The United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago heard Indiana’s appeal last Wednesday to the ruling that blocked Gov. Mike Pence’s directive to stop Syrian refugees from settling in the state.
Pence announced in December he was halting Indiana’s Syrian refugee program, which suspended refugees from settling in the state and no longer provided funding to private groups that help resettle Syrian refugees.
“So long as the Obama administration continues to refuse to address gaps in the screening of Syrian refugees acknowledged by the FBI and a bipartisan majority in Congress, Hoosiers can be assured that my administration will continue to use every legal means available to suspend this program in Indiana unless and until federal officials take steps to ensure the safety and security of our citizens,” Pence said in the announcement.
Pence said he did not think the federal government was adequately screening Syrian immigrants after the Paris terrorist attacks in November.
However, Syrian refugees go through additional screening on top of typical refugee screenings, which include biometrics, the analysis of physical and behavioral characteristics, and a lengthy overseas in-person interview, according to the U.S. Department of State.
In March, the Bloomington Common Council unanimously passed a resolution to welcome Syrian refugees into the community and oppose Pence’s statements.
Exodus Refugee Immigration, a local nonprofit that aids refugees, filed a lawsuit to prevent the state from denying funds and claims Indiana discriminates against Syrians.
U.S. District Judge for Southern District of Indiana Tanya Walton Pratt overruled Pence’s order to halt Syrian refugees from settling in Indiana.
“The withholding of funds from Exodus that are meant to provide social services to Syrian refugees in no way directly, or even indirectly, promotes the safety of Indiana citizens,” Pratt wrote in the injunction.
Because Pence is targeting only Syrians and no refugees from other countries, “the State’s conduct clearly constitutes national origin discrimination,” Pratt wrote.
Judge Richard Posner, one of the three judges on the 7th Circuit panel that heard the appeal last week, asked why Pence singled out Syrians.
“People from Syria are the ones where we lack the intelligence,” Thomas Fisher, Indiana solicitor general, said. “That’s what the FBI director and the assistant FBI director have said.”
“So we have perfect intelligence about all other potential terrorists?” Posner said. “ISIS and all those people?”
“Of course not,” Fisher said.
The governor is not targeting the refugees, who have little control over where they are resettled, the state said in court documents. Pence is instead targeting the resettlement agencies and their affiliated national voluntary associations that do make those decisions. The governor’s directive is likely to deter those private agencies from resettling refugees fleeing Syria in Indiana by removing the financial incentives for doing so.
“Honestly, you are so out of it,” Posner said.
The U.S. accepted more than 2,300 Syrian refugees in June, which puts the fiscal year total above 5,000, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Since the February ruling, about 150 Syrian refugees have settled in Indiana, according to the Associated Press.
The 7th Circuit has not yet ruled on the appeal.
