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JFS v. Trump: Challenging the refugee ban

In November 2017, we filed a lawsuit on behalf of two resettlement agencies and several individual clients challenging the October 2017 refugee ban ordered by President Trump. The ban suspended admission of refugees from certain predominantly Muslim countries and of refugees “following-to-join” their family members who are already in the United States.

The case charged that the suspensions violated administrative law and was discriminatory.

The court entered a preliminary injunction in December 2017 that re-opened refugee processing for affected refugees with U.S. family members. The government then argued in early 2018 that the case should be dismissed because it had lifted the suspensions. After discovery, the government settled the case in February 2020, agreeing to expedite processing of 315 refugees whose applications were still pending because of the suspensions and to count any resulting admissions under fiscal year 2017 numbers.

The National Immigration Law Center (NILC), Perkins Coie, HIAS, and Lauren Aguiar, Mollie M. Kornreich and Abigail Sheehan Davis are co-counsel in this litigation.

Case Status:
In Settlement Monitoring
Related Issues
View the Complaint View the Preliminary Injunction View the Settlement Agreement

Follow the Case

Feb 11, 2020

Plaintiffs Affected by Refugee Ban Rejoice After Settlement Announced

This week, IRAP and co-counsel, on behalf of its plaintiffs in the lawsuit, reached a

Blog Post

Feb 10, 2020

Press Release: Major Settlement Secures Relief For Refugees Left Behind by Refugee Ban

Major settlement secures relief for refugees left behind by refugee ban

Press Release

Aug 1, 2018

U.S. Soldiers Trusted Me With Their Lives. Why Won’t the U.S. Government Trust Me?

Sam* is an Iraqi refugee who worked as an interpreter for the U.S. military in Iraq. He has been living in hiding in Egypt since 2014.

Blog Post

  • Press Release: IRAP Report Reveals Trump Administration Exploiting “Extreme Vetting” to Decimate Refugee Program

    10/8/2020

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  • Press Release: Major Settlement Secures Relief For Refugees Left Behind by Refugee Ban

    2/10/2020

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  • Press Release: Reuters Exclusive Undercuts Claims by Government in Refugee Ban Lawsuit

    9/12/2018

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  • Press Release: Groups Respond to Court Ruling Allowing Refugee Ban Lawsuit to Proceed

    7/30/2018

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  • Press Release: IRAP Statement in Response to Government’s Updated Refugee Restrictions

    1/30/2018

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  • Press Release: JFS v. Trump Team Responds to Judge Robart Ruling

    12/23/2017

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  • Press Release: On One-Year Anniversary of the Muslim Ban, IRAP Vows to Keep Fighting

    1/27/2018

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  • Press Release: Groups File Class Action Challenge to Trump Administration’s Latest Refugee Ban

    11/13/2017

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