Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine went after his Republican opponent, Mike Pence, on Tuesday for attempting to block Syrian refugees from resettling in his state.
“With respect to refugees, we want to weed people out if they are dangerous,” the Virginia senator said during their vice presidential debate.
“Donald Trump said keep them out if they’re Muslim,” he continued. “Mike Pence put a program in place to keep them out if they’re from Syria and, yesterday, an appellate court with three Republican judges struck down the Pence plan and said it was discriminatory.”
Kaine was referring to a ruling from a three-judge panel on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals that admonished the Indiana governor for his plan, saying it violated federal protections against discrimination based on nationality.
Cracking down on Muslim immigration is a pillar of the GOP presidential nominee’s campaign, and Kaine was trying to use the issue against Pence, Trump’s running mate.
Pence responded that Kaine’s claim was “absolutely false,” instead focusing on the judges’ rejection of the security rationale behind the program.
“Those judges said it was because there wasn’t any evidence yet that ... that ISIS had infiltrated the United States,” Pence said.
Pence then cited arrests of Syrian refugees in Germany who had ties to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and alleged refugee involvement in last year’s Paris terror attack.
“But they told you there was a right way and wrong way to do it,” Kaine said, referring to the court ruling.
“If you want to be critical of me on that, that’s fair game,” Pence said.
“As governor of Indiana I have no higher priority than the safety and security of the people of my state,” Pence added. “So you bet I suspended that program, and I stand by that decision.”