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Federal Appeals Court Rules Against Pence In Syrian Refugee Case

Gretchen Frazee
/
Indiana Public Broadcasting

The U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled against Governor Mike Pence in a lawsuit seeking to block federal funds for resettling Syrian refugees in Indiana.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana sued the state on behalf of Exodus Refugee Immigration last November, after Pence announced the suspension of accepting Syrian refugees to the state.

In the Monday ruling, Seventh Circuit judges Richard Posner, Frank Easterbrook and Diane Sykes say the State of Indiana provided no proof that Syrian refugees are actually terrorists in disguise.

“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,” the ruling says. “No evidence of this belief has been presented, however; it is nightmare speculation.”

The ruling comes just days after the U.S. State Department granted a request from Exodus Refugee Immigration to begin resettling refugees in Bloomington, in addition to Indianapolis where the organization currently works.

Clickhere to readtoday's appellate court ruling in the case,Exodus Refugee Immigration Inc. v. Mike Pence, et al.

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