Vice presidential candidates debate immigration

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Essential question

Does the way a candidate behaves in a debate matter as much as what they say?

Illinois Gov. Mike Pence and Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine went head-to-head in the first and only vice presidential debate of the 2016 election on Tuesday.

CBS News anchor Elaine Quijano moderated and asked the candidates where they and their running mates — Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton — stand on a range of issues such as national debt, race relations and nuclear weapons.

Regarding immigration, Pence insisted that protecting the safety of the American people should be a national priority, and said he and Trump would suspend refugee programs from places like Syria. He raised concern over not being able to know for certain whether Syrians entering the U.S. have ties to the Islamic State.

“Donald Trump has called for extreme vetting for people coming into this country so we don’t bring people into the United States who are hostile to our Bill of Rights freedoms,” Pence said.

On the Democratic side, Kaine said he and Clinton will ensure a rigorous screening process for refugees and accused the Republicans of discriminating against Muslims, which Pence declared “absolutely false.”

“We’ll vet refugees based on whether they’re dangerous or not,” Kaine said. “We won’t do it based on discriminating against you from the country you come from or the religion you practice.”

Key terms

refugee — a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution or natural disaster

vet — to evaluate for possible approval or acceptance