Federal Judge Orders Trump Administration to Admit 12,000 Refugees Previously Barred by Travel Ban
In a sharp rebuke to the Trump administration’s immigration stance, U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead on Monday ordered the government to allow approximately 12,000 refugees into the United States—individuals who had previously been granted refugee status but were barred from entry under a controversial executive order.
The decision follows a legal challenge mounted by several faith-based and humanitarian organizations, including HIAS, Church World Service, and Lutheran Community Services Northwest. The plaintiffs argued that many refugees—some of whom had sold all their possessions in preparation for relocation—were left stranded after the Trump administration’s abrupt suspension of the refugee admissions program in January.
The administration contended that the court order should apply to just 160 refugees who had confirmed travel plans within two weeks of the January ban. But Judge Whitehead flatly rejected that interpretation, calling it “interpretive jiggery-pokery of the highest order.”
“It requires not just reading between the lines,” Whitehead wrote in a sharply worded ruling, “but hallucinating new text that simply is not there.”
Whitehead previously blocked the Trump administration’s executive order in February, deeming it likely in violation of the 1980 Refugee Act. However, his ruling was later narrowed by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Monday’s order clarifies that the appellate court’s decision does not authorize such a narrow interpretation as the government proposed.
“Had the Ninth Circuit intended to limit protections to just two weeks or 160 individuals, it would have said so explicitly,” Whitehead added. “This Court will not entertain the government’s result-oriented rewriting of a judicial order that clearly says what it says.”
The ruling is a significant setback for Trump’s hardline immigration agenda, which has featured sweeping travel bans, drastic cuts to refugee admissions, and highly publicized deportations. The refugee program—long considered one of the few legal pathways to U.S. citizenship—was drastically curtailed under Trump after having been expanded under former President Joe Biden, who also sought to include climate-affected individuals within eligibility criteria.
The decision is expected to pave the way for thousands of refugees left in limbo to finally complete their resettlement process in the U.S., marking a potential turning point in a years-long legal and political battle over refugee policy.
