There are people like you in countries around the world who know a lot about Montana because of the stories I proudly tell of the Big Sky state during a normal day on the job.

Born and raised in Kalispell, I am now thousands of miles away working as an international development consultant. What this means, in its simplest form, is that I provide assistance to individuals who are trying hard to build democratic and inclusive countries with more peace and prosperity.

It’s been a long journey from the days of Mr. Streit’s class in Linderman where I sat listening with curiosity about geography and world politics. I never imagined that 20 years (and 21 countries later) I would be still listening, only this time to stories of people who are fighting every day for freedom — freedom to hold a job without corruption; freedom to vote in an election that is not stolen; freedom to provide education, health care and security for their children; freedom not to be killed or run out of their country.

From Afghanistan to Libya, Ukraine to Kosovo, I have had the honor to work with first-time candidates, new city council members, and importantly, with women who are learning to push back against the systems that limit their participation. I have led countless sessions with members of new political parties who are looking for lessons from the U.S. about our system of democracy. My question today is — do we have the kind of democracy we can be proud of, that we deserve to teach others about?

When I begin my trainings, I put up a map of the United States with Montana prominently featured as a way to tell my story and create a connection to people who on face value may not have a lot in common with me. I show pictures of my family and the home I grew up in. I show a picture of Jeanette Rankin and talk proudly of the fact that Montana sent the first female U.S. representative to Congress. I talk about the values I grew up with in Montana — strong communities, where neighbors help each other out, where it doesn’t matter how much money you have or how successful you are, but whether you are a kind and honorable person. Through these stories we realize we have lots in common, because it turns out we share similar values.

Yet those values are compromised when we use fear as the basis for policy.

I was very disheartened to learn that the Flathead Valley county commissioners recently voted to refuse Syrian relocation in the county.

With a home base in Istanbul, I am surrounded by the Syrian crisis, literally and figuratively. With 2.7 million Syrian refugees in Turkey — the vast majority of whom are women and children — the scale of this crisis cannot be understated. Only a small fraction of Syrians are in camps in Turkey. The rest are living in cities across the country trying to pick up the pieces and figure out how to survive, with children who have gone without school for years and with mothers who don’t know the language or even what to shop for in the market where the food is different than in Syria.

I organize charitable contributions to two urban refugee projects for children. I also work with Syrian civil society organizations that are learning about the tools of democracy, with the hopes of returning to their country and building the kind of Syria millions of people have died for, where whole generations of families continue to be slaughtered.

While I understand the emotions and security concerns behind accepting refugees, it is our duty to ground ourselves in the facts. We risk compromising our values if we let emotions, misinformation or stereotypes about Syrians prevail. After all, Montana families know only too well what it means to relocate to new land as relatives of immigrant families whose journey led them to the Flathead Valley. Many of our ancestors relied on the kindness of strangers and Montana hospitality for survival.

Let’s take a look at the facts. Refugees of all nationalities, including Syrians and Iraqis, considered for admission to the United States, undergo the most rigorous and thorough security screening of anyone admitted into the United States. The current screening process involves multiple federal intelligence, security, and law enforcement agencies, including the National Counterterrorism Center, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the departments of Homeland Security, State, and Defense, all aimed at ensuring that those admitted do not pose a threat to our country.

These safeguards include biometric (fingerprint) and biographic checks, medical screenings, and a lengthy interview by specially trained DHS officers who scrutinize the applicant’s explanation of individual circumstances to assess whether the applicant meets statutory requirements to qualify as a refugee and that he or she does not present security concerns to the United States.

Mindful of the particular conditions of the Syria crisis, Syrian refugees — who have had their lives uprooted by conflict and continue to live amid conditions so harsh that many set out on dangerous, often deadly, journeys seeking new places of refuge — go through additional forms of security screening, including a thorough pre-interview analysis of each individual’s refugee application.

Additionally, DHS interviewers receive extensive, Syria-specific training before meeting with refugee applicants. Of the 2,174 Syrian refugees admitted to the United States since Sept. 11, 2001, not a single one has been arrested or deported on terrorism-related grounds.

No refugee is approved for travel to the United States under the current system until the full array of required security vetting measures have been completed.

Since 1980, the United States has taken in over 1.8 million refugees, most fleeing from humanitarian crises or civil war. Our strength has always come from how we welcome others into our melting pot society, and we’ve done so in the past while keeping the homeland safe. America doesn’t take a back seat on global crises, and instability abroad always ends up affecting us at home. We have safely welcomed so many to our shores in the past, and we can do the same today. We’ve learned from the past that ignoring problems because they are far away does nothing to solve them.

I want to continue to be able to talk about Montana in my trainings around the world, but this latest policy change makes me embarrassed of decision-makers in my hometown. I know we can do better, and I encourage the county to look at the facts, put emotions and fear aside, and remember what makes us uniquely Montanan.

Kristina Graber Wilfore is principal of Karakoyun Strategies in Istanbul, Turkey, where she helps develop the skills of civil society advocates and political leaders in Eurasia, the Balkans and Middle East. Kristina is listed in the Women’s Media Center’s online brain trust (www.SheSource.org) as an expert on gender equality and is a board member of the International Association of Political Consultants. She graduated from Flathead High School in 1992, received a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism and political science from Washington State University and Master of Public Administration from the University of Washington.