Contention 1 : Developed countries do have the capacity to accept more refugees. (Morally, if we can help, we should help)
Sub-point A: The European Union
Countries such as the United States and the countries in the European Union do have the ability to allow for refugee resettlement. According to Mark Leon Goldberg on the UN Dispatch[1], [the European Union accepted] "134,000 migrant arrivals to Europe in 2018, which is actually a significant decrease from 2017, which saw nearly 180,000 arrivals." Even in 2015, when 1 million refugees came into Europe, the Swedish prime minister[2] said that “We need to improve the European refugee policy toward the system that shares the responsibility for receiving refugees more even [sic] throughout Europe." He also said “We are a continent of 500 million people, we could easily handle this task if we cooperated.” If Europe acts as a union, the refugee crisis will be contained.
Sub-point B: The United States.
There are more than 65 million fleeing refugees in the world, and each year, according to Chris Gelardi[3], "less than 1% of the world's refugees are given the coveted opportunity to restart their lives in a new country." According to Julie Davis and Miriam Jordan[4], The United States has recently lowered the refugee quotas to below 50,000. Because of this, "the flow of refugees to the US has slowed to a trickle, and 2018 is on pace to be the worst year for resettlement to the US in decades," as stated by Gelardi. According to Patrick Goodenough[5] , "The Trump administration admitted a total of 22,491 refugees into the United States during fiscal year 2018,” which is the lowest since 1977, according to State Department data. It is not that developed countries do not have the ability to accept these refugees, it's just that they refuse to.
The United States has 640 million acres of land, which is 28% of the whole, global acreage. As stated by the Unites States Census Bureau[6] on March 4th, 2015, "US cities are home to 62.7 percent of the US population, but comprise just 3.5 percent of land area." According to the Rural Health Information Hub[7], only 46,082,739 people live in rural areas as of 2016. This leaves more than enough room for refugees to resettle in rural parts of the country.
[1] Goldberg, Mark, editor of UN Dispatch, December 11, 2018, “European Union Releases Facts and Figures for Migrant and Refugees Arrivals in 2018”, https://www.undispatch.com/european-union-releases-facts-and-figures-for-migrant-and-refugees-arrivals-in-2018/
[2] Sirota, David, senior editor of the IB Times, January 21, 2016, “Europe Refugee Crisis: Sweden Says EU Can ‘Easily’ Accept Millions Of Refugees” https://www.ibtimes.com/europe-refugee-crisis-sweden-says-eu-can-easily-accept-millions-refugees-2274510
[3] Gelardi, Chris, Global Citizen, April 26, 2018, “Here’s How Many Refugees the US Has Accepted in 2018”, https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/us-accepted-refugees-2018/
[4] Davis, Julie; Jordan, Miriam, New York Times, September 12, 2017, “White House Weighs Lowering Refugee Quota to Below 50,000” , https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/12/us/politics/trump-refugee-quota.html
[5] Goodenough, Patrick, CNS News, October 2, 2017, “FY 2018 U.S. Refugee Admissions Lowest in 38 Years”, https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/fy-2018-refugee-admission-figures-lowest-38-years
[6] United States Census Bureau, March 4, 2015, “ US Cities are Home to 62.7 percent of the US Population, but Comprise just 3.5 percent of Land Area” https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2015/cb15-33.html
[7] Rural Health Information Hub, https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/states/united-states