President Obama is set to meet with French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday. High on the agenda: how to navigate Russia’s efforts to join the fight against ISIS without losing sight of Vladimir Putin’s own transgressions vis-à-vis Ukraine. The Senate prepared to take up legislation to reign in the Syrian refugee resettlement, following on House passage of such a measure last week. Doris Meissner and James Ziglar, both former INS commissioners, wrote to senators urging them to uphold the program and the values it stands for.  

Ben Carson joined Donald Trump in insisting he’d seen video of American Muslims cheering the 9/11 attacks, an assertion unsupported by any known evidence but sure to further stoke anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S. Trump backtracked a bit on reports that he’d called for Muslims to register in the U.S., but did not disavow the idea, leading some Muslims to launch a social media campaign tweeting their IDs to him.

(Trump made further headlines over the weekend with a tweet from his account publicizing erroneous information about race and crime).  

Meanwhile, Syrians in Michigan—which has taken in more refugees than any other US state thus far—spoke of a chill from the recent anti-migrant rhetoric, including that of the state’s governor, Rick Snyder. The New York Times published a graphic detailing the many steps Syrian refugees must go through before gaining admission to the U.S.—a process more onerous than for any other population seeking to enter the country.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR, not a grantee) kept a running tally of anti-Muslim incidents in the U.S. since the Paris attacks, highlighting an especially disturbing case of a female pre-med student in Cincinnati who was nearly run over by an angry motorist because he took her hijab as a sign that she must be a terrorist.

The mayor of Dallas proclaimed that he was more fearful of white males with weapons than he was of Syrian refugees (hat tip: CAP). And the Center for Rural Strategies advanced a novel idea of relocating Syrian refugees to rural America, which badly needs to combat a drain in population, commerce and industry.

 

Among other grantee activities:

Moveon.org helped keep tabs on pro-refugee demonstrations across the country over the weekend (and provided recruiting help, signage, funding, comms and organizing support to a number of them). A sampling:

Denver, CO: Refugee Debate Grows: DeGette Holds Rally

https://www.cpr.org/news/story/refugee-debate-grows-degette-holds-rally-tipton-scolds-bennet-hickenlooper#sthash.eC9obS4E.dpuf

Washington, DC - Photos: Rally outside White House supports Syrian refugees

http://wtop.com/local/2015/11/photos-rally-outside-white-house-supports-syrian-refugees/slide/1/

Stone Mountain, GA - Refugees attend annual Thanksgiving dinner

http://www.wtvm.com/story/30578566/refugees-attend-annual-thanksgiving-dinner

Boise, ID - Capitol rally draws both sides of emotional refugee issue

http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/community/boise/article45783135.html

Evanston, IL - Syrian Refugees Welcomed to Dinner in Evanston 

http://abc7chicago.com/society/syrian-refugees-welcomed-to-dinner-in-evanston/1093837/

Boston MA - Hundreds rally against Baker’s stand on Syrian refugees

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/11/20/hundreds-rally-against-baker-stand-syrian-refugees/0Dldr1gZAFzNiyA4rhVGYK/story.html

Annapolis, MD - Protesters urge governor to welcome Syrian refugees  http://www.stardem.com/ap/state/article_c5a238c4-1f90-5632-adfa-e94625f80ced.html and also see http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-syrian-refugees-20151120-story.html

St Louis, MO - Supporters of bringing Syrian refugees here rally in the Loop

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/supporters-of-bringing-syrian-refugees-here-rally-in-the-loop/article_877a2ec2-4c70-5c49-9d54-6e3918260351.html

Buffalo NY - Buffalo rally to support refugees

http://wivb.com/2015/11/19/buffalo-rally-to-support-refugees/

Toledo, OH - Rally rebukes Kasich over refugees 

https://www.toledoblade.com/local/2015/11/23/Rally-rebukes-Kasich-over-refugees.html

Philadelphia, PA - Thanksgiving is special to refugee families

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20151122_Thanksgiving_is_special_to_refugee_families.html

Austin, TX - Hundreds Protest Call To Reject Syrian Refugees

http://www.texastribune.org/2015/11/22/hundreds-protest-call-reject-syrian-refugees/

Dallas, TX - Dozens Rally In Dallas To Support Syrian Refugees

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2015/11/21/dozens-rally-in-dallas-to-support-syrian-refugees/

Montpelier, VT - People at Vermont rally clash on day two of demonstrations about refugees

http://www.wcvb.com/news/people-at-vermont-rally-clash-on-day-two-of-demonstrations-about-refugees/36599496

Olympia, WA - Anti- and pro-refugee demonstrators clash in Olympia

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/anti-and-pro-refugee-demonstrators-clash-in-olympia/

In addition, students organized campus "Refugees Welcome" photo petition actions over the weekend at schools including these ones: 

    Rice University- Houston, Texas
    University of Houston- Houston, Texas
    UC Davis- Davis, CA
    UC Santa Barbara- Santa Barbara, CA
    UC Santa Cruz- Santa Cruz, CA
    UCLA- Los Angeles , CA
    Vassar College- Poughkeepsie, NY
    University of Maryland - Annapolis, Maryland 
    CU Boulder - Boulder, CO
    CSU Long Beach - Long Beach, CA

 

--The Yale Law School chapter of the American Constitution Society sent a letter to House Democrats who supported HR 4038, the bill passed last week to “pause” the resettlement of Syrian refugees, urging them to reconsider and calling upon Senate Democrats to prevent the bill’s further progress. “Many Yale Law students know from working with Iraqi and Syrian refugee clients that the screening measures in place are already extensive and time-intensive and that any additional layers of bureaucracy will only endanger the lives of refugees fleeing violence by grinding the settlement process to a halt,” said chapter co-president Conchita Cruz.

