Refugee Aid Groups Say Trump Administration Is Trying To Circumvent Court Order

Refugee aid groups said in a federal court filing Thursday that President Donald Trump's administration appears to be trying to circumvent a ruling this week that blocked his efforts to suspend the nation's refugee admissions program.

U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead in Seattle had determined on Tuesday that while the president has broad authority over who comes into the country, he cannot nullify the law passed by Congress establishing the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

Whitehead, a 2023 appointee of former President Joe Biden, said Trump's actions amounted to an "effective nullification of congressional will," and from the bench, he granted the aid groups' request for a preliminary injunction blocking Trump's executive order suspending the refugee resettlement program. He promised a written ruling in the next few days.

But Wednesday, aid groups, including Church World Service and the Jewish refugee resettlement organization HIAS, received notifications that their "cooperative agreements" with the State Department had been canceled.

The groups on Thursday asked Whitehead for an emergency hearing to discuss the impact of the termination notices, or to make clear that his ruling also applies to those newly issued notices. The groups called the administration's actions a "flagrant attempt" to evade the court's ruling.