EDITORIAL: Indiana leaders can do better by welcoming all

This editorial shares the page with a column written by Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who has said the state will not accept Syrian refugees because he doesn’t believe the nation’s screening procedures are tough enough to keep Hoosiers safe. He cites evidence that one of the terrorists who struck in Paris on Nov. 13 was a refugee.

Pence was one of 27 governors who signed a letter to President Obama asking him to stop accepting refugees while the nation reviews the procedures in place to screen these people who are seeking asylum in the United States. The governor makes the point that “a bipartisan majority of governors” have acted as he did in opposing the continued acceptance of refugees, though all 27 of the governors signing the letter were Republicans.

There’s no doubt Gov. Pence wants to keep Hoosiers safe. That motive should never be questioned. However, his stance in this case will do little to enhance safety. Rather, it’s more of political statement about how the Obama administration can do nothing right.

In this case, that position has no merit. The process for refugees to enter the United States is long and arduous, much more so than other paths a terrorist might take to try to enter the U.S. or Indiana to cause harm. He and his fellow governors are seeking action that will keep desperate women, children and men who are trying to escape terror from reaching safety and freedom. They are refugees because they are unsafe where they are; they are in danger from the same forces who attacked Paris and may want to harm us.

Hundreds of thousands of these refugees are seeking safety in European countries every hour of every day. Obama and the U.S. had agreed to settle 10,000 — a very small number by the size of this crisis. That may not be the least the nation can do, but it’s less than others are doing to address a massive humanitarian crisis.

Those terrorists, if they want to come to the U.S., will find ways that would take much less time than required of the refugees waiting for asylum. They also could be home-grown terrorists, such as virtually all of those who caused the deaths and terror in France.

The message being sent by the governor’s opposition is that Indiana, despite his protestations to the contrary, is not a welcoming state. Which brings us to the other major issue testing Hoosier leaders.

The Indiana Senate appears to be trying to send the message that Indiana is welcoming to GLBT people after last year’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act fiasco. A bill was unveiled last week that would protect civil rights based on sexual orientation and gender identity. But it provides some exemptions and would supersede any local ordinance that would try to go farther on civil rights protections.

There’s a simpler solution some are calling the “four-words-and-a-comma” strategy. Just add “sexual orientation, gender identity” as protected classes in Indiana’s current human rights law.

That would send the message that Indiana welcomes everyone.