Governor Mike Pence is suspending the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Indiana, one of several governors to take this step in the wake of the deadly terrorist attacks in France.
Governor Mike Pence announced Monday the state will suspend its resettlement program for Syrian refugees until the federal government assures him proper security measures are in place.
Senate Pro Tem David Long says he supports the governor’s decision.
"Right now there’s so much uncertainty as to whether the attackers in Paris were part of a group that came in, the refugee group," he says. "We really don’t know right now."
Several other Republican lawmakers, including Senator Dan Coats and Representatives Jackie Walorski (R-2nd) and Todd Young (R-9th) say they too applaud Pence’s actions. But Director of Indiana University’s Center on American and Global Security Sumit Ganguly says the move is unnecessary.
"These individuals would be fingerprinted," he says. "Their backgrounds would be checked quite rigorously. Their names would be checked against existing databases of terrorists or potential terrorists."
Ganguly says it’s unclear if governors even have the authority to turn away Syrian refugees.
