A recent lawsuit has been filed by Church World Service, HIAS, Lutheran Community Services Northwest, and nine affected individuals, seeking to overturn Trump’s freeze on refugee resettlement. The litigation aims to declare the suspension unlawful, halt its implementation, and reinstate funding for refugee-related programs. Among those impacted is a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, whose family had already sold all their possessions in preparation for departure, only to have their flight canceled abruptly. The State Department has yet to respond to inquiries from USA TODAY regarding this matter.
This legal battle mirrors the events of 2017 when federal courts intervened to challenge Trump’s ban on refugees from Muslim-majority nations and those seeking family reunification. During Trump’s presidency, he drastically reduced the annual refugee admission cap to a record low of approximately 15,000, resulting in funding cuts that severely affected many U.S. resettlement organizations.
Upon taking office, former President Joe Biden worked to restore the refugee resettlement program, successfully facilitating the arrival of over 100,000 refugees in fiscal year 2024, marking a 30-year high. A notable volunteer, Tyler Lowe-Thorpe, a freshman at Marquette University, has been assisting Burmese refugee students at the Myanmar Learning Center program in Milwaukee.
Mark Hetfield, President of HIAS, highlighted that at the time of the executive order last month, only around 44,000 refugees had been admitted under Biden’s set ceiling of 125,000 for the current fiscal year. Despite the program’s long history of bipartisan support and successful resettlement of over 3 million refugees since 1980, Trump persistently criticized it as a security risk and a burden on communities.
Advocates argue that refugees admitted through the program undergo extensive vetting processes, including security screenings, medical evaluations, and interviews, making them among the most scrutinized immigrants in the country. Moreover, a federal study revealed that refugees contributed $123 billion more to the economy over a 15-year period than they cost the government.
The lawsuit not only challenges the suspension of federal funding for refugee resettlement organizations but also highlights the financial strain caused by Trump’s policy changes. Many of these organizations are struggling to sustain their operations and continue serving vulnerable refugees as integral to their missions. Refugee advocates are urging a federal judge to reinstate the resettlement program and restore critical funding for these organizations.
