A federal judge in Seattle has agreed to block President Donald Trump’s executive order cancelling refugee resettlement.
The executive order was one of the first of Trump’s second presidency and it paused both new refugee admissions to the U.S. and the funding attached to the program indefinitely.
A coalition of refugee resettlement agencies, refugees and hopeful sponsors filed suit against it this month. And in a bench ruling this week, U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead said the move likely supersedes presidential authority.
Melissa Keaney is with the International Refugee Assistance Project — which represents the plaintiffs.
“We requested that the judge enjoin president Trump’s suspension of all refugee processing and decisions on admissions, and also the suspension of funding to resettlement agencies,” she said. “So what all this means is that refugee processing should resume, refugees should see their cases start to move forward, refugees should be permitted to travel to the United States.”
Keaney says the Trump administration is expected to file an appeal.
