News & Resources
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 2025
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Spencer Tilger | media@refugeerights.org
TRAVEL BAN APPLIES TO REFUGEES, SAYS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
IRAP filed new motion to prevent the Trump administration from further restricting resettlement of refugees protected under preliminary injunction
(Seattle, WA) – Last night, the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) filed a motion for an emergency hearing in Pacito v. Trump after government lawyers communicated the Trump administration’s intention to apply the travel ban to refugees, including those it has been ordered to process under a preliminary injunction. This would impact about two-thirds of the 160 refugees already approved whom the district court has ordered the administration to process and admit “immediately,” as well as thousands more who could be eligible under the terms of the injunction.
IRAP represents Church World Service (CWS), HIAS, Lutheran Community Services Northwest (LCSNW), and nine impacted individuals in the case challenging the suspension of the U.S. refugee resettlement program and the abrupt withholding of millions of dollars in critical funds to refugee-serving agencies.
The following is a reaction from Melissa Keaney, Senior Supervising Attorney, IRAP:
“Yet again, the Trump administration is trying everything it can to prevent all but white Afrikaners from resettling in the United States as refugees. Instead of following a court order to process and reschedule travel for 160 refugees who were set to travel in the two weeks following President Trump’s suspension of the refugee program, the government is erecting yet another unlawful barrier to prevent refugees looking to restart their lives in safety and reunite with family in the United States. The refugee ban is unlawful, the travel ban is unlawful, and the Trump administration must not be allowed to evade court orders by engaging in a game of whack-a-mole again and again.”
Additional Resources
The International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) is a global legal aid and advocacy organization working to create a world where refugees and all people seeking safety are empowered to claim their right to freedom of movement and a path to lasting refuge. Everyone should have a safe place to live and a safe way to get there.
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