Texas refugee aid group sues to unfreeze $36 million in federal funds

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Catholic Charities Fort Worth, a nonprofit organization that serves as Texas’ refugee resettlement office, has sued the Trump administration, claiming the federal government has withheld more than $36 million in grants, leading its partners to lay off workers and close some offices.

The nonprofit has been in charge of the state’s refugee resettlement programs since 2017. The state dropped out of the program in 2016, leaving a network of organizations to help refugees acclimate to Texas.

The lawsuit, filed on Monday in federal district court in Washington, D.C., names the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The charity claims 750 people have been laid off or furloughed at its partner organizations since the Department of Health and Human Services froze the funds earlier this year.

“These funds, mandated by law for organizations contracted by the federal government to care for these individuals and families, are crucial for providing essential services to those fleeing persecution in their home countries,” said a statement by both Catholic Charities CEO Michael Iglio and Jeff Demers, state refugee coordinator of the Texas Office for Refugees.

The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to The Texas Tribune's email request for comment on the lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, Catholic Charities Fort Worth has tried to access the funds more than 14 times since Jan. 29 without success. Catholic Charities Fort Worth says in its lawsuit that the federal government’s “unlawful behavior” defies the Constitution and has caused “real-world harm” to the 100,000 people living in Texas who depend on the charity.

The organization “also faces irreparable damage to its reputation, to its ability to work with the community, and to its relationship with its subrecipients and with the federally-documented and lawfully-admitted individuals and families it serves,” the lawsuit says.

Through an executive order, the Trump administration paused the federal government’s refugee program. However, a federal judge, ruling in a different lawsuit, ordered the Trump administration to restore federal funding for grants and other programs it had abruptly frozen. Since then, other organizations have received federal funds, according to Catholic Charities Fort Worth’s lawsuit.

Disclosure: Catholic Charities Fort Worth has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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