Recently, governors from more than half of U.S. states have declared that they will not accept Syrian refugees.

Many have decided to do this because of security concerns, saying that Syrian refugees will be a threat to national security and that allowing Syrian refugees into the United States might lead to heinous attacks, similar to those in Paris.

However, those governors fail to realize that the large majority, and perhaps all, of Syrian refugees are people who have had to flee their homes in violence-stricken Syria in order to pursue a life of stability and peace. They have no intentions of committing terrorism in any way and should be treated the respect given to any other human being.

Immigrating to the United States is a lot harder to do than most people realize.

The refugee process alone takes 18 to 24 months to complete, and with the Syrian refugees, it takes even longer.

If terrorists were trying to get into the United States, coming as a refugee would not be an ideal course.

Terrorists do not have a uniform face. They can come from all backgrounds and nationalities.

Yet, many people still believe that every Muslim or person who appears to be Middle Eastern is a terrorist, which is far from the truth.

The fact is that stereotyping or generalizing about people based on their religion or ancestors’ origins is something that has been happening in the United States for a long time, and it needs to stop.

For example, after the Pearl Harbor attacks, Japanese Americans were widely suspected of having ties to World War II era Japan. In reality, many of these Japanese Americans were born in the United States and considered themselves to be loyal Americans, yet they were still removed from their homes and lives to live in internment camps until December 1944.

Additionally, many people during WWII opposed allowing German Jewish refugees into the United States in fear that they might be German spies.

If one considers what is known today, the refusal of Jewish refugees into the United States most likely led to their living in fear of the Nazis, and they may have been captured and taken to Nazi death camps.

Americans need to look past their fears and prejudice and take into account the facts: Syrian refugees are people, just like anyone else, who have been faced with hardship and have had to make sacrifices to pursue a better life away from violence. They need to be treated with the high level of respect they deserve.

The United States is a melting pot of cultures, races and religions.

Apart from Native Americans, everyone has ancestors who immigrated here from other countries, and in many cases, U.S. citizens have ties to multiple cultures and/or races.

Why should we ever feel we have the right to deny the chance of a peaceful, stable, prosperous life to those looking for it?