A federal judge in Seattle on Tuesday blocked an executive order that President Trump signed shortly after he was sworn in that suspended a decades-old program admitting thousands of refugees into the United States each year.
Judge Jamal N. Whitehead of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington issued a preliminary injunction that ordered the government to effectively restore both the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and funding to refugee assistance organizations while the court considered the merits of a lawsuit to block Mr. Trump’s order.
Judge Whitehead said it appeared likely that the Trump administration had exceeded its lawful authority by suspending a program that Congress established by law in 1980. More than 3 million refugees have been admitted to the United States under the program.
The plaintiffs’ argument that the White House’s order was an “effective nullification of congressional will” was likely to prevail, Judge Whitehead, who was nominated by former President Joseph R. Biden, said in ruling from the bench.
Laurie Ball Cooper, vice president for U.S. legal programs at the International Refugee Assistance Project, a nonprofit representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement that the president’s discretion was not limitless. “The refugee ban is illegal and must be stopped,” she said.
Spokesmen for the White House and the Justice Department did not immediately return requests for comment.
The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program had persisted through seven presidencies, including Mr. Trump’s first term. The plaintiffs have accused Mr. Trump of violating the law that established the program, as well as the rule-making procedures of the Administrative Procedure Act and the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee to due process.
The nine individual plaintiffs include a 22-year-old refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo who spent two years applying to resettle in the United States, only to have his flight from Nairobi, Kenya, canceled two days after Mr. Trump signed the executive order on Jan. 20. Three organizations that receive federal funding to help refugees resettle in the United States joined them in the suit.
Mr. Trump has said that he is generally inclined to appeal unfavorable court decisions. The government could ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to stay Judge Whitehead’s ruling. A stay from the appellate court, or the Supreme Court, would put the executive order back in place while the legal challenge to it proceeds.
But even if Judge Whitehead’s preliminary injunction remains in place, it is unclear whether the administration will comply. The Trump administration has faced a wave of lawsuits challenging its actions, and agencies have been systematically finding loopholes to effectively keep Mr. Trump’s orders in place despite directives from judges.
In separate cases, two federal judges have granted requests for a “motion to enforce” — an indication from the court that the government was not promptly complying with its initial order.
While no judge has found administration officials to be in contempt of court, a social media post from Mr. Trump saying that “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law” has compounded fears that the executive branch could simply refuse to comply with court orders. Legal experts say that open defiance of the judiciary’s authority to interpret the law would mean a constitutional crisis.
Hamed Aleaziz and Miriam Jordan contributed reporting.
