Federal court deals final blow to Pence's Syrian refugee ban

A federal judge has dealt a final blow to former Gov. Mike Pence's ban on aid to Syrian refugees. 

The decision ends a years-long legal battle between immigration activists and the state of Indiana on the issue. 

U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt issued a permanent injunction Tuesday against Gov. Eric Holcomb and Jennifer Walthall, the secretary of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration. The officials are barred from withholding federal grant money to Exodus Refugee Immigration Inc., a nonprofit that aids refugees, according to the order.

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Attorney General Curtis Hill has conceded. "We believe a conclusive settlement of this matter is in the best interest of the state of Indiana," he said in an emailed statement to IndyStar. 

Alyssa Farah, press secretary for Vice President Pence, said the former governor blocked the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Indiana until the federal government could assure the public's safety. "Now, under President Trump’s leadership, proper security measures are being implemented," Farah said. "It makes sense that Indiana would settle.” 

As governor, Pence deemed Syrian refugees to be a public safety threat to Hoosiers in the wake of the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead and hundreds wounded. 

He joined governors from at least 15 other states, including Illinois, Michigan and Ohio, who said they wouldn't accept Syrian refugees after reports suggested one of the Paris bombers may have posed as a Syrian refugee.

For new Syrian refugees, Pence ordered the state to withhold public funds used by private agencies to help refugees find employment.

Exodus Refugee Immigration filed a federal lawsuit against Pence in which it argued that the ban on aid to Syrian refugees is unconstitutionally unfair to Syrians. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana represented Exodus in the case.

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The ACLU filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

In February 2016 Pratt issued a temporary injunction against Pence, ordering the state to stop blocking those funds until the case was resolved.

“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 temporary injunction.

Pence appealed the case to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, where the court in October 2016 upheld Pratt's ruling. A panel of three judges said that federal law bars discrimination based on nationality.

“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 now-retired Judge Richard Posner in a six-page order. “No evidence of this belief has been presented, however; it is nightmare speculation.”

Gov. Eric Holcomb's office did not immediately comment on Tuesday's ruling. After a gubernatorial debate in September 2016 he said that he would not keep the ban on aid to Syrian refugees in place if elected.

With news of the permanent injunction issued Tuesday, the executive director of Exodus Refugee Immigration said his organization will continue to work to help Syrians. 

“Exodus will continue to push back against the administration’s efforts to dismantle the national refugee program and defend America’s position as a beacon of hope to people fleeing violence and persecution around the world," Cole Varga said.

Jane Henegar, executive director of the ACLU of Indiana, said the state's ban "was a shameful retreat from our values and a preview of discriminatory policies like the Muslim Ban, which the ACLU continues to fight at every turn.” 

There are 6.2 million displaced Syrian refugees across the globe, according the the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Last year, citing national security concerns, the Trump-Pence administration called for a temporary ban on all Muslims entering the U.S.

Trump has signed executive orders temporarily suspending the refugees program, banning Syrian refugees and restricting travel to the U.S. from several predominantly Muslim countries.

Those cases are facing litigation throughout the country.

Call IndyStar reporter Fatima Hussein at (317) 444-6209. Follow her on Twitter: @fatimathefatima.