Silver Spring, MD – Today, HIAS joined two other refugee resettlement agencies as a plaintiff in Pacito vs. Trump, the first lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s Executive Order (EO), issued on January 20, 2025, that suspended the U.S. refugee resettlement program (USRAP). The lawsuit also challenges subsequent federal stop-work orders on State Department funding for refugee resettlement.
“This new version of a refugee ban is both illegal and immoral,” said Mark Hetfield, HIAS President. “HIAS will always fight for the rights and safety of refugees, and for the vision of the U.S. as a haven that welcomes people who flee persecution. The American Jewish community owes its very existence to those times when the United States opened its doors to refugees fleeing anti-Semitism and persecution. We know the stakes right now, and we are rising to meet the moment.”
HIAS has partnered with the United States government since the USRAP was first established by the Refugee Act of 1980. Until President Trump dismantled refugee resettlement, HIAS led the Equitable Resettlement Access Consortium to identify and refer particularly vulnerable refugees for resettlement to the U.S. HIAS also worked in partnership with local social service agencies in 30 communities across 17 states to welcome refugees as new Americans and settle them in their new homes.
Critically, until the suspension of their work, HIAS-administered Resettlement Support Centers (RSCs) in Austria and Croatia helped Iranian Christians, Jews, and Baha’i escape the Islamic Republic of Iran and prepared resettlement applications for African refugees stuck in limbo in Israel. “I am particularly shocked that President Trump has slammed America’s door shut even on religious minorities who will now be trapped in Iran.” Hetfield said.
The lawsuit was filed by the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) on behalf of Church World Service (CWS), HIAS, and Lutheran Community Services Northwest (LCSNW) in addition to nine individual plaintiffs.
Filed in the Western District of Washington State, the complaint asks the court to declare the refugee ban executive order illegal and restore funding currently frozen pursuant to the stop-work orders.
“Every day, we see the grave and devastating impact of Trump’s efforts to dismantle the USRAP,” said Hetfield. “There are now people stranded all around the world after they’ve undergone years of standing in line to be vetted and approved for resettlement in the U.S.”
As a Jewish agency dedicated to refugees, one that has been around for more than 120 years, HIAS will continue to envision a world where those seeking protection can be welcomed — and where the United States can be a beacon of that for the rest of the world in the decades to come.
To hear more about this effort and HIAS’ work to protect welcome and speak with a member of the HIAS team, contact media@hias.org.
