Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine traded blows with Republican counterpart Mike Pence on their plans to deal with the Syrian refugee crisis during Tuesday’s debate.
Pence raised the issue that Hillary Clinton wanted to expand the nation’s refugee program, which prompted Kaine to point out this week’s 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmation of a lower court ruling that said Pence cannot block payments to Indiana’s social services agencies as governor because they aid Syrian refugees.
“Hillary and I want to do enforcement based on, ‘Are people dangerous?’ These guys say all Mexicans are bad,” Kaine said as Pence protested. “And with respect to refugees, we want to keep people out if they’re dangerous. Donald Trump said keep them out if they’re Muslim, Mike Pence put a program in place to keep them out if they’re from Syria.”
Pence disputed Kaine’s characterization of his actions as governor of Indiana and then defended his position.
“As governor of the State of Indiana, I have no higher priority than the safety and security of the people of my state. So you bet I suspended that program,” Pence said. “And I stand by that decision and if I’m vice president of the United States and Donald Trump is president, we are going to put the safety and security of the American people first.”
Kaine replied that the position of the Trump-Pence ticket is antithetical to Jeffersonian values, while Pence spotlighted concerns raised by the FBI director and Department of Homeland Security regarding the vetting of foreign entrants into the United States.
The Democratic vice presidential nominee’s attempt to tie Trump’s proposed Muslim ban to Pence’s policy toward Syrian refugees was one of the few times Kaine tied a Trump proposal to a Pence policy.
