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By Ariana Figueroa | AZ Mirror
A coalition of faith groups who provide refugee services Monday filed a lawsuit in federal court over the Trump administration’s executive order suspending refugee resettlement as well as withholding funds for those services appropriated by Congress.
Linda Evarts, the International Refugee Assistance Project’s lead attorney on the suit, is urging the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington to issue a temporary restraining order; an injunction on the suspension of the processing and admissions for refugees; and resumed funding by the State Department for the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program for processing applications and post-arrival services.
“This is a program that was created by Congress and the president cannot just override it with a stroke of a pen,” she said. “The longer his suspension lasts, the longer the harm will take to repair, if it can ever be repaired.”
The International Refugee Assistance Project filed the lawsuit on behalf of faith groups Church World Service, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and Lutheran Community Services Northwest, as well as refugees who had their resettlement flights canceled, a local refugee sponsor and families trying to reunite.
