Donald Trump – whose hardline position on immigration has upended the Republican race for president – has called on the US to take in more Syrian refugees, telling an interviewer: “I hate the concept of it, but on a humanitarian basis you have to.”
In an appearance on Fox News’s O’Reilly Factor on Tuesday night, the billionaire and presidential candidate said the US had a responsibility to do more for the millions of people who have fled Syria’s chaotic civil war since 2011.
“You know, it’s living in hell in Syria. There’s no question about it,” Trump said. “They’re living in hell, and something has to be done.”
The real estate mogul was quick to impute blame on Barack Obama, alluding to the president’s 2012 remark that the use of chemical weapons by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad would be a “red line” that would change US “calculus” and prompt more active intervention.
“This was started by President Obama when he didn’t go in and do the job he should have when he drew the line in the sand, which turned out to be a very artificial line,” Trump said.
The US and Russia ultimately brokered a deal with Assad over his chemical weapons, and the threat of western military action was lifted until the US began airstrikes on jihadi groups in Syria in 2014.
Trump did not directly answer whether he would have sought to remove Assad from what power he has left, saying “something should have happened” after evidence emerged that Assad had used sarin gas on civilians and rebels.
“Probably, in retrospect, they should have gone in and done something with Assad,” Trump said, adding that the US’s primary concern now should be the extremist group Islamic State.
“But you know, Assad is not our biggest problem because Assad and Isis are actually fighting,” he said. “So now what we’re doing is we’re fighting Isis and Isis wants to fight Assad. Some people could say: ‘Why don’t you just let them fight out and you take out the remnants?’”
Last week Trump was not as willing to say the US should accept more refugees, telling MSNBC: “We have so many problems, and the answer is, possibly, yes.”
On the subject of immigrants from countries closer to the US, Trump is less welcoming. He has published a plan that involves the deportation of 11 million undocumented immigrants, and has vowed to construct a wall along the border with Mexico, although it will have “a big, very beautiful door”.
Of the 22 declared candidates for president who were asked about the current refugee crisis, only Democrat Martin O’Malley told the Guardian the US should accept 65,000 refugees, as 14 senators and aid groups have urged Washington. Some of the most prominent candidates, including Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Jeb Bush, did not respond to inquiries on the topic.
Republican John Kasich said the responsibility “fundamentally falls on Europe”, an echo of the White House statement last week that “there is certainly capacity in Europe to deal with this problem”.
The US has admitted approximately 1,500 refugees since the Syrian civil war began in 2011, about half of them in 2015. In contrast, the German chancellor,Angela Merkel, has said Germany will take in 800,000 people this year, and more than 350,000 people have fled to Europe, many in sea journeys fraught with dangerous conditions, predatory smugglers and starvation.
Middle East countries have also struggled to accommodate the steady rush of migrants; Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon have taken in millions of people in total.
Importing mid eastern migrants does nothing to improve the conditions by which caused the migration, this is obvious. Fix the problem, we can here in the U.S. ,can little afford to add more to the welfare list we taxpayers are already supporting. There are in the neighbourhood of thirty million illegals in the U.S. And 51% are on welfare at this time. The United States is payin around 24% of the United Nations budget and they ( the United Nations) want the U.S. to do their work for them. They should be taking on the the Islamic terrorist fighters already. They sped out money to convert the U.S. Into a socialist nation and I feel they are protecting the Islamic terrorists by ignoring them.
We should get out of the United Nations! That one move would make it clear to the world that we are not interested in participating in a global agenda any longer. An agenda which has allowed liberal, progressive, Marxist politicians throughout the world – and their supporters here in our Country – to all but sidestep our Constitution at will and turn our United States into a mirror image of the failed policies of most of the “advanced” societies in Europe and elsewhere.
Sorry Donald, but I disagree, this is Europe’s problem because they helped to create it by doing nothing when the migration first began. And it’s not just people from the Middle East, they’re also coming across from Africa (Black Africans). And the Africans are spilling into Italy. But, they don’t show that invasion much on the news.
They are primarily MEN anyway and they are all muslims! Donald Trump has back tracked his previous statement and noted that they are primarily men and Europe must take care of them or work out something with the arab dountries! Interesting that arabs don’t want to take care of their own! No wonder ther are so many jihadist groups, they don’t work together! Not that they would know how! We don’t want to turn in to The EU with those Africans who cut off heads in France and the UK…they should show all of it on the news, people need to know what is going on…it is factual! Besides we have Syrians and evey other muslim in our country that Obama put into our cities instead of interring them in camps so they could be tracked! I really wish all of his devisiveness hits him hard at his home!
The UN is made of piss pot countries with 3rd world dick-taters, less emphasis on “taters.” They love telling America what to do, they too want us to fall as a nation!
First lets see how many Saudi arabia takes…oh right…none. Then lets consider national security and only allow middle eastern christians into our country.!
obama is a puppet for the UN and will do what they say. He is nothing but a lying muslim terrorist intent on destroying America. His day will come, and I hope it is VERY SOON!!!!!
should not do it…they are only here to use us then kill us and you know how slow we are to act on anything, first it has to be discussed, then get a bill, then discuss it again, then talk about whether it is racist or inhumane , …BS, BS, BS just look at them, they belong where they are, somewhere else but not here!
If they don’t want them, they should say so, send them back! Every country has its values, its laws, its rights, its duty to take care of its own! I saw on the internet that those you mentioned want to go to Germany because they can get houses…that doesn’t sound like refugees “fleeing”, sounds like they are going to be there for the long haul! Refugees would be looking for safety…
I am afraid that Europe has been infected by political correctness. Their leaders fear being called racist. While they should be fearing the loss of their society.
Don’t forget that they also want us to pick up the tab.
Put them in camps under guard only! fix what has to be fixed in their country and send them back pronto! send a message to the middle east that we will no longer take in their arab people and they will be held responsible and follow thru!
you are so right, he is working with the UN!
I agree!