Last updated: Thursday, May 1, 2025
This resource provides daily updates from the CWS policy team in your inbox on the latest policy changes; the morning’s headlines on key issues impacting refugees and immigrants; and updated tools to take action. Subscribe now to receive daily updates on the latest developments and ways to support impacted communities.
State of Play |
|
The latest: A status conference in Pacito v. Trump, the main lawsuit challenging the refugee ban, will be held today at 2:30pm ET. The conference is designed to finalize a compliance framework for the Trump administration to abide by the Ninth Circuit’s order to resume processing, travel, admissions, and domestic resettlement support for thousands of refugees whose flights were canceled due to the ban. Tune in live here and see the latest filings in the case here. On Monday, the government filed a motion to dismiss the case in its entirety, arguing that “this Court lacks jurisdiction and Plaintiffs fail to state plausible claims.” Despite multiple court orders requiring at least a partial restoration, the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program remains indefinitely suspended, with thousands left stranded abroad in increasingly dangerous and unstable circumstances. In Pakistan, where many Afghans in the U.S. refugee and Special Immigrant Visa pipeline reside, a widespread deportation campaign is splitting families apart and causing many to live in fear. More Bhutanese refugees deported to Bhutan. ICE confirmed that six more Nepali-speaking Bhutanese refugees living in Pennsylvania were deported to Bhutan in mid-April, bringing the total number of Bhutanese refugees deported across the United States to at least 24. Because Bhutan and Nepal both do not accept them as citizens, these individuals have been rendered stateless and returned to situations where they are likely to face harm, with at least four already in indefinite immigration custody in Nepal after being expelled from Bhutan. Many seem to be in hiding. Yesterday, Nepal’s Supreme Court ruled that these men cannot be deported again and are allowed to return to refugee camps in the country – the same camps that they lived in as children after Nepali-speaking Bhutanese people fled ethnic cleansing in Bhutan and before resettlement to the United States. For more than fifteen years, Nepali-speaking Bhutanese refugees have received protection and built lives in the United States. Advocates believe that the deported men previously served probation or time in prison and were permitted to remain in the United States. They also said that the men lacked the opportunity to appeal their deportations or express their fear of returning. One community member stated: “This feels like a repeat of our history. First expelled from Bhutan, forced into refugee camps in Nepal, and now being torn from our American homes. How many times must we rebuild our lives?” Trump seeks agreements to send deported immigrants to Libya and Rwanda and establish Libya as a safe third country. According to a CNN report, the Trump administration has discussed with Libya and Rwanda a proposal to send immigrants with criminal records from the United States to the two countries. The administration is also interested in negotiating a “safe third country” agreement with Libya–despite the country’s documented systematic abuse of migrants. The potential proposal mirrors the United Kingdom’s 2022 agreement to send people seeking asylum to Rwanda, which was halted by legal challenges and officially discontinued last year. At a Cabinet meeting yesterday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: “I say this unapologetically, we are actively searching for other countries to take people…, and the further away from America, the better.” Detained immigrants spell out “SOS” in fear of being disappeared to El Salvador. A Reuters drone captured an aerial image of 31 men who spelled out “SOS” in the dirt yard of the Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson, Texas. On Friday, April 18, immigration officials gave the Venezuelan men detained there a notice in English stating they were being deported under the Alien Enemies Act as alleged members of gang Tren de Aragua. A van transporting them to the nearest airport ultimately turned around back to Bluebonnet after the ACLU filed an emergency request to the Supreme Court. In the early hours of Saturday morning, the Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration not to remove “any member of the putative class of detainees” absent further action from the court. In interviews with the press, the men detained and their loved ones deny having ties to Tren de Aragua, and all six men Mother Jones spoke with have pending immigration cases. One 19-year-old from Venezuela with no criminal record or tattoos was nearly disappeared to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act from Bluebonnet, where he remains detained. He came to the United States as an unaccompanied minor in 2022 and has an immigration court date in Virginia on May 14. |
Today’s Headlines, Calls to Action and Community Resources |
Stories of Impact |
|
Loni is a mother of six children who fled violence and torture in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The family’s flight to Houston to reunite with her husband (the children’s father) was scheduled for February – but it was cancelled after the ban went into effect. Loni and her children are now stuck indefinitely in Malawi. Pacito is a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who was approved for resettlement and scheduled for travel with his wife and baby. They had sold all the family’s possessions and given up their home in preparation – but their flight was abruptly cancelled by the refugee ban. As of April 25, Pacito and his family remain stranded, and their medical screenings and exit visas have now expired. Zenayda is a refugee who resettled in Texas who has been trying for years to get her child to safety after many attempts have been made to kidnap the child. The child’s flight was booked to arrive in February. That flight has now been cancelled, and the child’s case – which is listed as “extremely vulnerable” – is now once again delayed. Find more stories of impact here. |