This is in response to a recent planned rally at the University of Washington with the theme that more Syrian immigrants should be resettled in the Seattle area as is being done in Europe.

While everyone agrees that true refugees from war are needy, not all the immigrants flooding into Europe are war refugees; in fact, many are from Pakistan, Turkey, Mesopotamia, North Africa and other countries; they destroy their passports and claim to be Syrian refugees. These are economic immigrants who are heading to countries that provide the greatest benefits. They push forward to France, Germany and the Netherlands, where economic benefits are greatest.

Our authorities have no ability to examine each immigrant. The vast majority of the immigrants are young men, who appear fit and well fed. They are overwhelmingly Muslim. It is no coincidence that almost all terrorist attacks in the U.S., including the ones that have been thwarted by the authorities, have been perpetrated by Muslim young men.

Inviting more Muslim immigrants is very costly to the local taxpayers over the course of many years that it takes to resettle them, and it is foolhardy to increase the number of potential terrorists in our midst. A moratorium on Muslim immigrants should be initiated today because of the extreme cost and the threat to America. Instead, the Gulf States like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait should accept their Arabic speaking brothers and sisters.

Stephen Decatur

Redmond