Refugee editorial very disappointing

Your Nov. 22 editorial about the refugee crisis was very disappointing. Did you bother to find out how rigorous and long (12 to 24 months) a procedure it already is to be admitted to the U.S. as a refugee? What is the time frame for your moratorium? Should it be lifted when the war on terror is won?

What criteria would satisfy you that it was safe to lift the moratorium, if assurances from the president, the State Department, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have not already satisfied you? Will you be satisfied if, after the next terrorist attack on U.S. soil, it is proven to have been perpetrated by individuals who were not Iraqi or Syrian refugees already in our country? Is that how long we should wait? Hopefully, that day will never come.

People are not born terrorists. They are radicalized. The xenophobia and Islamaphobia being fomented in the U.S. is radicalizing our own citizens, just as it radicalized French and Belgian citizens. If you want the world to believe that the U.S. has any values worth emulating, then you shouldn't portray the U.S. as afraid of women and children fleeing war and terror. Don't just say that the war on terror will be won with the power of our ideals. Show the world that the United States of America is a welcoming and safe place for refugees. Actions speak louder than words.

Diane Niesman

Wheaton