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Syrian immigrants have been making their home in Allentown,Pa., for more than a century. They began settling there in the late 1800s, first to work as peddlers(小贩)and later to work in factories.
Today the town is home to one of the largest Syrian populations in the U.S. It’s also a destination for newer arrivals — refugees fleeing the ongoing crisis in Syria. But Allentown residents don’t agree on whether the town should welcome more of them.
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The first stop for many Syrians arriving in Allentown is a neighborhood of flat-fronted row homes called the 6th Ward, which is home to Syrian restaurants and grocery stores.
That’s where Radwan Jarrouj landed in 1962. He’s active in local Syrian groups, and he tried to persuade Allentown to accept the refugees. However, he says he remembers Sept. 11 andempathizes withpoliticians who have grown anxious over welcoming more refugees.
“Proceed with caution,” Jarrouj suggests.
Most of the old Syrian families in Allentown are from the Christian minority and support Syrian President Bashar Assad, while some of the people arriving now have fled the violence under his power.
An Emphasis On Screening
The checking process for refugees takes an average of two years and involves investigating applicants’ stories and cross-checking whether any physical evidence ties them to terrorist groups.
But after the Paris attacks, some local politicians, including Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, say it needs to get even tougher. Todd Long, another Pennsylvanian, says he doesn’t know much about the background checks, but he doesn’t see any upside to accepting Syrian refugees. “If we were to find out tomorrow that 1,000 people are coming into theLehigh Valleynext week, people are going to think, ‘Well, what if one of them was anISISterrorist who got through the cracks?’ ” he says.
Since 2012, Allentown has resettled 138 Syrian refugees. And while there has been a national push to slow the pace of arrivals, Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski, and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf both say they trust the checking process and will welcome more refugees.