--- title: Ben Carson to Visit Syrian Refugees in Jordan description: The visit is an effort to improve his knowledge on the refugee crisis canonical: https://time.com/4128196/ben-carson-syrian-refugees-jordan/ author: Tara John article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-27T16:18:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:51.702Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ben Carson to Visit Syrian Refugees in Jordan og:description: The visit is an effort to improve his knowledge on the refugee crisis og:url: https://time.com/4128196/ben-carson-syrian-refugees-jordan/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54914438c4ed8713/698872652dce0185079e69f7/ben-carson9.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5016 og:image:height: 2822 og:image:alt: Dr. Ben Carson at a news conference in Henderson, Nev. on Nov. 16, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ben Carson to Visit Syrian Refugees in Jordan twitter:description: The visit is an effort to improve his knowledge on the refugee crisis twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54914438c4ed8713/698872652dce0185079e69f7/ben-carson9.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ben Carson to Visit Syrian Refugees in Jordan > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Watch Ben Carson Retell His Life Story [Watch (HLS stream): Watch Ben Carson Retell His Life Story](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/3PLzGzLI.m3u8) (1:39)  _Published 2015-10-27. GOP Presidential Candidate Ben Carson retells his life story_ by [Tara John](https://time.com/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Nov 27, 2015 4:18 PM UTC  Dr. Ben Carson at a news conference in Henderson, Nev. on Nov. 16, 2015. Dr. Ben Carson at a news conference in Henderson, Nev. on Nov. 16, 2015. John Locher—AP by [Tara John](https://time.com/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Nov 27, 2015 4:18 PM UTC Ben Carson is traveling to Jordan on Friday to visit a Syrian refugee camp, after facing heavy scrutiny of his awareness of foreign policy. The retired neurosurgeon is to visit Azraq refugee camp in northern Jordan during his surprise trip, reports the New York _Times_. There he will drop by a hospital, clinics, an “adolescent-friendly space” and a women’s and girls’ center, bringing soccer balls and Beanie babies to distribute among children. “I find when you have firsthand knowledge of things as opposed to secondhand, it makes a much stronger impression,” [Carson told the _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/27/us/politics/ben-carson-to-visit-refugees-in-jordan-amid-scrutiny-of-his-foreign-policy-credentials.html) before his departure on a chartered flight. Carson’s advisors have framed the trip as an effort to improve his knowledge on the refugee crisis. Although he is still near the front of the pack of Republican presidential candidates, he [has faltered in the past](http://time.com/4124070/why-foreign-policy-remains-a-2016-focus/) when faced with foreign policy questions. “I want to hear some of their stories, I want to hear from some of the officials what their perspective is,” Carson told the _Times_. “All of that is extraordinarily useful in terms of formulating an opinion of how to actually solve the problem.” He was set to return to the U.S. on Sunday. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4128196/ben-carson-syrian-refugees-jordan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4128196/ben-carson-syrian-refugees-jordan/"},"headline":"Ben Carson to Visit Syrian Refugees in Jordan","datePublished":"2015-11-27T16:18:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:41:51.702Z","description":"The visit is an effort to improve his knowledge on the refugee crisis","url":"https://time.com/4128196/ben-carson-syrian-refugees-jordan/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","Refugees"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54914438c4ed8713/698872652dce0185079e69f7/ben-carson9.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54914438c4ed8713/698872652dce0185079e69f7/ben-carson9.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Dr. Ben Carson at a news conference in Henderson, Nev. on Nov. 16, 2015.","caption":"Dr. Ben Carson at a news conference in Henderson, Nev. on Nov. 16, 2015.","creditText":"John Locher—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4128196/ben-carson-syrian-refugees-jordan/","name":"Ben Carson to Visit Syrian Refugees in Jordan"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch Ben Carson Retell His Life Story","description":"GOP Presidential Candidate Ben Carson retells his life story","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/3PLzGzLI/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-10-27T19:56:09.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/3PLzGzLI.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4128196/ben-carson-syrian-refugees-jordan/","duration":"PT1M39S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4128196/ben-carson-syrian-refugees-jordan/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```