A U.S. federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration must admit approximately 12,000 refugees into the country, dealing a setback to the government’s efforts to restrict immigration.
The order, issued Monday by U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead, clarifies the scope of a previous appeals court ruling that had allowed the administration to suspend the refugee admissions program but required it to process refugees already approved for travel to the U.S.
The Trump administration had argued that it should only admit 160 refugees—those scheduled to arrive within two weeks of the January executive order halting the program. However, Judge Whitehead rejected that interpretation, calling it “‘interpretive jiggery-pokery’ of the highest order.”
“It requires not just reading between the lines but hallucinating new text that simply is not there,” Whitehead wrote in his ruling.
The judge had initially blocked Trump’s refugee ban in February, stating it likely violated the 1980 Refugee Act, but the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals later overturned his decision. In his latest order, Whitehead emphasized that the appeals court never imposed a strict two-week limit, writing:
*“Had the Ninth Circuit intended to impose a two-week limitation—one that would reduce the protected population from about 12,000 to 160 individuals—it would have done so explicitly.”*
The lawsuit was filed by refugee advocacy groups, including HIAS, Church World Service, and Lutheran Community Services Northwest, along with several affected individuals. They argued that Trump’s order stranded thousands of refugees who had already sold their belongings and prepared to relocate.
Refugee resettlement has long been a legal pathway to U.S. citizenship and was expanded under former President Joe Biden to include those displaced by climate change. However, the Trump administration has pursued a strict immigration agenda, including mass deportations via military flights to Latin American countries.
The ruling marks another legal challenge to the administration’s immigration policies.
