Immigration Advocates Call Trump's Refugee Restrictions 'Misguided'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Advocates for immigrants and refugees in Chicago suggest it is misguided for President Trump to put so many restrictions on refugees, especially those from Syria.
Mony Ruiz-Velasco, chair of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said Syrian refugees are not the terrorist threat Trump seems to think they are.
"There haven't been any refugees charged with any terrorism offenses in the United States," she said.
Suzanne Akhras Sahloul, President of the Syrian Community Network, added that most Syrian refugees are families fleeing war and persecution. Many are single mothers and their children.
"They usually agree to come to the United States or to Europe or any other country to have an opportunity for their children to be educated," Sahloul said.
Sahloul said the U.S. has resettled 750,000 refugees here from every conflict in the world.
"Syrian refugees have been coming in since the start of the crisis since 2011," she said. "Please, someone give me a name of one Syrian refugee who has committed a crime or has done harm to anyone else."
Sahloul added that using the refugees as a scapegoat to blame for any kind of trouble is unfair.
Of the 750,000, only three have been brought up on criminal charges.
Ruiz-Velasco said that sowing fear of terrorism is just an excuse for Xenophobia.