RCUSA Commends Resettlement Agencies for Pursuing Legal Action, Urges Administration to Restore Urgently-Needed Refugee and Humanitarian Protections

Washington, DC – Refugee Council USA (RCUSA) commends the refugee resettlement community’s pursuit of legal action to hold the Trump administration accountable to restore our moral and legal obligations to refugees and forcibly displaced people in the United States and abroad.

Last night, a federal district court in Washington, DC issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) provisionally halting the Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid, which has left millions of people around the world vulnerable to illness, hunger, and harm. The decision is the first step for the Global Health Council v. Trump lawsuit, in which one of the national resettlement agencies and RCUSA member, HIAS, is a plaintiff. HIAS’s statements on the litigation in that case are available here and here.

This follows Monday’s filing of Pacito v. Trump, the first lawsuit challenging President Trump’s indefinite suspension of the U.S. refugee resettlement program (USRAP), as well as the administration’s evisceration of our nation’s capacity to welcome by withholding critical, congressionally-appropriated funding for refugee processing and resettlement services. This lawsuit was filed by three national and local faith-based refugee-serving agencies (including RCUSA members HIAS and CWS) and nine individuals filed in the Western District of Washington, asking the court to declare the executive order (EO) illegal, enjoin all implementation of the EO, and restore refugee-related funding.

“The refugee and foreign assistance bans have already caused unimaginable existential harm to refugees and forcibly displaced populations already in the United States and abroad. Coupled with the freeze on U.S. foreign assistance programs – which has forced refugee-serving and humanitarian aid non-profit organizations to lose hundreds of staff and capacity to provide congressionally appropriated assistance – these unlawful and cruel policies threaten the lives and well-being of the most vulnerable communities around the world. Grinding the U.S. resettlement program to a halt and suspending foreign assistance leaves refugees and other displaced persons at heightened risk of trafficking, abuse, and exploitation,” said John Slocum, Executive Director of Refugee Council USA.

RCUSA delivered a letter signed by 126 national, state, and local organizations on February 13th, urging Congress to affirm our historic commitment to humanitarian protection and hold the Trump administration accountable to fully resume operations of the U.S. resettlement program in good faith. RCUSA’s recent statements denouncing President Trump’s treatment of refugees and individuals fleeing violence and persecution are available here, here, and here.

RCUSA is a diverse coalition advocating for just and humane laws and policies, and the promotion of dialogue and communication among government, civil society, and those who need protection and welcome. This statement does not necessarily reflect the views of each individual RCUSA member organization.

Media contact: Mariam Sayeed, msayeed@rcusa.org