Antelope High School

Home of the Titans

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

Autumn Plaxco
7801 Titan Drive
Antelope Ca, 95843

Governor Jerry Brown

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

To Whom It May Concern,

There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable
inaction. (John F. Kennedy). Hello, my name is Autumn Plaxco and I am a student at Antelope High School.
In my Honors English 10 class, we recently read the novel Night by Elie Wiesel which depicts the story of the
Holocaust and all of the horrible things that the victims had to live through. Once I started to read further into
the Syrian war, I started to realize that the Syrian refugees have been through a lot of the same situations as the
Jewish refugees had during WWII. Millions of Syrians have attempted to flee their country, seeking asylum and
safety in other countries now that they are no longer safe in their own. The US has agreed to take in about
10,000 refugees per year, and though that is a significant number, but there are over 11 million that still need
help. California alone has taken in more than 100,000 refugees of the past 15 years. I do agree that we should be
assisting as many refugees as we can, but they still do pose a possible threat. The US should focus on its own
safety first, while still doing what it can to help those in need.
The Syrian War began not long after the event known as the Arab Spring, in which several eastern
countries rose up against their governments and overthrew those in power. Syria did not immediately join in
with the revolution, but after their president, Bashar al-Assad began to repress the people, they followed the
example of the other countries and began protesting against his rule. However, Asad sent his soldiers to shoot
down the demonstrators, which soon gave rise to several rebel groups. These rebels started with low numbers
and few weapons, but there were several that developed into strong extremist groups. In the name of revolution,
the extremist groups started killing, abusing, and displacing the citizens. To escape from this terror, many
citizens fled Syria to seek refuge in other countries, but the debate on whether to take the risk and accept the
refugees has been highly debated (The War in Syria Explained in Five Minutes).
The way that the Syrian refugees have been handled is very similar to the way the Jewish refugees were
when they were fleeing their persecution is Germany during WWII. Many arguments against admitting refugees
into the US were the same in both situations. People feared that the Nazis would plant agents. spies and
saboteurs among the Jewish refugees that would carry out terrorist attacks on the US or send vital information
back to their country about the USs plans (Refugee Refusal Compared, Contrasted to that of WWII). And
now, people are making those same arguments against the Syrian refugees as well. They are also similar in the
way that many people initially refused to accept them into the country. When the Jews had tried to enter
America, they were driven away by officials and when citizens voted on this issue, 67.4 percent of Americans
said the US should try to keep.[the] refugees out of the country (Refugee Refusal Compared, Contrasted to
that of WWII).Similarly, when the Syrians wanted to stay in the US, 31 governors turned their thumbs down
in response to the decision to accept 10,000 refugees (PRO/CON: Should state governors be able to reject
Syrian Refugees?). Many people did not want any of the refugees to come into their country during both
instances, mainly because they feared terrorist attacks. Although the responses to the refugees were very
similar,

they are also vastly different in the reasons they had to seek asylum. First
of all, there were no German Jews attempting to carry out daily attacks on civilians during WWII
(Refugee Refusal Compared, Contrasted to that of WWII). However, many Syrians that are part of the
4635 Elverta Road, Antelope, CA 95843
 Antelope High School
Home of the Titans
Principal, John Becker
Phone: (916)782-6565 ext. 1047

extremist groups do lead assaults on their own civilians every day. Not only
that, but the Syrian citizens are not facing nearly as dire a threat as the Jews
were. The Syrians are not being specifically targeted and murdered like the Jews, rather the conflict has put
their homes in a war zone and they are getting caught up within it (Refugee Refusal Compared, Contrasted to
that of WWII).
Although the Syrian refugees are not in as threatening a situation as the Jews had been during the
Holocaust, they are still facing many challenges by staying in Syria that could very well lead them to their
death. The war in Syria has caused, both directly and indirectly, [fatalities that] amount to 470,000, severely
dropping their life expectancy in Syria from 70 in 2010 , to 55.4 in 2015 (Report on Syria Conflict finds
11.5% of Population Killed or Injured). Their economy has also been damaged as a result of the war, and
about 13.8 million Syrians have lost their source of livelihood (Report on Syria Conflict finds 11.5% of
Population Killed or Injured). The Syrians no longer have the ability to make a living for themselves. Even
those who are not a part of the violence, but are just innocent bystanders are very likely to be die or be killed
because they can no longer support themselves while living in Syria. If they do not have any chance of
surviving in Syria, then the other counties that can support them should be allowing them refuge. Of course,
there is the argument that some of the refugees will not work and contribute to society, but the vast majority
would be honest and law-abiding (PRO/CON: Should state governors be able to reject Syrian Refugees?).
Those who are not, should be required to work if they are going to allowed the safety of the US. They should
have to repay the country that saved them by working towards society. There is also the chance of terrorists to
enter unnoticed, amongst the other refugees. While there have been very few terrorist attacks in the US since
admitting refugees, there is always the chance, no matter how small, that there could be more. To prevent this,
there should be more thorough and strict background checks on the refugees before they are even allowed to
enter. The US has to be sure, 100 percent sure, that no terrorist will be able to threaten their citizens.
Overall, I think that the refugees could be a significant threat to the US if not vetted out carefully
enough, but I do not think that this threat is large enough to completely prevent them from finding a safe haven
here. More Syrians should be accepted into the US and evenly distributed amongst all the states, but they should
have stricter requirements. So, yes, we should vote in favor of accepting the refugees. People who are in such
desperate need for help should not be ignored. When the Jews were ignored during WWII, they were forced to
go through much suffering and agony, ultimately leading to the deaths of over 6 million of them. All of that
inhumanity could have been prevented, or at least decreased, if the US and other countries had stopped their
silence and acted to save them. It may be too late for the Jews, but the Syrians still have a chance to be saved.
Thank you for reading through this and listening to my opinion. I greatly appreciate your time.

Sincerely,

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

4635 Elverta Road, Antelope, CA 95843