Daily State of Play: Trump’s Indefinite Refugee Ban and Funding Halt

Last updated: Wednesday, June 18, 2025

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State of Play will be taking this Thursday and Friday off to celebrate Juneteenth and World Refugee Day. Read CWS’ statement on the promise of June here, and find resources for taking action this World Refugee Day here.

State of Play

The latest: As of June 18, the Trump administration’s indefinite refugee ban remains in place. Tens of thousands of already-approved refugees remain stranded in increasingly dangerous conditions overseas. Only a very small number of refugees and Afghan Special Immigrant Visa holders are now being resettled and allowed to access Reception and Placement (R&P) support under exceptions to the refugee ban. These include a small group of white South Africans and others granted waivers by the Secretary of State, and approximately 160 refugees protected by an injunction under the Pacito v. Trump lawsuit. At this time, it remains uncertain how the recent implementation of a travel ban might impact this group of prospective refugee arrivals.

We continue to wait for the judge in the Pacito case to appoint a third-party neutral arbiter to review which additional refugee cases qualify for processing and resettlement while the lawsuit continues in court. While we wait, we’ll be using this space to highlight one of the eight amicus briefs filed in support of plaintiffs in the ongoing challenge to the refugee ban.

On May 27, a group of 20 states led by Washington and Massachusetts filed an amicus brief in support of refugees and refugee resettlement. The brief challenges the argument from Trump’s refugee ban executive order that American communities lack the “ability” and “resources” to ensure the “appropriate assimilation of refugees.” The States argue that “despite the Executive Order’s misleading language, Amici States have made an active decision to welcome refugees, and their presence in our states confers numerous benefits.” The brief goes on to list pages of data on how refugees benefit state and local economies, create jobs, and allow for more opportunities for everyone in the communities in which they resettle.

Certain Afghan SIV and refugee follow-to-join arrivals now able to access R&P support. Partially as a result of the ongoing Pacito lawsuit, in May resettlement agencies had their contracts to provide Reception and Placement services reactivated by the State Department. Certain Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders and Visa 93 (refugee follow-to-join) beneficiaries who traveled to the U.S. while resettlement agency contracts were suspended are now able to enroll in services they would have otherwise been eligible for.

It is important for eligible SIVs and V93 arrivals (those within 90 days of their arrival to the U.S.) to submit the following information to their local resettlement agency:

Case Number (SIVs: IV# on Visa, V93s: Case Number on Boarding Foil)
Number of family members on case
DS-0234 for case members (their U.S. address must be listed in the comment section)
Scanned image of visas for case members with admission stamp clearly visible
Date of Arrival in the United States: MM/DD/YYYY
Port of Entry: ex. LAX

Arrests of Afghan ally, NYC Mayoral candidate shines a spotlight on increasing ICE enforcement at courthouses. Reporting from yesterday on two arrests exposed the injustice of an increasing trend of unidentified, masked ICE agents detaining individuals who are attending their immigration court hearing.

In San Diego, two unidentified ICE agents handcuffed and detained an Afghan man who worked alongside U.S. troops in Afghanistan as an interpreter. Like thousands of other Afghans, the man was lawfully paroled into the U.S. at the border via the CBP One app and had both a pending asylum claim and an active Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) application (which he was eligible for due to his support for the U.S. military). The man, who remains in detention now, wrote in his asylum application that: “I cannot return to Afghanistan under any circumstances because I am accused of collaborating with U.S. forces.”
In New York City, mayoral candidate and current city comptroller Brad Lander was arrested by ICE agents at an immigration courthouse in Manhattan as he was accompanying an individual who was attending a required court hearing. Lander was pushed against the wall, handcuffed, and detained after demanding masked ICE agents show a warrant before arresting the man he was accompanying. Lander (alongside many other politicians) have been showing up to immigration court in recent weeks to accompany families attending their immigration court proceedings.

Archbishop of Los Angeles José Gomez wrote on June 17 that the Trump administration has “no immigration policy,” only “punishment.” The Archbishop wrote that, “this situation is not worthy of a great nation.”

Today’s Headlines, Calls to Action and Community Resources

Stories of Impact

Zenayda is a refugee who resettled in Texas who has been trying for years to get her child to safety after many kidnapping attempts. 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

Doaa is a single mom with three children who have been forcibly displaced and are currently living as refugees in Cairo, Egypt. She was referred to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program because of her status as a refugee and because she has family already living in New Jersey. She and her children went through the lengthy vetting and screening process and finally had their travel booked to the U.S. – but her flight was among those cancelled by Trump’s indefinite refugee admissions ban. The children are 19, 15, and 13. The case file shows the family as: “Survivors of Violence and Torture.”

The Sung family are refugees from Myanmar who were split up as they fled for safe harbor. Part of the family has been resettled in Texas, and they have been waiting for years as the rest of the family goes through the resettlement process. The flight was scheduled for early February, and the family here bought a four-bedroom home just to accommodate them. Their flight was cancelled at the last minute.

Find more stories of impact here.

State of Play

Today’s Headlines, Calls to Action and Community Resources

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Stories of Impact