article: On November 21, 2019, three refugee resettlement agencies filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, challenging the Trump Administration's recent Executive Order, "Enhancing State and Local Involvement in Refugee Resettlement." The agencies (HIAS, Inc., Church World Service, Inc., and Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Service, Inc.), represented by the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), sued President Trump, the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Health and Human Services. The plaintiffs alleged that the President’s September 26, 2019, Executive Order violated the Refugee Act of 1980, the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. §§ 551 et seq.), and principles of federalism. The plaintiffs sought declaratory relief, as well as a preliminary and permanent injunction to enjoin enforcement of the Order. The case was assigned to Judge Peter J. Messitte. The plaintiffs alleged that Executive Order 13888 made an unprecedented change to the refugee resettlement process by mandating that refugees not be resettled in the United States unless the state and locality where they are to be resettled take the affirmative step of providing written consent. As national refugee resettlement agencies, the plaintiffs were then charged by the federal government with the responsibility of soliciting and obtaining written consent from all states and localities where refugees they assist could be resettled. The plaintiffs claimed that such a change would provide individual states and local governments with effective veto power over refugee resettlement. The plaintiffs filed their motion for a preliminary injunction on November 22, 2019. Judge Messitte granted the plaintiffs’ motion on January 15. 2020 WL 218646. Judge Messitte concluded that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of their claims, that they faced irreparable harm, and that the Executive Order was not in the public interest. Consequently, he issued a nationwide injunction enjoining the Executive Order. The government appealed the injunction to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on February 12, 2020 (Do. 20-1160), and Judge Messitte stayed the proceedings in the district court pending resolution of that appeal on February 14, 2020. On January 8, 2021, Circuit Judge Barbara Milano Keenan upheld the preliminary injunction. 985 F.3d 309. The court held that the plaintiffs demonstrated that they were likely to succeed on their claim that the order and notice violated the Refugee Act. The court also determined that the district court did not abuse its discretion in issuing a nationwide injunction because the refugee resettlement programs were, by their nature. located throughout the country. The case is ongoing.
summary: On November 21, 2019, three refugee resettlement agencies filed this lawsuit against the Trump Administration in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, alleging that Executive Order 13888 violated the Refugee Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and principles of federalism. The plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction enjoining the Order was granted on January 15, 2020.