Letter: Most refugees not military-aged men

I have to laugh at a recent letter's not-so-subtle attempt to imply that President Obama is trying to bring Muslim immigrants of military age into the United States (everybody loves a good conspiracy theory).

The writer starts by stating that she is amazed at how seemingly intelligent people distort facts and proven statistics. She then goes on to make a statement that is completely false, based on proven statistics.

The letter asks: "Why are most of today's refugees men of military age?" (Note: only a small portion of all immigrants are refugees). Statistics compiled by the Department of Homeland Security, "Refugees and Asylees: 2013," show that for the year 2013, 54.1 percent of all refugees were men. Of that percentage, 50.5 percent were men between the ages of 18 and 44. My calculator tells me that means that male refugees of military age totaled 27.3 percent of all refugees in 2013. The statistics for 2011 and 2012 are almost identical.

Hyperbole has its place, but not when criticizing others for the same thing.

Lee Anderson

Hilton Head Island

This story was originally published December 29, 2015 at 6:30 PM with the headline "Letter: Most refugees not military-aged men."