CNA Staff, Feb 19, 2025 / 09:05 am

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is suing the Trump administration over what the bishops say is an unlawful suspension of funding for refugee programs in the United States.

Upon taking office last month, President Donald Trump issued sweeping executive orders that, among other measures, directed a freeze on foreign assistance funds and grants, with the White House seeking to uproot left-wing initiatives in federally funded programs.

The orders have led to a flurry of legal challenges from advocates and nonprofit groups arguing that the funding freeze is unlawful. Other groups such as Catholic Charities have urged the Trump administration to reconsider the freeze, citing the “crucial care” the funding helps provide.

In their lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in U.S. district court in Washington, D.C., the USCCB notes that it has worked with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration for “nearly half a century” in order to assist with refugee resettlement in the U.S.

The refugee bureau has committed “around $65 million in federal funding” to the USCCB and its affiliates for refugee services, the bishops say in their suit. Yet on Jan. 24 the State Department suspended funding “without prior notice,” with the bishops receiving a “cursory, two-page letter” informing them of the suspension.

The results of the suspension have been “devastating,” the bishops say, with the prelates reporting “millions of dollars in pending, unpaid reimbursements for services already rendered to refugees,” along with “millions more each week.”

“USCCB has already been forced to initiate layoffs for 50 employees,” the suit says. “It faces irreparable damage to its long-standing refugee resettlement programs and its reputation and relationship with its subrecipients and the refugee populations it serves.”

Downstream partners, meanwhile, have also been forced to lay off staff, the bishops say, while refugees already in the U.S. “may soon be cut off from support.

The bishops argue that the funding freeze violates the federal Administrative Procedure Act, which oversees how federal agencies administer rules and processes. The freeze also violates the separation of powers under the U.S. Constitution, the lawsuit says.

In their suit the bishops ask the court to strike down the funding suspension and block the federal government from implementing it.

Earlier this month the Jesuit Refugee Service argued that more than 100,000 refugees across the globe will be negatively impacted by the Trump funding freeze, with the pause bringing about a “total work stoppage” for the Catholic organization.

The U.S. bishops in January asked Catholics to reach out to their members of Congress and request the resumption of foreign aid funding following the White House’s freeze.

The pause “will be detrimental to millions of our sisters and brothers who need access to lifesaving humanitarian, health, and development assistance,” the bishops said.