Seattle judge temporarily blocks Trump’s refugee executive order
Judge Jamal N. Whitehead of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington presided over a preliminary injunction hearing.
Author: Sharon Yoo
Published: 8:15 AM PST February 25, 2025
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SEATTLE — A federal judge in Seattle on Tuesday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order that impacts refugee admissions.
Nine individuals and three refugee aid nonprofits sued to block Executive Order 14163, which suspends the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, also known as USRAP.
Judge Jamal N. Whitehead of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington presided over a preliminary injunction hearing Tuesday and granted the preliminary injunction, stating that the executive order ignores Congress.
The executive order, which many are calling the “refugee ban,” has put an immediate stop to refugee resettlement services in the U.S. and has stopped all federal funding to aid organizations.
In this lawsuit, the agencies outlined how the pause to federal funding has been detrimental to the refugees they’ve been looking to support, as well as the refugees they were continuing to support after resettlement. The complaint also outlines the stories of nine individuals from different parts of the world who have been directly impacted by the suspension of refugee arrivals.
One man and his family were scheduled to arrive in the U.S. on Jan. 22 but had their flight canceled even prior to the executive order taking effect on Jan. 25.
Three organizations, including Lutheran Community Service Northwest, which is headquartered in Tacoma, also outlined the sacrifices they have had to make due to federal funding cuts, including laying off staff, and reorganizing folks who worked directly with refugees.
David Duea, the president of LCSNW, said while he is pleasantly surprised at how quickly the judge came to his decision, he’s worried about time lost.
“No refugees will be getting on planes tonight, we’re not going to resettle anyone else today, and the refugees we resettled over the last 90 days, it’s still a bit in limbo. We’ll see how the administration reacts,” Duea said.
At the rally, several former refugees also joined in on the message that refugees end up becoming productive people that contribute to the U.S. economy.
“Here’s the truth: we don’t come to take, we come to give,” Tshishiku Henry, a former refugee said.
“Over a 10 year period, refugees contributed a $63 billion more in taxes for federal state and local governments than they took in assistance and services,” Mark Hetfield said. Hetfield is the president of HIAS, a Jewish refugee resettlement organization, and another organizational plaintiff on the case.
While the ban has been lifted, Duea added that realistically, it will be a few days if not weeks to resume resettlement programming.