In this lesson students will begin to understand the deep complexities that go along with immigration such as governments allowing immigrants in and the difficulties migrants face to force them to immigrate. This lesson is meant to be paired with the Origins Podcast entitled “Understanding the Middle East.” The podcast deals with the Syrian Civil War and why historians are so valuable to politicians to help them make educated decisions in complex issues around the globe. To study the issue of the Syrian Civil War and the population displaced by it students will compare and contrast the role of the United States in allowing immigrants into the country in the 1975 Vietnam crisis and the Syrian Civil War crisis. The students will identify differences between the two events that allowed the U.S. to accept more immigrants in 1975 than in the more current Syrian crisis.
Note: this lesson should be taught after going over the fall of Saigon and the ensuing refugee crisis in 1975.
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