Federal judge orders Trump admin to immediately resettle 12K migrants

A federal judge on Monday ordered the Trump administration to immediately resettle some 12,000 refugees into the U.S. under a court order that partially blocks President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at halting the refugee admissions program. 

U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead, a 2023 appointee of former President Joe Biden, issued the order despite the Trump administration saying during a hearing last week that it should only have to process 160 refugees into the country and would likely appeal any order requiring thousands to be admitted.

“This Court will not entertain the Government’s result-oriented rewriting of a judicial order that clearly says what it says,” Whitehead wrote Monday. “The Government is free, of course, to seek further clarification from the Ninth Circuit. But the Government is not free to disobey statutory and constitutional law — and the direct orders of this Court and the Ninth Circuit — while it seeks such clarification.” 

U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead ordered the Trump administration to immediately resettle some 12,000 refugees into the U.S. on Monday. (Canaryredgiant/Wikipedia)

Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office suspending refugee resettlement and ordering the Department of Homeland Security to report back in 90 days on whether resuming resettlement would be in the interests of the U.S.

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Signs are seen as Tshishiku Henry, a former refugee and Washington State Delegate for the Refugee Congress, speaks during a rally outside the U.S District Court after a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump’s effort to halt the nation’s refugee admissions system, Feb. 25, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun, File)

In February, Whitehead blocked the Trump administration’s move to suspend refugee admissions into the United States in response to a lawsuit from refugee aid groups.

Whitehead said at the time that Trump’s actions were an “effective nullification of congressional will” in setting up the nation’s refugee admissions program.

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Whitehead ordered the Trump administration within the next seven days to resume processing the cases of refugees who are protected by the court order. 

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The federal judge also told the government to immediately take steps to facilitate admission to the U.S. for those refugees whose clearances, including medical and security authorizations, have not yet lapsed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.