U.S COMMITTEE FOR REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS
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Refugee Litigation – Where Things Stand

April 2, 2025

Litigation is ongoing, and this brief will not be updated to reflect future events and updates. The facts and events of this brief are current, as of 8:50 AM EDT on April 2, 2025.

On January 20, 2025, the Administration put an indefinite pause on refugee admissions and processing through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). USRAP is a program that has operated since 1980, when Congress unanimously passed the Refugee Act. Through USRAP, over three million refugees, people who are seeking protection due to persecution, have safely resettled in the United States.

USRAP ensures that people who are granted refugee status abroad complete security vetting and medical exams, safely board flights, and have immediate assistance to transition to a new life in the United States. If people are joining family members in the United States, USRAP ensures that families are reunited. Most USRAP operations have depended on partnerships between the U.S. Government and private organizations serving refugees.

Executive Order “Realigning the United States Refugee Program” (EO 14163) directed that all refugee admissions be suspended. The executive order gives the President ultimate discretion to resume refugee admissions and processing. On January 21, travel plans were abruptly cancelled for refugees approved for travel, including Afghans with special immigrant visas (SIVs) due to their employment or service to the U.S. Government. The State Department, the federal agency that administers USRAP, announced that it would suspend all refugee admissions and processing.

On January 24, organizations providing resettlement assistance to refugees were ordered to stop all work. Federal funding for USRAP-related activities was paused, impeding refugee organizations from providing food, housing, and job placement assistance to refugees. Hundreds of thousands of refugees, refugee families, and U.S.- based sponsors already in the USRAP pipeline were left without life-saving assistance. Millions of refugees around the world were left without hope.

Click here to read the full brief.

 

USCRI, founded in 1911, is a non-governmental, not-for-profit international organization committed to working on behalf of refugees and immigrants and their transition to a dignified life.

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