A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump's Day One executive order to suspend the U.S. refugee program, siding with a coalition of resettlement groups challenging its suspension and the cutoff of funding for organizations serving refugees already in the country.
In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead said that Trump's order nullified the "congressional will" behind the refugee admissions program, which originated from the Refugee Act of 1980—a bipartisan effort signed into law by President Jimmy Carter to standardize refugee resettlement and reinforce America's humanitarian commitments.
