In this video I am introducing Chapter one of Entertaining Angels Unaware: Welcoming the Immigrant Other.
You can find the video here Chapter one
Text:
Chapter 1 Welcoming Strangers … or Terrorists?
My name is Phil Gottschalk and I have written a book called Entertaining Angels Unaware: Welcoming the Immigrant Other. I am making a series of videos to highlight the chapters of my book. This video is about Chapter one Welcoming Strangers... or Terrorists?
One summer when I was in college I worked in a print shop in Madison, WIsconsin. Every lunch time the whole crew would gather around the radio and listen to the inimitable Paul Harvey read “The Rest of the News.” Paul Harvey had a very distinctive voice and style as he read the news. I’m not sure what made it “the Rest of the News,” but he had a way of reading the advertisements in the same way he read the stories and without any pause between them. He would also say, “Page 2” as he started the next page.
I don’t know whether Chapter one of my book is “the Rest of the News,” but it was a chapter I didn’t want to write.
I really didn’t want to argue about terrorists or terrorism, because legal immigrants haven’t been and aren’t terrorists. However, a good friend said that I could not publish a book about immigrants without addressing the issue of terrorism. So I did.
My main argument regarding legal immigrants to the United States is quite simple: no immigrant who entered the U.S. on an immigrant visa has killed anyone since the mid 1970s. The odds of an American citizen in the US being killed by a legal immigrant are 1 to 3.86 billion per year. In other words you’re more likely to be struck by lightening. It hasn’t happened in a long time.
But what about the 9/11 bombers?
There is a lot of confusion real or imagined about legal immigrants and terrorism. The first issue is that people confuse some terrorists with legal immigrants. As soon as I say that there have been no killings by legal immigrants in the US since the mid-1970s, people begin to list “immigrants” who have killed others in the US.
The 9/11 bombers usually spring to mind. However, none of them were legal immigrants. They entered the U.S. on student, tourist and business visas. As well, they were from Saudi Arabia and not any of the countries labeled as “state sponsors of terrorism.”
PAUSE
Some have pointed to the Tsarnaev brothers, who carried out the Boston Marathon bombing. However, they were not vetted through the normal process used for legal immigrants who apply from abroad. They were children when their parents were admitted on tourist visas. Later their parents sought political asylum, which follows a different process than legal immigration through the UNHCR and US Resettlement Support Centers. They did not undergo the rigorous vetting refugees hoping to become legal immigrants receive.
Others have pointed to the San Bernardino shooters, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik. However, Syed was born in the US. His wife, was admitted to the US on a K1 Fiancée visa, not an immigrant visa. Thus, she did not go through the same scrutiny a legal immigrant goes through.
Again the facts are simple: there has been no killing by a legal immigrant since the mid-1970s and the odds of being killed by a legal immigrant are 1 to 3.86 billion per year. The report which contains these facts was trying to assess whether the US government could make US citizens more safe by spending more money. The conclusion of the report was “No.” The US spends 13.5 million dollars per year per citizen to keep US citizens safe. No amount of money could make US citizens any safer.
So what can be done to stop attacks by “home grown” terrorists, those who have been radicalized in the US? I’m sure in the US the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and other agencies are doing all they can. This is not the focus of my book.
Freedom of speech and freedom of religion mean that people can read and believe what they want. However, criminal acts must always be prosecuted.
The law is the law. This has confused some people I have talked to. I am not advocating receiving anyone and everyone as an immigrant.
People on both sides of this issue confuse and conflate (bring together) various issues. Part of what I am trying to do in the book is to explain who is and who is not a legal immigrant.
I do not make any attempt to say anything about immigrants who cross the US southern border illegally (illegal immigrants). M. Daniel Caroll R (Rodas), himself half Guatemalan and an American evangelical Christian, a professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College in Illinois, has written an excellent book on that topic: Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church, and the Bible. I cannot speak credibly to that issue. He has and can. I heartily recommend his book.
I want people to understand that legal immigrants are safe. Legal immigrants have been vetted as extremely as anyone could possibly vet them.
To become a refugee you must first apply to the UNHCR for that status. When a person asks for that status, they are first labeled a “migrant.” Getting the refugee status is not a given or easy.
Biometric data: photographs, fingerprints, history, identification verification, health checks and more are used to make sure the person asking for this status is in fact a refugee. This status is not granted lightly or quickly.
In the case of legal immigration to the United States a person’s case then goes to a US Resettlement Support Center located outside the US. The same processing takes place for a second time.
Once a person is considered a safe person for legal immigration to the US, a US based agency has to volunteer to receive them, like the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS). This group promises care for the integration of these legal immigrants in the US.
A potential legal immigrant can even be stopped at the US border and refused entry, if for any reason these legal immigrants might be judged dangerous. In fact the process can be started again for any reason the government deems worthy. One family had to restart the process due to the birth of a baby.
The US government does all that it can to ensure that those who enter the US as legal immigrants are safe and trustworthy. Those who have worked with this system know that it is extremely careful and credible.
So, remember there has been no killing by a legal immigrant in the US since the mid 1970s and the odds of being killed by a legal immigrant are 1 to 3.86 billion per year. You don’t need to fear legal immigrants or be reticent to help them.
I have focused in this chapter on legal immigration to the United States. In other chapters I will speak about immigration in Europe. Stay tuned!
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These statistics come from a risk analysis written by Alex Nowrasteh of the CATO Institute. “Terrorists by Immigration Status and Nationality: A Risk Analysis, 1975–2017”
May 7, 2019 • Policy Analysis No. 866
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