Judge won't immediately block Trump administration's abrupt halt to Catholic refugee funding
Source: AP
Updated 6:08 PM EST, February 20, 2025
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday refused to immediately block the Trump administration’s abrupt halt to funding of the nation’s largest private refugee resettlement program in a setback to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Judge Trevor McFadden denied the bishops’ request for a temporary restraining order that would have restored the funding, but called his ruling “very tentative.”
“A temporary restraining order is an extraordinary remedy that should be granted sparingly,” he said.
McFadden scheduled another hearing for next Friday on the bishops’ related request for a preliminary injunction that also would block the administration’s pause in program funding. He also ordered the two sides to have a mediation session with a federal magistrate judge next week. “I want to see further briefing from the parties,” McFadden said.
The bishops are asking him to prohibit the U.S. State Department from enforcing a Jan. 24 suspension of millions of dollars in aid, saying it has affected nearly 7,000 newly arrived refugees. The bishops say that withholding millions in resettlement costs violates various laws as well as the constitutional provision giving the power of the purse to Congress, which already approved the funding.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-administration-refugee-resettlement-catholic-bishops-e9eb2fa9600ef536486971c4607941ed
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