that provision does not sound like a religious test in the way that some are interpreting it.
It doesn’t read like:
if religion = A, you’re in
if relgion = B, you’re out
It reads like you are determining whether (among other factors) the individual is being persecuted (and hence seeking refuge) on the basis of their religion.
Have I read that incorrectly?
Moreover, to qualify for asylum in the United States, the applicant must be a “refugee” as defined by federal law. That definition (set forth in Section 1101(a)(42)(A) of Title , U.S. Code) also requires the executive branch to take account of the alien’s religion:
The term “refugee” means (A) any person who is outside any country of such person’s nationality ...and who is unable or unwilling to return to ...that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of ... religion [among other things] …[.] The law requires a “religious test.” And the reason for that is obvious. Asylum law is not a reflection of the incumbent president’s personal (and rather eccentric) sense of compassion.
Asylum is a discretionary national act of compassion that is directed, by law not whim, to address persecution. There is no right to emigrate to the United States. And the fact that one comes from a country or territory ravaged by war does not, by itself, make one an asylum candidate. War, regrettably, is a staple of the human condition.
Civil wars are generally about power. That often makes them violent and, for many, tragic; but it does not necessarily make them wars in which one side is persecuting the other side. In the case of this war, the Islamic State is undeniably persecuting Christians. It is doing so, moreover, as a matter of doctrine. Even those Christians the Islamic State does not kill, it otherwise persecutes as called for by its construction of sharia (observe, for example, the ongoing rape jihad and sexual slavery).
You’re reading it correctly. The law states that persecution or the fear of it on the basis of an applicant’s religion may be a factor in claiming refugee status. But it doesn’t state that the religion itself is a factor in determining who is and isn’t allowed to enter the country.