--Faith in Public Life has been ramping up efforts to press governors opposed to allowing Syrian refugees in from a faith-based perspective on immigration. The group claimed late last week to have had 1,993 clergy members and counting speak out for the moral case for opening doors. The group launched a sign-on letter and are targeting the governors of Georgia, Illinois, Iowa and Maryland.

 

--An op-ed entitled “Anti-Muslim is Anti-American” by the New York Times’ Charles Blow quoted the Brennan Center and the ACLU:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/23/opinion/anti-muslim-is-anti-american.html?smid=tw-nytopinion&smtyp=cur&_r=1

 

--America’s Voice has been keeping tabs on the more anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim statements of GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, and is collecting a series of editorials condemning the fear-mongering on the Syrian refugees. Said deputy director Lynn Tramonte: "Despite the ugly, bipartisan vote in Congress last week, leaders from a variety of disciplines are speaking up and calling on the country and Congress to remember our past and honor our values.  We must keep our doors open to refugees.  We can have freedom and security at the same time, but only if we engage in smart policymaking over fear-mongering, untethered from facts." 

             New York Times Editorial, “The Price of Fear”: “As for the members of the House, Democratic and Republican, who voted to effectively shut down the Syrian and Iraqi refugee program, and the governors who would somehow block Syrians from their borders — Americans should hope it’s just fearful ignorance that clouds their vision, and that in time it clears. History will always be kinder to those who are resolute and brave. Like the Japanese-American soldiers of World War II, whose response to injustice was to fight overseas, defending democracy with their lives. Or the leaders today who have been calm in the crisis, willing to see and to say what the mob does not. People like the governor of Washington State, Jay Inslee, who has urged open doors for Syrian refugees, citing the Japanese-American internment as a disastrous precedent. ‘We regret that,’ he said. ‘We regret that we succumbed to fear.’ Terrorist violence is terrifying, and it is natural to want to restore a shattered sense of safety. But the best way to do that has always been to draw upon our greatest ideals.”

             The Economist editorial: “At some point next year, when Republicans and Democrats have each chosen a presidential candidate, it is possible that voters will witness a serious debate about national security—and notably how to fight the fanatics of Islamic State (IS). For now alas, the Paris attacks have instead dragged an already ugly contest further down the path of partisan name-calling, empty bluster and fear-mongering … Conscious that hauling up the drawbridge to Muslim refugees might not be the best way of rallying Muslim allies, some Republicans tout plans for winning hearts and minds … But unless would-be presidents stop pandering to fear back home, they will struggle to win a global battle of ideas.”

             George Packer of the New Yorker reflecting on the anti-refugee politics on display in Congress: “A lot of people in this country are disgracing themselves this week. They include politicians of both parties—though many more Republicans than Democrats—and all regions. Their motives vary: deep-seated bigotry, unreasoning fear, spinelessness, opportunism, or some unholy mix of them all … It’s absurd, and infantilizing, to demand that our officials promise to keep us absolutely safe. We don’t live that way, nor should we. Instead, we have to find the balance between safety and a decent life in a free society during an age of terror. Like every compromise, it will leave us unsatisfied. But the alternative is unfreedom and injustice. On Thursday night, as the House was passing its anti-refugee bill, I moderated a panel at New York University with four women who were visiting from Syria. I wish Ted Cruz, Trey Gowdy, and other panic-stricken demagogues had been in the audience … Caught between the Assad regime, the Islamic State, and an indifferent world, these women still feel and think, they scoff at the beliefs of the extremists, rage at the cruelty of Assad, cry while they stitch up children, mourn the dead, tease and comfort one another. They’ve found depths of kindness and resilience, hatred and love, that they didn’t know before the war. The Syrian horror hasn’t killed their humanity—if anything, it’s intensified. I went home, in the rain, with a sense of wonder and shame.”

             Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami: “The problem is not the Syrian refugees … This is falling into the trap of what the terrorists wanted us to become.  We shouldn’t allow them to change who we are as a people.”

             Rev. Russell Moore, head of public policy for the Southern Baptist Convention: “Evangelicals should be the ones calling the rest of the world to remember human dignity and the image of God, especially for those fleeing murderous Islamic radical jihadis.”

             Ruth Marcus, Washington Post columnist: “The political aftermath of the Paris attacks is tracing a trajectory as familiar as it is disappointing. The fundamental question — how to defeat the Islamic State — is so resistant to any simple fix that the debate shifts to subsidiary but more easily digestible topics … Donald Trump has said it may be necessary to close mosques and create a national database of Muslims. Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush called for sorting refugees by religion. Chris Christie would exclude even 5-year-old orphans. Ben Carson referred to ‘rabid dogs’ and tried to raise money off the issue. What’s the bigger risk: that terrorists posing as refugees will slip through in a year or two, or that young Muslims here will listen to this bigotry and become radicalized? The answer seems obvious.”