Obama Offers Message of Hope for Syrian Refugees on Thanksgiving: "We Turn Lady Liberty's Light to the World"

"We turn Lady Liberty's light to the world," Obama said during his weekly radio address.

During his weekly radio address on Thursday, President Barack Obama shared a Thanksgiving message of hope for Syrian refugees in the face of dangerous rhetoric from a variety of Republican presidential candidates. "So much of our greatness comes from our generosity," Obama said during the address, as transcribed by Associated Press. Though some have disappointingly expressed a firm opposition to Obama's dedication to the acceptance of Syrian refugees in the wake of the recent attacks in Paris, POTUS thankfully remains adamant.

"Nearly four centuries after the Mayflower set sail, the world is still full of pilgrims," Obama said, "men and women who want nothing more than the chance for a safer, better future for themselves and their families. What makes America America is that we offer that chance." Though such things shouldn't need reiterating, Obama also made a point to remind naysayers that the process for accepting these refugees involves "the highest security checks of anyone" traveling to the country.

"We turn Lady Liberty's light to the world, and widen our circle of concern to say that all God's children are worthy of our compassion and care," the president insisted. "That's part of what makes this the greatest country on Earth." For more on why exactly the growing anti-refugee sentiment in the U.S. is both dangerous and entirely misguided, peep the recent moments of fact-based brilliance from The Daily Show's Trevor Noah and Last Week Tonight's John Oliver.

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