America has been the brightest beacon of hope in history and millions of people have benefitted from coming to our shores. We are indeed a nation of immigrants, mostly legal immigrants that is, but recently there have been calls from many within our borders — and without — to welcome those who are ostensibly trying to flee persecution and atrocities in war torn Syria.

The Obama administration recently announced that the U.S. would welcome an additional 10,000 Syrian “refugees” this year and up to 100,000 in 2017. Team Obama has already granted asylum to 1,519 foreigners despite those foreigners having ties to terrorism or criminal activities.

Just where does Obama plan on placing all of these refugees?

Believe it or not, he hasn’t had to decide where to send them — yet. That’s because mayors from 18 different cities have volunteered to take refugees. In fact, though little noticed in news reports, these mayors have signed their names in a letter to Obama practically begging him to send Syrian refugees to their cities.

If you guessed that New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and Baltimore were on the list, then you guessed right. Progressive stupidity doesn’t just permeate Washington; it’s a huge problem in many big cities as well. These mayors have abandoned their oath to protect their cities.

Early in September, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio was against accepting refugees, but he reversed his position following the recent visit by the pope. At first he thought that the refugee issue was “Europe’s problem,” but in flip-flopping liberal fashion, he now claims that America needs to be part of the solution.

He recently declared, “New York has always been a place where the American Dream has come to life for generations of immigrants from around the globe. For the thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing the nightmare of oppression, in search of safety, stability and salvation, we say welcome. As the pope visits New York … we are reminded that the answer to the age-old question, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ must be a resounding yes if we are to live up to the values on which our nation was founded and our future depends.”

What complete nonsense. It is a sad day in America when our president, this mayor and others believe that the only Syrian refugees coming here will be peaceful and wanting to assimilate into our culture. Have we not seen enough of the problems in Germany and other parts of Europe who have welcomed hundreds of thousands of Syrian “refugees”? These mayors have shirked their responsibilities and they will bear the blame if or when an act of terrorism occurs.

What was once viewed as a federal issue regarding the acceptance of refugees is now a state and local issue. And does anyone think that it will just be these 18 mayors that want refugees to come dwell in their city? If so, think again. North Carolina for instance aside from Chapel Hill, which is on the list of 18 cities, has seven cities designated as “resettlement cities” by the Office of Resettlement.

Considering that these seven “refugee resettlement” cities in North Carolina are within 100 miles of several prominent military bases, there should be cause for concern.

Especially when it is a known tactic of terrorist groups to seek out new places where they can pretend to assimilate while they plan, coordinate and carry out attacks. Two lawmakers, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), expressed concern that the Islamic State and other terrorist groups have made it clear that they will use the refugee crisis to try to enter the United States through Obama’s jihadi pipeline, and they noted that there is no foolproof plan in place to ensure that terrorists will not be able to enter the country.

These mayors and of course Obama want to give these refugees hope for a better a life and a better future. But if they are careless in doing so, they will weaken our nation’s security and change our nation’s culture. Of course, that’s what Obama wants. He doesn’t let a crisis go to waste, so why would he pass on this one?