There is another way to look at this: There may be no more difficult way for a would-be terrorist to enter the United States than to pose as a Syrian refugee. And if that was true last week, it is exponentially more difficult after the Paris attacks. If ISIS is looking to smuggle its operatives into the United States, there are far more effective ways to do so.

Then again, maybe everyone is missing the compassion hidden in Bentley’s desire to refuse Syrians admission to his state. According to a study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , Alabama has the second-worst quality of life in the United States. It has the “fifth lowest employment rate, the eighth highest homicide rate, and the tenth lowest household disposable income rate in the nation.” The Institute for Women’s Policy Research says Alabama is tied for the worst place for women to live. (More than 31 percent of women there work in low-wage jobs.) Alabama has high poverty and low life expectancy.