Pence says he’ll appeal refugee ruling

The court enjoined the state from interfering in resettlement including by withholding funds and services, said Ken Falk, Legal Director of the ACLU of Indiana.

The governor’s order blocks the first part of that list, but refugees can still get medical and school aid if they otherwise qualify.

Pence was among more than 25 US governors, mostly Republicans, who called on President Barack Obama to stop resettling refugees fleeing Syria’s civil war after November attacks by militants in Paris that killed 130. During these uncertain times, we must always err on the side of caution.

More than two dozen other states took similar stances while expressing fears about terrorism. The ruling requires state officials to resume full grant payments to the nonprofit contractor, payments that had been partially and temporarily suspended by Pence in November over public safety concerns.

The ruling grants a request for a preliminary injunction from Exodus Refugee Immigration, which helps resettle refugees in Indiana. A Syrian passport found near the body of one of the attackers was mistakenly thought to be his but was later revealed to be the identity of one of the people who had died in the attack.

CBS Indianapolis affiliate WTTV reports the state Democratic Party said the ruling “not only affirms Mike Pence is an ideologue, but also that he is not in touch with how Hoosiers feel about important issues affecting our state. This person is clearly not Mike Pence”.

Federal district judge Tanya Walton Pratt filed the order Monday afternoon.

“The State deprives Syrian refugees that are already in IN of social services in the hopes that it will deter (voluntary agencies) from resettling other Syrian refugees in the State”, she wrote, according to AP. “This is essentially a policy of punishing Syrian refugees already in IN in the hopes that no more will come”.

Exodus Refugee and the ACLU argued that Pence’s ordered violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution, since refugees from other countries were not affected by the governor’s order.

The federal government pays groups like Exodus directly for expenses to prepare for the refugees’ arrival, including costs such as obtaining and furnishing a place for them to live.

He has instructed the attorney general to seek an immediate stay and appeal Monday’s order. At the time, the group said it expected to settle about 19 Syrians vetted by the federal government within the next several months. He says his administration will take every legal step available to suspend the state’s Syrian resettlement program until the federal government shores up its vetting process.