1/15/20
A United States federal judge has blocked an executive order from President Donald Trump that gave state and local governments effective veto power over having refugees resettled within their jurisdictions. US District Judge Peter Messitte issued a preliminary injunction in Maryland on Wednesday at the request of three national refugee resettlement agencies that are suing to challenge the executive order. Agency leaders argued the order, which required resettlement agencies to get written consent from state and local officials before resettling refugees, effectively gives governors and county leaders the ability to override the resettlement process. The agencies also argue the order illegally conflicts with the 1980 Refugee Act, which enshrines the federal procedure of refugee resettlement. Messitte said the agencies are likely to succeed in showing that the executive order is unlawful. "Refugee resettlement activity should go forward as it developed for the almost 40 years before the (executive order) was announced," he wrote in his 31-page ruling. Messitte added Trump's order doesn't appear to serve the "overall public interest". The Trump administration announced the directive in November. The order would have applied to any refugees being resettled beyond June 2020. After being resettled, refugees are free to move anywhere within the US, but at their own expense.
Church World Service, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and HIAS - a Jewish nonprofit - filed the lawsuit in Greenbelt, Maryland, on November 21. They represent three of the nine national organisations that have agreements with the federal government to provide housing and other services for refugees. Texas, which took in more refugees than any other state during the 2018 fiscal year, became the first state known to reject the resettlement of new refugees. Governor Greg Abbott said in a letter released January 10 that the state, which borders Mexico, "has been left by Congress to deal with disproportionate migration issues resulting from a broken federal immigration system". The head of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, told The Associated Press news agency the ruling, for now, puts on hold a policy that was causing "irreparable harm to refugee families and resettlement agency's already". She added that it essentially re-opens the door to refugees being resettled in Texas. "It's a significant day in which the rule of law won," O'Mara Vignarajah said.
