One of the greatest presidents of the United States once said, “We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.” So, with that being said, why is America so afraid of letting in Syrian refugees?

When we refuse to let in Syrian refugees due to fear, we as Americans are letting the terrorists win. The goal of a terrorist is to strike fear and terror into the hearts of the innocent and unsuspecting. When we tighten our borders and hang on to our fear of Islam, we are giving the terrorists exactly what they want. Instead, we must open our hearts, our minds, and double down on tolerance and inclusiveness. America is the land of opportunity, not the land of fear mongering.

People blame the immigrants for the attacks in Paris, but terrorist attacks like those are exactly what the refugees are trying to run away from. This just goes to show that tightening the borders doesn’t prevent any terrorist attacks because terrorism is unavoidable . The refugees want to get away from terror just as much as we do. Sure, there is risk in taking in the refugees, but there’s risk in everything we do.

Some politicians propose that we take in refugees, but only those that are Christian. To declare attacks on religious freedom one day, and then to only accept Christian refugees the next is pure hypocrisy. Religious discrimination is not the American way; we do not have religious tests to our compassion. Some argue that in times of a crisis we must set our constitution aside. To reiterate an earlier point, letting go of our constitution, what we believe in, out of fear is exactly what ISIS wants. If we give into fear over humanity, we have already lost the fight against terrorism.

If someone looks at a helpless family trying to find a safe place to call home and sees a group of terrorists instead, then that’s being part of the problem rather than being part of the solution. If America is a country built off of refugees, then we shouldn’t be hypocritical about which refugees we support.

Ellie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, said, “No human race is superior; no religion is inferior.” We as a country should strive to be on the right side of history, rather than degenerating back into the age of intolerance.