Judge Jamal Whitehead issued a strongly worded order last night in Pacito v. Trump, detailing a comprehensive compliance schedule to make sure the administration follows earlier decisions to resume processing, admissions, and resettlement support for refugees whose flights were canceled due to the Trump administration’s refugee ban.
The judge initially clarified the number of refugees that the administration must process and resettle in the ruling dated May 5. According to the Ninth Circuit, Judge Whitehead’s preliminary injunction still protects refugees who had “arranged and confirmed travel plans to the United States” as of January 20.
An attorney for the Department of Justice contended in a May 1 status conference that the Ninth Circuit decision only applied to people whose travel was scheduled to take place within two weeks of January 20.
Judge Whitehead rejected the government’s restrictive interpretation in the May 5 decision, calling it “interpretive jiggery-pokery” and requiring “hallucinating new text that simply is not there.” The order determined that all 12,000 or more people who had flights scheduled to arrive in the United States as of January 20 are included in the category of “injunction-protected refugees.”
A thorough compliance framework and important reporting obligations were also enforced by the order, and these included:
The administration must direct agencies and employees to continue processing refugees covered by the injunction within seven days after the order, which is Monday, May 12. Resettlement Support Center (RSC) contracts involved in processing abroad should be unsuspended, and RSC access to important databases such as START, FileCloud, and RPC Help Desk (ITSM) should be restored.
For the hundreds of refugees whose screens have not yet expired, create and submit a plan, including a schedule, to renew travel, security, and medical clearances, as well as to take “immediate steps to facilitate travel and admission.” Ensure that the U.S. remains prepared to welcome refugees who had their flights canceled due to the refugee ban.
The administration is required to notify all refugees covered by the decision that the government would resume processing and resettlement within 14 days of the ruling, which is Monday, May 19. Contracts with domestic resettlement organizations that offer Reception & Placement (R&P) services to refugees protected by injunction should be lifted.
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Allow refugees to travel independently and resume IOM-facilitated travel to the United States.
The administration must completely resume post-arrival services (and guarantee service providers can obtain timely reimbursements) for admitted injunction-protected refugees within 21 days of the order (by Monday, May 26).
These services include housing, transportation, job training and placement, financial and medical support, and case management. Make sure R&P support is available to all refugees who may have visited the United States on their own.
According to the order, the administration must process, admit, and relocate refugees as well as “restore funding, information, and operational support” to USRAP partners “immediately.” It also lays out strict reporting requirements for the administration to prove that it is adhering to the aforementioned schedule. (The original’s emphasis.) See the case’s most recent filings here.
The court upholds that the administration cannot deny parole to Venezuelans, Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans: A federal appeals court upheld an April 14 preliminary injunction that prevents the administration from systematically revoking safeguards for around 400,000 humanitarian parolees from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
Many other parolees who entered the country through the CBP One app and were informed that their parole would expire in seven days have not yet had a lawsuit brought on their behalf.
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Administration actions to encourage “self-deportation“: The Trump administration declared yesterday that it will give a $1,000 stipend to foreign nationals who “self-deport.” The Biden administration launched CBP Home, a smartphone app, as CBP One to help asylum seekers legally enter the United States, and the agency reported at least one person has already received compensation for their deportation to Honduras.
In a statement, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) called the plan a “trap” and “a profoundly dishonest and unethical ploy.” The strategy may mislead people into thinking there will be no repercussions for returning to the US, as it targets “those who are in the middle of asylum proceedings and have not had their fair day in court.”
The announced financial incentive program comes after the administration, which has had difficulty carrying out President Trump’s promise to deport millions of people, has used several strategies to try to scare immigrants into leaving the country.
These strategies include carrying out high-profile raids, canceling immigrants’ Social Security numbers, and launching a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign that threatens enforcement actions against those who stay.
The detention deal between the U.S. and El Salvador has new details: Details of the Trump administration’s March talks with the Salvadoran government to hold suspected members of a Venezuelan gang in a renowned Salvadoran jail are revealed by a comprehensive Washington Post investigation.
According to the article, after undergoing a rigorous screening process, at least two of the men detained in El Salvador were admitted to the US as refugees. Many had outstanding asylum petitions, and at least four were under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) due to the dangers posed by their resistance to the Venezuelan administration.