Is the refugee crisis a security issue?

[dropcap]D[/dropcap]onald Trump’s words have been a magnet to controversy like flies attracted to feces, and none more attention grabbing than the threat he issued a few days ago to Syrian and Iraqi migrants that they would be shipped back if he became president.
“They could be ISIS” was his justification. His words echoed Nigel Farage’s sentiment that “ISIS are using this route to put jihadists on European soil”.
Briefly ignoring the fact that the presidential candidates’s plan is unbelievably unfeasible and an insane waste of resources (I don’t care how rich you are, Donald), it begs the question of whether he is genuinely concerned for the safety of citizens and therefore whether the US and Europe should be worried, or if this is just part of a racist agenda, allegations which señor Trump’s big mouth has been no stranger to.

ISIS are using this route to put jihadists on European soil”– Nigel Farage

He attempts to defend his promise by claiming a similar strategy was deployed by Eisenhower, ‘Operation Wetback’. This immigration law, derogatorily racist in its very name, deported over a million illegal immigrants, mostly Mexicans who were sent to random remote areas in the Latin state, often stranded with no food, water or shelter.
The policy was implemented in 1954. Literally on the same day racial segregation was ruled unconstitutional.
Just let that sink in and understand how ludicrous it is to even consider implementing such an archaic policy today. So fair enough, it’s tempting to dismiss Trump and call him bigoted.
However, he is still somehow head and shoulders above all other candidates in the approval ratings.
Mainly because I would like to retain some faith in humanity, I refuse to believe that all his supporters approve of him because they are disillusioned.

To catch a fish you must think like a fish, and after all, if they had intentions to infiltrate the West, this would probably be the optimal strategy.

Much like we are encouraged to critically analyse statements which are tempting to assume are true, there is an interesting case when reversing the thought process and attempting to find some truth in seemingly ridiculous statements made by the comedian presidential candidate. After all, if there is a potential security threat it would be naive to not investigate the risks involved.
Unquestionably the migrants consist heavily of Syrians and Iraqis innocently seeking to improve their lives, many of which are children and in some ways it is sorrowful that an explanation must be made to help people in need.
For arguments’ sake, however, there could be a case to suggest a few ISIS militants could be among them.

Gage Skidmore/Flickr

To catch a fish you must think like a fish, and after all, if they had intentions to infiltrate the West, this would probably be the optimal strategy.
This opinion has also been reflected by David Cameron and even Pope Francis. Furthermore, Trump claims that the refugees are “mostly strong men”, and while there are no reliable sources on six-pack/non-six-pack ratios, according to the UN slightly more than half the refugees to the US are indeed men.
Yet this is about as convincing as the business tycoon’s belief gets. The UN office of statistics also indicates that slightly more than half of Syrian refugees to Europe are women, therefore the facts are not particularly suspicious and essentially there is no evidence to suggest the West should be worried. The security threat of this issue is overblown, an ISIS apocalypse is not beckoning us.

If there was genuinely a security threat and a handful of the migrants indeed have disastrous ambitions, you would expect the governments of the respective countries to be able to manage the risk

Even the paranoid few who would suggest that there is no evidence we should not be worried should remain calm.
If there was genuinely a security threat and a handful of the migrants indeed have disastrous ambitions, you would expect the governments of the respective countries to be able to manage the risk.
Especially in the USA, the land of supposedly the most sophisticated intelligence agency in the world.
Realistically speaking, if they are capable of hunting down the former world champion of hide and seek underground in Iraq, they are perfectly competent of monitoring the activities of suspicious refugees and neutralising any potential threat on their own soil.
In similar fashion to how terrorists use fear to gain power, Trump is probably employing the same strategy to sway vulnerable voters who feel the need to be protected.
Welcome refugees and send Trump to Syria.