Washington, D.C.—Church World Service today celebrated last night’s ruling in the Pacito v. Trump case establishing a review process to identify, on a case by case basis, refugees who should be resettled in the United States in spite of the White House’s near universal ban on refugees. The order also clarified that the June 4 travel ban should not apply to refugees.
CWS notes, however, that the administration now must be held responsible for upholding the court’s latest order. Last week’s terminations that gutted key offices inside the State Department, including the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) and the Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE), threaten to undermine the government’s ability to process the thousands of refugees already approved for resettlement who have been left in limbo by the administration’s refugee ban.
“This ruling is a huge win for refugee resettlement and all those committed to welcome. We welcome the court’s order to create a process that will protect more refugees through this life-saving program,” said Erol Kekic, Chief Strategy Officer at CWS. “The administration must be held accountable for actually following through on the order—especially in light of the recent mass layoffs of key refugee-support staff necessary to ensure the timely and thorough processing of approved cases. As the judge noted, any delays in implementing this order means continued separation from safety for some of the world’s most vulnerable people.”
Last week, “Pacito”—the named plaintiff in the lawsuit brought by CWS and several other organizations, was safely resettled with his family in North Carolina after the court ordered the US government to do so.
Thanks to the court’s action, several other refugee families are also now arriving in the United States. “In the coming weeks, we will continue to advocate on behalf of the thousands of other refugee families that, like Pacito’s, have been callously left in harm’s way by the suspension of the US refugee program,” added Kekic.
For more information or to speak with Kekic, contact media@cwsglobal.org.