Trump halted the nation's refugee resettlement program as part of a series of executive orders cracking down on immigration, saying cities had been taxed by “record levels of migration” and couldn't “absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees.” He barred refugees from coming to the U.S., and the administration began cutting off funding for agencies that support refugees.
They say they have had to lay off staff because the administration froze funding for processing refugee applications overseas as well as support, such as short-term rental assistance for those already in the U.S. “We resettled people days before the inauguration that were just cut off from benefits,” said Lutheran Community Services Northwest CEO David Duea said after Tuesday's hearing.
U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead, a 2023 appointee of former President Joe Biden, found that while the president has broad authority over who comes into the country, he cannot nullify the law passed by Congress establishing the program.
Most people whose travel to the U.S. was canceled at the last minute had already been moved to a third country where they were out of danger, he said, and the cancellation of funding for refugee aid groups amounted to a contract dispute.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs said they expected Whitehead's ruling to clear the way for money to begin flowing again to the organizations and for plaintiffs stranded overseas to be able to book new trips to the U.S., though it remained unclear whether any appeal might complicate that.
