Judge in Seattle questions Trump’s response to his refugee ruling

A federal judge in Seattle on Tuesday expressed skepticism that President Donald Trump’s administration was abiding by his order to resume the country’s refugee resettlement program. 

U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead granted a nationwide preliminary injunction Feb. 25, temporarily blocking the president’s executive order to halt refugee admissions and lifting the federal funding freeze for resettlement agencies. 

The next day, the State Department issued termination notices to all 10 national agencies under the country’s refugee admission program, canceling the “cooperative agreements” that allow funding to flow from the federal government to local aid groups.   

Attorneys with the International Refugee Assistance Project, which represents a group of refugee resettlement agencies and individuals suing the federal government, said the notices “effectively make permanent the allegedly temporary — albeit ‘catastrophic’ — suspension of millions of dollars in funding,” in a motion requesting an emergency hearing.

“Refugees have no pathway to complete processing, enter the United States, and receive initial resettlement services as provided for by Congress,” the motion stated.  

That emergency hearing took place Tuesday, with Whitehead questioning the timing of the canceled contracts, saying it “raises serious concerns of whether these actions were designed to circumvent the court’s ruling.” 

His preliminary injunction ruling did not discuss the termination of contracts, since that occurred after the hearing. But Whitehead noted from the bench the legal analysis in his preliminary injunction ruling will “likely operate in equal force when examining these terminations.”

“Based on what I’ve heard in court today, the same legal deficiencies, the failure to provide a reasoned explanation, a disregard for statutory mandates, perhaps arbitrary decision-making that render the suspensions unlawful, likely unlawful, are likely present in what looks to be hasty terminations,” Whitehead said.

Department of Justice attorney August Flentje said in court the timing of the terminated contracts was related to a Feb. 26 midnight deadline set by a federal judge overseeing a separate case that required the Trump administration to send out nearly $2 billion in promised foreign aid funds. The U.S. Supreme Court paused the order hours before the deadline.  

Whitehead ordered the federal government to file a status report Monday detailing its efforts to resume refugee processing and reimburse plaintiff agencies. International Refugee Assistance Project attorneys plan to update their complaint and request additional preliminary relief to explicitly reject the termination notices. 

Trump halted the country’s refugee resettlement program on the first day of this term, Jan. 20, barring refugees from coming into the country and stopping refugee application processing indefinitely.

Federal funding for resettlement agencies was also frozen later that week, forcing groups to lay off staff members and cut support like rent assistance and case management services.

Three resettlement agencies, including the Tacoma-based Lutheran Community Services Northwest, and nine people impacted by the executive order and funding freeze sued Feb. 10 to challenge the program’s suspension and to restore federal funding. 

Whitehead, who was appointed by President Joe Biden in 2023, concluded that while the president does have substantial discretion over who can enter the country, the president cannot nullify the refugee admissions program established by Congress through the Refugee Act of 1980. 

Since then, refugee resettlement agencies said they have yet to see the release of any federal funding or any rebooked flights for refugees left stranded after Trump’s order. 

HIAS, a national Jewish American group aiding refugees and a plaintiff in the lawsuit, has laid off roughly 200 more staff members since receiving a termination notice from the State Department, said International Refugee Assistance Project attorney Melissa Keaney. 

“We were all quite shocked that the government was so brazen as to issue these termination notices within 24 hours of the court indicating it was enjoining the funding suspension,” Keaney said after the emergency hearing. 

Keaney said the legal aid group estimates more than 10,000 refugees approved to enter the country saw their travel plans canceled after Trump issued his executive order. The funding freeze has impacted more than 3,000 refugees resettled by the three plaintiff agencies since October, she said.

The date of the next court hearing has yet to be announced.