State Department Axed Contracts for Refugee Services Despite Court Order, Faith Groups Say
By Ariana Figueroa for States Newsroom
WASHINGTON — Faith groups involved in refugee resettlement services Thursday asked a federal judge for an emergency hearing after the U.S. State Department terminated their contracts — despite a nationwide injunction earlier this week that blocked the Trump administration’s suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and withholding of funds for those services.
The groups contended in court filings that the State Department moved to kill the contracts after the judge in the case verbally granted the preliminary injunction but before he could issue a written order.
“The Court should restrain this flagrant attempt to evade the judicial branch’s constitutional responsibility to implement the relief announced just two days ago,” according to the emergency motion filed by the International Refugee Assistance Project.
A status conference hearing is set for Monday at 1:00 p.m. Pacific time.
Injunction From The Bench
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington issued an injunction from the bench because he felt the matter was urgent, and noted he would issue a written order in the coming days.
“The evidence before me shows that plaintiffs face concrete, irreparable harms, including refugees stranded after selling their possessions, agencies laying off hundreds of staff and family reunification suspended indefinitely,” Whitehead, whom President Joe Biden appointed in 2023, said from the bench.
However, according to the emergency motion, the State Department on Wednesday terminated the contracts for Church World Service and Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, or HIAS.
The State Department did not respond to States Newsroom’s request for comment.
“The Termination Notices can be understood only as a deliberate effort to preempt the Court’s forthcoming written order on Plantiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction … and make a nullity of the Court’s stated intention to grant injunctive relief,” according to the filing.
In Thursday’s court filings, one of the emails from the State Department to Church World Service noted the award for resettlement purposes was being “terminated for the convenience of the U.S. Government pursuant to a directive from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, for alignment with Agency priorities and national interest.”
“The decision to terminate this individual award is a policy determination vested in the Secretary of State,” according to the email from the court filing.
One of the religious groups IRAP is representing, Lutheran Community Services Northwest, was not mentioned in the filings for terminated cooperative agreements with the State Department.
IRAP did not respond to States Newsroom’s request for comment.
Trump Executive Order
The suit stems from an executive order that President Donald Trump signed on his first day in office. That order suspended all refugee admission and processing, as well as funding for organizations that handle resettlement in the United States for four months.
The order directed officials at the State Department and U.S. Department of Homeland Security to submit a report every 90 days to the White House. From that report, the president will then determine whether refugee resettlement is “in the interests of the United States.”
IRAP filed the lawsuit earlier this month on behalf of the faith groups, as well as refugees who had their resettlement flights canceled, a local refugee sponsor and families trying to reunite.
No surprise. trump has no respect for the rule of law, or the Constitution. He wants to be a king.