Kerby Anderson

President Trump caused a stir at his campaign rally last month when he talked about “what happened last night in Sweden.” There was no terrorist attack. What in the world was he talking about? It turned out he saw a Fox News show discussing the refugee issue in Sweden. Various pundits reacted by charging the president with being everything from inflammatory to inarticulate to imprecise. Almost on cue, riots in a Swedish suburb broke out and focused attention on what is happening in that country. Let’s give Sweden credit. They are a generous and welcoming country. Unfortunately, as Rich Lowry noted, the country’s “humanitarianism is outstripping their capacity to absorb newcomers.” Sweden has always accepted more than its share of refugees. They welcomed more than 160,000 asylum seekers in 2015 alone. And this is taking place in a country with fewer than 10 million people. The trouble is that it isn’t easy to assimilate people who (a) don’t know the Swedish language, (b) aren’t skilled in the jobs available in Sweden, and (c) bring a set of values foreign to the Swedish culture. As a result nearly all native-born Swedes are in the work force (82%) and a much, much lower percentage of foreign-born refugees are in the work force (57%). Also, Sweden spends more on asylum-seekers than it does on the Swedish defense budget. Confronted with some of these sobering statistics, most people rightly ask what else we can do? One obvious suggestion is to keep refugees close to their country of origin. It provides a possibility that they might return to their country after the conflicts are over. And is cheaper. Sweden spends as much on housing 3,000 refugees in tents as it would cost to care for 100,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan. What is happening in Sweden should be a stark reminder to America of the price you pay when thousands of refugees arrive at your doorstep.