The Dictatorship
Trump faces another lawsuit from religious leaders over his immigration moves
The Trump administration is facing yet another lawsuit over the president’s executive orders on immigrationthis time from Catholic bishops in the U.S. who accuse the administration of breaking the law when it abruptly halted federal funds for refugee resettlement programs.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops filed the complaint in a federal court in D.C. on Tuesday, accusing the administration of violating Congress’ appropriation powers and of suspending the funding “without public notice and opportunity to comment” as required by law.
The funding pause has left the conference with “millions of dollars in pending, unpaid reimbursements for services already rendered to refugees,” forcing the conference to lay off 50 employees and causing “irreparable damage” to its programs and its relationship with the refugees it serves, the complaint says.
The USCCB is one of several national organizations — most of them faith-based — that receives federal funding to help refugee populations settle in the U.S. Those groups have been left in limbo since late January, when the Trump administration announced an immediate pause in funding for refugee resettlement agencies as it reviews foreign aid programs.
The Trump White House has faced resistance from religious organizations over its sweeping immigration crackdown. Last week, 27 Christian and Jewish groups sued the administration for ending a policy that restricted immigration officials from conducting operations in places of worship. The complaint follows a similar lawsuit from Quaker groups, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and a Sikh temple.
President Trump and his allies have also attacked religious leaders for criticizing the administration’s deportation efforts. Last month, Trump denounced an Episcopal bishop who pleaded with him to “have mercy” on immigrants in a sermon, calling her a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater.” Vice President JD Vance and “border czar” Tom Homan have publicly sparred with Pope Francis over immigration as well, with Vance and Homan, who are both Catholic, essentially telling the head of the Catholic church to mind his own business.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking/trending news blogger for BLN Digital. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.