--- title: State Department: U.S. Should Welcome Syrian Refugees description: Allowing 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States is the American thing to do, the State Department said. canonical: https://time.com/4117820/syria-refugee-us-state-department/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-18T09:50:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:57:07.609Z article:section: Politics og:title: U.S. State Department Says Syrian Refugees Are Welcome og:description: Only 2% of refugees are young, single males of fighting age. og:url: https://time.com/4117820/syria-refugee-us-state-department/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd87ff40f2b562847/698871a2cd1bbacb166fe2bd/gettyimages-487998494.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: A demonstrator holds a flag declaring "Refugees Welcome." A og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: U.S. State Department Says Syrian Refugees Are Welcome twitter:description: Only 2% of refugees are young, single males of fighting age. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd87ff40f2b562847/698871a2cd1bbacb166fe2bd/gettyimages-487998494.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The U.S. State Department Says Syrian Refugees Should Be Welcomed ## Video: Know Right Now: U.S. To Take In 10,000 Syrian Refugees [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: U.S. To Take In 10,000 Syrian Refugees](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/wEnyVXOx.m3u8) (1:01)  _Published 2015-09-10. Know Right Now: U.S. To Take in 10,000 Syrian Refugees_ by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Nov 18, 2015 9:50 AM UTC  A demonstrator holds a flag declaring "Refugees Welcome" at a rally in New York City, Sept. 12, 2015 A demonstrator holds a flag declaring "Refugees Welcome" at a rally in New York City, Sept. 12, 2015Pacific Press—LightRocket/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Nov 18, 2015 9:50 AM UTC Allowing 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States is the American thing to do, the State Department [said](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/11/17/shelter-syrian-refugees-right-thing-do-state/75963494/) Tuesday after 24 governors issued orders to deny entry to their respective states of refugees of the Syrian civil war. The statement, made to reporters by Mark Toner, deputy spokesman for the State Department, comes at a politically contentious time when lawmakers and governors have criticized President Barack Obama’s plans to allow refugees into the country, _USA Today_ reported. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, called for a comprehensive assessment to ensure ISIS militants were not entering the country alongside the thousands of refugees seeking safety, USA TOday said. The concern was raised after at least one attacker in the recent attacks in Paris was believed to have entered France as a refugee. More than 129 people were killed in a series of shootings and explosions in Paris on Friday. The State Department said only two percent of refugees leaving Syria are single males of fighting age, while the majority of refugees are children and adults. About two and half percent of refugees are over 60 years old. “It speaks to who we are as Americans, and the importance of sheltering those who are escaping from other countries,” Toner said, according to _USA Today_. “The vast majority of these refugees are victims of the very same crimes we saw in Paris, and have been living with a level of violence and suffering that is incomprehensible to us.” \[[_USA Today_](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/11/17/shelter-syrian-refugees-right-thing-do-state/75963494/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4117820/syria-refugee-us-state-department/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4117820/syria-refugee-us-state-department/"},"headline":"The U.S. State Department Says Syrian Refugees Should Be Welcomed","datePublished":"2015-11-18T09:50:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:57:07.609Z","description":"Only two percent of refugees are young, single males of fighting age","url":"https://time.com/4117820/syria-refugee-us-state-department/","keywords":["Immigration","Syria","U.S.","ISIS","State Department","refugee","migrants"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd87ff40f2b562847/698871a2cd1bbacb166fe2bd/gettyimages-487998494.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd87ff40f2b562847/698871a2cd1bbacb166fe2bd/gettyimages-487998494.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A demonstrator holds a flag declaring \"Refugees Welcome.\" A","caption":"A demonstrator holds a flag declaring \"Refugees Welcome.\" A","creditText":"Pacific Press—LightRocket/Getty Images","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/immigration/","name":"Immigration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4117820/syria-refugee-us-state-department/","name":"The U.S. State Department Says Syrian Refugees Should Be Welcomed"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: U.S. To Take In 10,000 Syrian Refugees","description":"Know Right Now: U.S. To Take in 10,000 Syrian Refugees","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/wEnyVXOx/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-09-10T20:45:57.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/wEnyVXOx.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4117820/syria-refugee-us-state-department/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4117820/syria-refugee-us-state-department/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```