WASHINGTON — 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.”
McFadden also ordered the two sides to have a mediation session with a federal magistrate judge next week.
“A temporary restraining order is an extraordinary remedy that should be granted sparingly,” he said. “I want to see further briefing from the parties.”
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.
The conference’s Migration and Refugee Services has sent layoff notices to more than half its staff with additional cuts expected. It’s one of 10 national agencies, most of them faith-based, sent scrambling after the State Department informed them Jan. 24 of an immediate suspension of funding pending a review of foreign-aid programs.
The administration has said the country cannot welcome additional refugees and the spending halt will allow it to align funding with the president’s priorities.
President Donald Trump suspended new refugee admissions upon taking office in January, but there were thousands of recent arrivals still within the 90-day period for which they’re eligible for resettlement aid.
McFadden was appointed by Trump to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 2017.
The State Department also argued against the bishops’ petition by saying the administration shouldn’t be subject to overlapping court orders. It noted that another federal judge has already ordered it to lift a funding freeze on foreign humanitarian aid.
The bishops conference said it spends millions on resettlement, beyond the federal reimbursements, but it can’t sustain the program without federal help.
Among the defendants in the lawsuit are the departments of State and Health and Human Services as well as their respective secretaries, Marco Rubio and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Both departments have roles in delegating resettlement work to the bishops conference.
The conference said suspending the resettlement effort will only prolong the time it takes for refugees to find employment and become self-sufficient.
Trump, whose first administration sharply cut refugee admissions, immediately suspended the decades-old program upon taking office again in January. He and his proxies have criticized refugee resettlement and other avenues of immigration.
Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, recently accused the bishops conference of resettling “illegal immigrants” in order to get millions in federal funding — an apparent reference to the resettlement program, which involves actually legally approved refugees.
Vance followed up his criticisms by appealing to Catholic teaching as justifying immigration restrictions. That drew rejoinders not only from U.S. bishops but an implicit rebuke from Pope Francis, who said Christian charity requires helping those in need, not just those in one’s closest circles.
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Smith reported from Pittsburgh. Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.