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Local foundation urges support for Syrians

Posted at 6:28 AM, Nov 17, 2015
and last updated 2015-11-17 09:28:46-05

Governors of several states have now announced they will not accept Syrian refugees.  

The announcements come after authorities revealed one of the suspects involved in the Paris attacks entered Europe as a refugee.  

Now many are wondering if the Nevada governor will also refuse refugees from entering the state. Gov. Brian Sandoval has not gone quite that far.

Sandoval says he wants the White House to review the process of refugee resettlement in light of terrorist attacks last week in Paris, and is asking the president not to send Syrian refugees to Nevada until the review is complete.

The Republican governor said Monday that the U.S. needs to balance its role as an international leader with security.

However, presidential hopeful and Republican Ben Carson displayed concern in Henderson Monday.

"I would be very apprehensive in bringing in people who are ideologically opposed to the the ideal of America," Carson said.

The Republican candidate was worried about the nation's security. "We cannot fight a politically correct war. There will be collateral damage."  

That collateral damage could mean Syrian refugees. Carson, along with numerous other governors Monday, expressed their concern about allowing Syrian refugees into the nation. 

One local organization disagrees. Dr. Zia Khan is a co-founder of Imagine Foundation, which has helped a handful of families locally who have escaped from war-torn Syria.

"Some of their stories are horrendous, others not so much, but they're all needy people," says Dr. Khan.  

The foundation has helped three Syrian families, which may not seem like a lot, but 10,000 more Syrians are expected to cross the nation's borders starting in January.

Dr. Khan says these people fleeing violence should not have to suffer because of the Paris attacks.  

"Whatever percent there is of good people, don't let them suffer, don't make a blanket statement 'we won't take refugees, we won't help people' because that's going against our very own foundation," says Dr. Khan.