Syrians will become productive citizens

To the editor:

Regarding the Dec. 6 letters 'Welfare of U.S. citizens should be a priority” by Robert Cribbs and 'Compassion should outweigh fear” by Jack Jackson:

The majority of any class of people are good, even in the United States. Thus, there is no reason to ban a class of people because of their race or religion. The normal percentage of 'bad apples” among all races and religions is a matter of statistics.

Remember the Statue of Liberty, Emma Lazarus, 'Give me your hungry, your tired, your poor” etc. This is what our nation was founded upon. Let the Syrians come. Well over 98 percent of them will become productive citizens, as will their children, etc. Statistics prove that. Statistics also prove that the other 2 percent become something else, just like in the U.S., or wherever they come from.

We can handle the 2 percent.

Merle Ries

Cedar Rapids