Easily the first question anyone asks who is hearing for the first time that we have admitted to the US, at great taxpayer expense, hundreds of thousands of refugees over the last four decades is this:

Why aren’t we taking care of our own vulnerable people first?

The other day when I said that we need a grassroots group called ‘Migration Moratorium Now!’ I figure the subtitle would be something like this: ‘Take Care of Americans First!’

And, that is the gist of this letter, thanks to reader Joanne for sharing it, at Syracuse.com:

Syracuse is falling apart, and Mayor Walsh’s priority is refugees?

The writer, Paul Strail, is responding to a lengthy opinion piece written by the latest liberal mayor of Syracuse, Ben Walsh, with the help of Michael Melara executive director of Catholic Charities of Onondaga County.

Here is just a bit of Mr. Strail’s response to the mayor:

The Post-Standard recently reported that Syracuse is still one of the poorest cities in the country. Nevertheless, Mayor Ben Walsh wrote in your paper that President Donald Trump was wrong to limit the number of refugees that the United States could allow (“Dear President Trump, Syracuse wants refugees,” Sept. 26, 2019).

This seems like a strange priority for Walsh to stake out, especially because his city is falling apart . At times, there seem to be homeless men and women panhandling on every street corner. Many of these folks are veterans.

[….]

The murder rate in Syracuse is too high. Academic achievement in the city schools is too low. So, when the mayor should be focused on meeting the many vital needs of his own city, he has to let everyone know that his real concern lies in preventing Trump from restricting the flow of foreign refugees into his city. How that misguided priority will help improve the crime rate, boost academic achievement in the schools, elevate the standard of living of the city’s poor and homeless, and give struggling homeowners some kind of tax relief, is anyone’s guess.

The truth is that Syracuse’s reputation as a sanctuary city must be maintained if Walsh hopes to win the support (and donations) of enough liberal Democrats in the next election. Loudly criticizing the president is the best way to do that. The suggestion that the president must hate refugees because he is an extraordinary bigot is the means by which Walsh is feeding red meat to Syracuse’s Trump-haters.

I dare not copy any more of it, please read Mr. Strail’s sensible analysis.

One of the first things I would ask the mayor is this: Since Syracuse has ‘welcomed’ 10,000 refugees to the city over a recent ten year period, where is the proof that they have revitalized the city?

Indeed are they still there, or like the Bosnians who supposedly helped boost the economy of St. Louis have they moved out of a city run by progressive politicians?

Amazing how either people don’t read, or have very short memories.

In 2015 we reported on a story from the Atlantic about how Syracuse is falling into perpetual poverty as its poorer sections become poorer with the importation of already impoverished refugees!

I call this illogical argument—that refugees bring economic boom times to struggling cities—the big lie!