Solving the refugee crises does not require open borders

This is one part of a short series regarding Pope Francis’ Christmas Day comments insinuating President Trump and the United States must change our policy on Jerusalem and migrants.
One of the Pope’s complaints directed towards America and other countries is that we’re not doing enough to help the migrants in jeopardy around the world. We can assume he was talking specifically about the refugee crisis sparked by the Syrian War, but there are millions displaced in other regions of the world as well.
On one hand, the Pope is correct. The migrant crises, exacerbated during the Clinton, Bush, and Obama years by poor decisions in DC and around the world, must be dealt with soon. There are millions of people who need help. Does this mean opening up the borders, as the Pope would have us do, and face similar if not worse challenges that many European Union countries are facing today? Absolutely not.
The Pope and others want the United States to take a broader role. We can, but that doesn’t mean letting in more refugees than we already have. It doesn’t make sense to take people who have lived their lives under a very particular set of circumstances, laws, and cultures and displace them into a western society. It’s as much for their sake as it is for ours. Instead, we should be looking at solutions to tackle the problem on two fronts: rebuilding what can be rebuilt and arranging safe permanent or temporary residence in areas that are more similar to their previous circumstances.
This stance will instantly be attacked by those who try to find bigotry or hatred in every solution that’s not open borders. They’ll say my views are based upon a desire to “keep them out of my backyard,” as one annoyed liberal expressed to me through social media recently. That’s not even close to being true. I am a legal immigrant who came to this country as an infant. Many in my family have come in and assimilated into American culture perfectly. They have barbecues, great jobs (two in the U.S. government), pay taxes, and used to watch football until the Chargers left San Diego. I’ve seen the positive side of legal immigration. I’ve lived it.
My family and other legal immigrants went through the proper channels by choice. They wanted to become Americans. They wanted to contribute to American society. They wanted the Chargers to stay in San Diego and actively lobbied for that to happen.
Refugees need, more than anything else, safety and stability. The vast majority did not wake up one morning and decide they wanted to become Americans, Germans, or Australians. They woke up to war and were displaced by it. Many open border proponents, and apparently the Pope, would like for us and other western nations to give these refugees a “good life” with our version of safety and stability. This has been demonstrated time and time again to be a huge mistake that affects the host communities and the refugees themselves. There’s no need to go into the effects in the host communities. You either hear the stories or ignore them. What’s not often considered is the “better life” the refugees are going to be treated to by putting them into our culture.
For some, it’s better. They embrace it. We’ve heard plenty of stories about migrants and refugees who came to our country under duress before assimilating and doing great things in their lives. These are highlighted by the media and rightfully so. However, there are many more who are placed in western cultures and either have a hard time assimilating into it or attempt to assimilate those around them into the culture they’re bringing with them.
The Pope wants help in the form of bringing in more refugees. The real solution is to help nations that are more culturally aligned and that have the potential for infrastructure to support an influx. Nations in the Middle East, east Africa, and southwest Asia are much closer culturally to those affected by the Syrian crisis. Bangladesh is a good destination for Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, but they need a great deal of assistance from the international community. In every situation where refugees are seeking new homes, there are better places to send them than to the United States or other western nations.
We don’t need to add culture shock to the list of challenges refugees will face. They are suffering enough. For the cost incurred in bringing people from around the world and helping them live here, they can be placed in nations closer to their original homes and cultures that will allow them an easier transition. If we and other nations are going to have to pay a cost for the refugees, why not spend the money wisely? Let’s work with designated host nations who are willing to take on more refugees and expand communities to accommodate them in exchange for the money we would have spent bringing them here in the first place.
The other side of the solution is helping them return to their original homes. This poses more of a challenge because it requires direct intervention in nations that may not want our help. Myanmar definitely doesn’t want our help. Syria may or may not, depending on the terms. Any solution requires a willingness by all involved. As sovereign nations, nobody should have the will of the international community imposed on them.
Lastly, this cannot fall only America’s shoulders. Russia and China have the capacity to step up and join an international initiative to properly place refugees in host nations. Other nations can as well. It’s illogical that the only solution being proposed is opening up our borders when the international community has very clear ways to address these issues. The Vatican alone could easily fund permanent housing and temporary aid for hundreds of thousand of refugees in Syria. They could rebuild communities with the help of the nations as well as from those who once lived there. This could be done quickly if efforts were put into working with Bashar al Assad’s regime. Instead, the Pope wants to push the “easy button” and condemn the United States for not doing more.
We can solve the migrant crisis without open borders. It wouldn’t be easy, but in the long run it would present a much more elegant and sustainable solution. The Pope and others aren’t interested in helping if it doesn’t include changing America’s stance. As world leaders play politics, refugees continue to suffer.