Court Allows Donald Trump to Hit Pause on New Refugee Approvals: The Battle Over Immigration Heats Up!
- L'ÉPOQUE USA
- Mar 25
- 2 min read
L'ÉPOQUE - A federal appeals court on Tuesday permitted the Donald Trump administration to cease the approval of new refugees seeking entry into the United States while a legal challenge regarding the president’s executive order, which halts the nation’s refugee admission process, is underway.
03.25.2025 © L'ÉPOQUE USA
By Barbara Robinson
Refugees who had received conditional approval prior to President Donald Trump assuming office must still be processed according to the directive from a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; however, the judges granted the Republican administration the authority to pause new approvals.
This panel of the appeals court largely overturned a ruling made by U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead in Seattle. Judge Whitehead determined that Trump could not invalidate the legislation enacted by Congress that established the refugee program, and that it must be reinstated.
Whitehead, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, a Democrat, acknowledged that while the president possesses significant discretion to suspend refugee admissions, this authority is not without limits. He referenced reports highlighting refugees stranded in perilous situations, families torn apart from loved ones in the U.S., and individuals who sold all their belongings for travel to the U.S., which was subsequently canceled.
Trump's executive order indicated that the refugee program—a legal migration pathway for individuals displaced by conflict, natural disasters, or persecution—would be paused due to cities and communities being overwhelmed by "record levels of migration" and lacking the capacity to "absorb large numbers of migrants, particularly refugees." The administration noted that there are currently 600,000 individuals worldwide in the process of seeking entry into the U.S. as refugees.
Despite longstanding bipartisan support for welcoming thoroughly vetted refugees, the program has increasingly become a political issue in recent years. Trump also temporarily suspended it during his initial term and significantly reduced the number of refugees permitted to enter the U.S. annually.
The Justice Department contended that Trump's order fell well within his powers.
The plaintiffs argued that the president had failed to demonstrate how allowing these refugees entry would harm the United States. This group includes the International Refugee Assistance Project representing Church World Service, HIAS (the Jewish refugee resettlement agency), Lutheran Community Services Northwest, along with individual refugees and their family members. They asserted that Trump's order has severely hindered their ability to provide essential services to refugees, including those already residing in the U.S.