INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge in Indianapolis has blocked Republican Gov. Mike Pence’s order barring state agencies from helping Syrian refugees resettle in Indiana.
Monday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt comes in response to a request for a preliminary injunction from the group Exodus Refugee Immigration, which helps resettle refugees.
Pratt wrote in her 36-page opinion that the governor’s directive “clearly discriminates against Syrian refugees based on their national origin.”
More than two dozen states, most with Republican governors, have taken similar action to suspend Syrian resettlement programs.
Pence had cited concerns following the deadly Paris terrorist attacks when issuing the order in November. He’s noted a passport found near one of the suicide bombers had been registered along the route asylum seekers from Syria are taking through Europe.
