INDIANAPOLIS (AP)
— A lawsuit challenging the Indiana governor's decision to stop state
agencies from helping resettle Syrian refugees alleges that the action
wrongly targets the refugees based on their nationality and violates the
U.S. Constitution and federal law.
The American
Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed the federal lawsuit Monday night on
behalf of Indianapolis-based nonprofit Exodus Refugee Immigration. It
accuses Gov. Mike Pence of violating the U.S. Constitution's Equal
Protection Clause and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by accepting
refugees to Indiana from other countries but not from Syria.
The first-term
Republican governor objected to plans for refugees to arrive in Indiana
following the deadly attacks in Paris. Five days after the Nov. 13
attacks, a family that had fled war-torn Syria was diverted from
Indianapolis to Connecticut when Pence ordered state agencies to halt
resettlement activities.
The ACLU of
Indiana will ask a federal judge Tuesday to put a temporary hold Pence's
directive that state agencies stop helping with the resettlement of Syrian
refugees by using federal money to provide services such as housing and
medical care, legal director Ken Falk said.
"These are people
who have been vetted extensively by the federal government and have been
approved for resettlement. Our lawsuit is quite simple. It argues that the
governor has no right to bar refugees because doing so clearly violates
equal protection," Falk said during a news conference.
Falk added that
he expects similar lawsuits to be filed against some of more than
two-dozen states — most with Republican governors, like Pence — that have
taken actions similar to Indiana's in suspending programs to resettle
Syrian refugees.
Pence's office
said in a statement Tuesday that despite the lawsuit, he's standing by his
decision.
The governor is
"confident he has the authority to suspend the state's participation in
the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Indiana," the statement said, and
took the action to protect "the safety and security of the people of
Indiana."
"The governor
believes that public safety is not a partisan issue," his office said.
Pence said last
week he was "deeply moved" by the refugees' plight but was concerned about
militants possibly infiltrating the United States through the refugee
program.
Individual states
do not have the legal authority to block refugee placement. The Refugee
Act of 1980 dictates that refugee resettlement is managed by the federal
government, which consults with state refugee coordinators and the nine
refugee resettlement agencies that have contracts with the government, but
that consultation is largely to ensure the refugees are settled in cities
with adequate jobs, housing and social services.
The Indiana
Family and Social Services Administration sent letters last week to Exodus
Refugee Immigration and Catholic Charities Indianapolis saying plans to
accept two Syrian families should be halted.
Carleen Miller,
Exodus Refugee's executive director, said she had no choice last week but
to find another place for the Syrian refugee family because of their
imminent arrival.
Exodus has
settled 892 refugees, including some from Syria, in the past fiscal year
in Indiana, according to the ACLU. The group is projected to settle about
the same number during 2016, including 19 Syrians approved for refugee
status by the federal government and are expected to arrive in the next
few weeks or months, the ACLU said.
Exodus receives
federal money through the state's Office of Refugee Programs to assist in
resettlement of federally approved and screened refugees. The money is
used to assist with employment training, English language education and
other services, according to the ACLU.
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