Federal judge orders the White House to accept 12,000 refugees in the United States

Published at: 06/05/2025 12:22 PM

Federal Judge Jamal Whitehead ordered the White House to admit about 12,000 refugees to the United States (USA), in contrast to the criminal immigration policies of President Donald Trump.

The order clarifies the limits imposed by an appeals court that allowed the government to suspend the refugee admission system, but indicated that it must receive people who have already been granted refugee status.

The Trump administration argued last week at a hearing that it should only admit 160 refugees who were scheduled to travel in the two weeks following an executive order in January that suspended the system. But Whitehead rejected the argument on Monday, noting that “the government's interpretation is, to put it mildly, an 'interpretative scam' of the highest level.”

In February, Whitehead blocked Trump's executive order suspending the refugee admission system, determining that it violated the Refugee Act of 1980. But his decision was rejected a month later by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. “If the 9th Circuit wanted to impose a two-week limitation, one that would have reduced the protected population from about 12,000 to 160 individuals, it would have done so explicitly,” Whitehead wrote.

The case was raised by the Jewish refugee NGO HIAS, the Christian group Church World Service, Lutheran Community Services and several individuals. These NGOs indicated in February in their lawsuit that several people who were about to travel after selling their belongings in their countries were left in legal limbo because of Trump's order.

Refugee resettlement is one of the few legal routes to eventually obtaining U.S. citizenship, and former President Joe Biden expanded the requirements to be eligible for the program, to include populations affected by climate change. Trump has promoted a tough program of deportation on militarized flights that take handcuffed people to Latin American countries.

VTV/Mazo News Team