for example, be placed in safe zones until they could return home.
How can we trust the government to protect us when warning signs should have caused it to pay attention to the 9/11 hijackers and the Tsarnaev brothers (Boston Marathon bombers)? The first duty of government is to protect its citizens, so ignoring the ISIS threat of infiltrating the refugee population is a stark contradiction of this notion.
Christians are being killed in ISIS-controlled territories rather than being allowed to leave. This is very troubling. Perhaps the best long-term solution is to require sponsorship from an individual, employer or church for any refugee or immigrant coming here. Sponsors should be responsible for supporting refugees or immigrants. Under this scenario, we could determine who is really willing to walk the talk.
Craig Detmer
Spokane