The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that Gov. Mike Pence cannot block federal funding that will help Syrian refugees resettle in Indiana.
In Nov. 2015, Exodus Refugee Immigration brought a suit against Indiana governor and now vice presidential nominee Mike Pence after he sought to bar Syrian refugees from resettling in the state. The state lost the suit after the court decided the ban was discrimination based on national origin, which it found to be unconstitutional. The decision was appealed.
“The governor of Indiana believes, though without evidence, that some of these persons were sent to Syria by ISIS to engage in terrorism and now wish to infiltrate the United States in order to commit terrorist acts here,” wrote Judge Richard Posner in Monday’s ruling. “No evidence of this belief has been presented, however; it is nightmare speculation.”
The ruling ensures Exodus Refugee Immigration will be able to continue using federal grant funding to help Syrian refugees begin new lives in Indiana. Ken Falk, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana said in a press release the decision reinforces what Exodus and the ACLU have said throughout the process of litigation.
“Governor Pence may not constitutionally or legally discriminate against a particular nationality of refugees that are extensively vetted by the federal government,” Falk said.
The State Department approved Bloomington to be a Syrian refugee resettlement site Sept. 27. About 20 Syrian families will move to Bloomington starting in March 2017.
Lyndsay Jones
