If America had closed its doors to Syrians, there'd be no Steve Jobs and no Apple

In recent months, discussions of Syrian migrants have happened mostly in negative terms. Critics have warned that refugees could be an economic drain on taxpayer resources and — above all — that some Syrian refugees could actually be terrorists allied with ISIS — though the evidence suggests that these dangers are greatly exaggerated.

The latest work by graffiti artist Banksy encourages us to look at the other side of the coin. The image, painted near a refugee camp in Calais, France, depicts Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, whose biological father was born in Syria. If Jobs's father, Abdulfattah Jandali, had not been allowed to come to the United States, there would have been no Steve Jobs, no Apple, and no iPhone.

We're here to shed some clarity

One of our core beliefs here at Vox is that everyone needs and deserves access to the information that helps them understand the world, regardless of whether they can pay for a subscription. With the 2024 election on the horizon, more people are turning to us for clear and balanced explanations of the issues and policies at stake. We’re so grateful that we’re on track to hit 85,000 contributions to the Vox Contributions program before the end of the year, which in turn helps us keep this work free. We need to add 2,500 contributions this month to hit that goal. Will you make a contribution today to help us hit this goal and support our policy coverage? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via