The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops launches legal battle after Trump’s sudden refugee funding cut

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has taken legal action against President Donald Trump’s administration for halting funding to a refugee resettlement program on Wednesday. The USCCB filing joins a litany of lawsuits seeking to prevent Trump from ending funding for various government programs and agencies; the suit relates to the Refugee Act of 1980, under which the USCCB worked with the U.S. government to resettle over 930,000 refugees, the lawsuit claims.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is an assembly of the hierarchy of bishops who jointly exercise pastoral functions on behalf of the Christian faithful of the United States and the U.S. Virgin Islands. They promote the common good that the Church offers humankind. 

Their purposes under civil law are to unify, coordinate, encourage, promote and carry on Catholic activities in the United States; organize and conduct religious, charitable and social welfare work at home and abroad; to aid in education; to care for immigrants; and generally to enter into and promote by education, publication and direction the objects of its being.

Their mission is to support the ministry of bishops, emphasizing evangelization. This mission calls the Conference to act collaboratively and consistently on vital issues confronting the Church and society, foster communion with the Church in other nations, within the Church universal, under the leadership of its supreme pastor, the Roman Pontiff, offering appropriate assistance to each bishop in fulfilling his particular ministry in the local Church (Cf. Apostolos suos, 1998.)by which the bishops exercise in a communal and collegial manner certain pastoral functions entrusted to them by the Lord Jesus of sanctifying, teaching, and governing.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: A legal battle over refugee aid

“For decades, the US government has chosen to admit refugees and outsourced its statutory responsibility to provide those refugees with resettlement assistance to non-profit organizations like USCCB. Still, now, after refugees have arrived and been placed in USCCB’s care, the government is attempting to pull the rug out from under USCCB’s programs by halting funding,” the lawsuit reads, according to the Catholic Herald.

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The State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration issued a suspension letter for the program soon after Trump entered office. However, the USCCB argues the letter made clear that the department would reimburse the USCCB for its work up to Jan. 24.

The USCCB lawsuit argues that it has not received reimbursement up to Jan. 24 and that it is illegal for the Trump administration to cut off congressionally approved funding unilaterally. In the same vein, thousands of recently arrived refugees might lose support for necessities like food and rent after the Trump administration suspended federal funding for resettlement agencies; there is widespread confusion as agency leaders seek greater clarity from the government; the most pressing question is how they will continue supporting refugees already under their care in the United States.

The Conference noted that the funding freeze has forced it to begin off-rolling 50 employees focused on refugee resettlement. The lawsuit came days after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to lift its three-week funding freeze on U.S. foreign aid last week.

Judge Amir Ali noted in his ruling that the Trump administration argued it had to shut down funding for the thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development programs abroad to review each program thoroughly and determine whether it should be eliminated. However, the judge said that Trump officials failed to explain why a “blanket suspension” of foreign aid programs was necessary before the programs were more thoroughly reviewed. 

What’s Next?

As the legal battle unfolds, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) remains firm in supporting refugees and holding the government accountable. This lawsuit represents a fight for funding and a broader challenge to the Trump administration’s stance on immigration and humanitarian aid.

With thousands of refugees depending on these services for survival and integration into American society, the outcome of this case could have profound implications for the future of refugee resettlement in the United States.