The recent round of ISIS attacks—on a Russian airliner, in Beirut and most recently in Paris last Friday—have had a swift and significant impact on the U.S. political landscape generally, and several areas of USP’s work in particular. What follows is a brief summary of the state of affairs, followed by a look at what grantees who work on immigration, Islamophobia and domestic surveillance issues are saying in response to the tragedies.

The Paris attacks were barely 24 hours old when the Democratic presidential candidates met to debate in Iowa, the state that will play host in February to the first nominating contest of 2016. Though the campaign, to this point, has been largely about economic issues, the attacks forced national security to the top of the agenda, with much discussion afterwards about the candidates’ reluctance to describe the attacks as being attributable to “radical Islam” (Hillary Clinton in particular was at pains to warn against painting “with too broad a brush.”) Republicans seized on the tragedy in Paris to go on the offensive on immigration, attacking anew the Obama administration’s plans to allow into the country tens of thousands of Syrian refugees, and criticizing both the president and front-runner Clinton for allowing ISIS to develop and flourish. Even some of the more putatively moderate voices in the House Republican ranks, like Rep. Peter King of New York, responded to the attacks by calling for stepped-up surveillance of Muslims.

By Monday, the political battle was being joined in the states, as 20 governors and counting  (19R, 1 D) announced they would at least temporarily refuse to accept Syrian refugees. Chris Christie announced that New Jersey would join the list, saying he would not accept any refugees from Syria, “not even three-year-old orphans. Current and past grantees have urged governors to eschew knee-jerk blame for the attacks, and, as in this release from Church World Service, to remember that the vast majority of those fleeing Syria are fleeing ISIS and the ravages of civil war.

Governors in Colorado, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Washington state took pains to announce they would welcome refugees, and some experts pointed out that to try to block refugees from entering states would be unconstitutional.

At a press conference in Turkey, President Obama bristled at Republican insinuations that to support the refugees was to support terrorism—and was especially sharp in rebutting former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s contention that the U.S. should give preferential treatment to Christian refugees, saying “we don’t have religious tests to our compassion.” But there was speculation, amid GOP threats to block funding for the president’s refugee program, that the battle could spur a government shutdown next month.

Some higher-education institutions began tapping the brakes on study abroad and exchange student programs, and the stock price of weapons manufacturers soared.

Muslim advocates were on alert for a backlash of hate crimes in their communities, and voiced concern about comments such as the one GOP presidential hopeful Marco Rubio uttered on the Sunday shows comparing Muslims to Nazis. Mosques in Tampa Bay and Nebraska reported threats or incidents of vandalism over the weekend. And a Muslim family in Orange County, Florida claimed their home was targeted with gunfire in response to the attacks.

Grantee ReThink Media convened a call in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, to monitor and discuss strategies for handling anti-Muslim backlash. They pulled together a list of statements condemning the attacks from French and international MASA organizations, seeking to offset the expected “Muslims aren’t condemning terrorism” framing (one sampling here, from Shoulder to Shoulder, a coalition of 31 religious and other organizations opposed to anti-Muslim bigotry; another, as reported by ThinkProgress, a CAP project). Many American Muslim groups have also put out such statements—notably the Council on American Islamic Relations (not a grantee), which reflexively responds to attacks in this fashion after years of being pilloried by the right for not doing enough to condemn terrorism.

This is not the approach taken by most of OSF’s grantees in this area—civil-rights organizations who reject the idea that they should issue apologies every time somebody commits terrorism in the name of Islam. As a result, they generally do not issue condemnation statements. The issue of whether and how to respond to attacks represents something of a rift in the field. In a nod to this dynamic, ReThink Media has a standard disclaimer in its communications: “we’re not saying you must issue a condemnation statement if you’re not comfortable doing so….”

Human Rights first put out a statement urging measures to curb extremism, and pointing to a recent report which showed anti-Muslim sentiment converging with anti-Semitism to “fuel intolerance and violence in France.” The statement listed specific steps, including ensuring that the fight against hate be conducted through democratic principles and institutions in an addition to law enforcement and the military and encouraging an inclusive approach to the Syrian refugees.

Muslim Advocates condemned Sen. Rubio’s Nazi analogy and Rep. King’s call for stepped-up surveillance of Muslim communities.

And Media Matters blew the whistle on CNN international anchors who pressed a French Muslim guest on the broadcast to accept responsibility for the attacks. 

Meanwhile, champions of reforming US surveillance practices in the aftermath of the Edward Snowden revelations found themselves on the defensive against criticisms that a loosening of the surveillance state was to blame for the attacks. Leading the charge in the US: CIA Director John Brennan, who blamed the Snowden disclosures for policy and legal actions that he claimed have made the job of tracking terrorists and blocking plots much more challenging.  The hackers associated with the group Anonymous declared war on ISIS.

Among the more powerful data points that surfaced through the day via The Economist:

Number of refugees who have settled in America since 9/11: 750,000

Number of those arrested domestic terrorism charges: 0