Texas and Syrian Refugees

In her recent Tx a State of Mind blog post “Denial,” Rachel Doan discusses the recent Paris attacks and how Greg Abbot plans to deny Syrian refugees entrance into Texas. The author believes that Texas should grant asylum to Syrian Refugees. Without a doubt, I agree with Doan’s thoughts on allowing Syrians refuges into America.

The most powerful logical argument Doan makes is comparing Syrian Refugees with Vietnamese Refugees. She notes that in the Vietnam War, America welcomed thousands of Vietnamese refugees without believing that any of them would take revenge in America. She compares how in present day society, Americans cannot stand the idea of having a potential terrorist within the Syrian Refugees. People who oppose taking refugees in do not understand the feeling of fleeing their homes because of terror and are trying to find safe haven. I am fully aware of this because my parents were actually Vietnamese Refugees. They had no intent to wreak havoc across America and neither did the other thousands of Vietnamese refugees that made the journey to America. In my perspective, Doan’s logic appeals to me because I can relate to the struggles that these Syrian refugees have.

Doan’s intended audience is to reach out to those who want to deny Syrians asylum. Her second argument raises awareness on how self-centered Americans have been since the Paris attacks. Phrases such as “we locked our door at night to protect the people inside, but not from the foreigners that try to escape the ruined of their country” or “They only want to find peace after suffering from so much” are meant to guilt the intended audience. Guilt is an effective emotional appeal because Doan makes her audience empathizes the hardships the Syrian Refugees experienced while these people escaped their war torn homes.

Altogether, Doan’s logical appeal and emotional appeal made an effective and credible argument to oppose Greg Abbot’s intentions of denying asylum to Syrian Refuges.