INDIANAPOLIS -- Muhammad, the father of a Syrian refugee family, studies a dictionary after work, determined to learn English as fast as possible.
His wife, Sanaa, reads books to their two daughters.
They've been in Indiana for just two months.
Their favorite thing about the United States so far?
Safety.
"We had to leave because the area was under siege," Sanaa said, with the help of a translator. "There was killing, bombing, no electricity, no water, no food, nothing there."
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They say living among volatility was a way of life.
Hoping to escape the dangerous conditions, the family of four headed to the Lebanon border.
They say they passed through 200 checkpoints along the way.
"At each checkpoint they can stop you," Muhammad said. "They can take you to jail. They can make mistakes at each checkpoint -- you are so scared. 'Are they going to stop me now? Are they going to take me now?'"
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Like many new to Indiana, they say they're taken aback by Hoosier Hospitality.
Muhammad has paid it forward by volunteering with other Syrian refugees to make meals for the area's homeless.
Their wish is that federal judges and state leaders will see them as a family, not as a threat.
On Tuesday, a federal appeals court listened to Indiana's case over refugees in the state. It's not clear when the court will rule.
The state attorney general's office is appealing a ruling by a federal judge that blocks Ind. Gov. Mike Pence from suspending the placement of refugees in Indiana.
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"We are refugees, but we are not scary people," Sanaa said. "We are human, like others. We ran away for our lives and for safety."
