Catholic leaders praise court blocking Trumps refugee order

A Feb. 9 ruling by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld a temporary restraining order that in effect froze Trump’s executive order on refugees was met with basically unanimous praise by leaders of Catholic relief agencies in the U.S.



Thousands gather at Denver's City Center Park for a rally in support of the Muslim community and to protest President Donald Trump's executive order to temporarily ban some refugees from seven mostly Muslim countries, in Denver, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017. (Credit: AP Photo/Brennan Linsley.)

Mark Zimmermann
February 10, 2017

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A unanimous court ruling that kept a temporary restraining order in place blocking President Donald Trump’s executive order on refugees from being enforced was unanimously praised by representatives of U.S. Catholic relief agencies interviewed the next day by Crux.

The Feb. 9 ruling by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld a temporary restraining order by a U.S. District Court in Washington State that in effect froze Trump’s executive order that would have prevented refugees from entering the country for 120 days and imposed a 90-day “travel ban” on people coming from seven predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East and Africa that have been linked to terrorist activity.

“We’re encouraged by the decision, especially because it allows us to continue to welcome refugees to the United States,” Matt Wilch, the refugee policy adviser for Migration and Refugee Services of the U.S. Catholic Conference of Catholic Bishops, told Crux.

Of the 85,000 refugees resettled in the United States last year, Migration and Refugee Services (MRS), working with Catholic Charities, parishes and affiliated agencies, resettled 23,000 of those refugees.

https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2017/02/10/catholic-leaders-praise-court-blocking-trumps-refugee-order/