Just recently Time Magazine named German Chancellor Angela Merkel as its “Person of the Year”.  Among other things, Time noted her role in Europe’s migration crises. Time wrote that Chancellor Merkel had provided “steadfast moral leadership in a world where it is in short supply.”

Do you know who came in third place?  Donald Trump (just behind Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, head of the Islamic State militant group, commonly known as ISIS).

So let’s see if I have this straight.  Time said that Chancellor Merkel was deserving of the award because, among other reasons, by the end of 2015, “she had steered the [European Union] through not one but two existential crises” with the second being a “thunderclap. In late summer, Merkel’s government threw open Germany’s doors to a pressing throng of refugees and migrants; a total of 1 million asylum seekers are expected in the country by the end of December.”

Susan Rice, President Obama’s National Security Advisor, was quoted in Time that “[Chancellor Merkel] has demonstrated particularly bold moral and practical leadership on the refugee crisis, welcoming vulnerable migrants despite the political costs[.]” I could not agree more.

And what of Candidate Trump?  Well, Candidate Trump has engaged in fear mongering, including proposing a plan to ban Muslims from entering the United States; that’s right, Candidate Trump says we need a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”  Constitutional?  I doubt it.

Nevertheless, the tragic events in Paris and, more recently, in San Bernardino, California, have ramped up Congressional efforts to, among other things, halt the U.S. refugee resettlement program (which yes, includes Muslims trying to come to the United States because they’re fleeing persecution in their own countries).

Quite frankly, there is no need for Congress to end the refugee program for Syrians and Iraqis or to even impose additional security measures. The U.S. refugee program already subjects every individual who will enters the U.S. pursuant to it to extremely rigorous checks performed by multiple federal agencies. Indeed, after decades of operation, not a single refugee has committed a reported act of terrorism in the U.S.

Fortunately, most legal scholars believe that Candidate Trump’s plan would be unconstitutional.  In fact, his plan was even rejected by politicians from both sides of the political aisle, including former Vice President Dick Cheney and House Speaker Paul Ryan. In a press conference, Speaker Ryan denounced Candidate Trump’s comments by stating that they don’t reflect who we are as a nation (or even the Republican Party for that matter).

The campaign trail rhetoric continues to be atrocious (as is some, but thankfully not all, of the rhetoric in Washington, D.C.).  I can only hope that reasoned and informed opinions prevail.