By Joseph Valencia ’17
THE ROUNDUP

In the wake of recent terrorist attacks, such as those seen in Paris, the office of Charlie Hebdo and San Bernardino, the U.S. government has set out to take precautionary measures against future attacks.

These attacks create fear among people, as the largest threat the U.S. faces is ISIS, an Islamic extremist group.

Refugees entering the United States are prompting concern among many people.

On a local level, this has been seen in the recent announcement from Gov. Doug Ducey stating that Arizona will no longer accept refugees.

Even among students, opinions vary over how the situation is being handled and how it should be handled.

“I think we are doing a good job filtering out any threats,” said Matthew Scheller ’19. “I feel we also need to understand that not all Muslims are extremists, but I think we also need to understand the need they’re in.”

The struggle of the refugees is weighed against the safety of Americans.

Overall, the issue and the course of action needed to stop it remain a divisive topic.

“For the people who would want to escape the area in the Middle East, it would be unfair for the United States to not let them enter,” said Daniel Antillon ’19. “But there are people like Trump who want to ‘cut the head off of ISIS’ and not let anyone [of the Muslim religion] in the U.S.”

Donald Trump’s rising popularity and caustic comments on closing the U.S. borders to Muslims are the source of much debate.

“The time has come for us to end our indifference towards the refugees in the Middle East,” said Nathan Miller ’17. “As a nation, we must stop our brutal retaliation, end the flow of weapons and military currency, and stand as a peaceful model of humanity.”

The issue of the U.S. accepting refugees will most likely remain a subject of debate into the upcoming presidential election.