03-03-2025
Texas' refugee designee sues U.S. health department, RFK Jr. over prolonged funding pause
A lawsuit filed on Monday by Texas's refugee services coordinating agency alleges that the federal government has 'unlawfully' deprived the state's service providers of more than $36 million in reimbursements since late January.
Catholic Charities Fort Worth, the parent organization for the Texas Office for Refugees, sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., alleging that reimbursements to CCFW have not resumed since the Trump Administration rescinded a memo freezing all federal grant payments in late January.
'[M]any entities have received their federal funding in the weeks since the attempted funding freeze,' the complaint reads. 'CCFW has not been able to draw down any funds—and has not received any indication why its funds remain frozen.'
Recently: Austin refugee organizations panicking amid prolonged halt in federal funding
That funding covers the cost of services like workforce development, cash assistance, case management, and English classes for approximately 100,000 authorized immigrants across the state.
The lawsuit claims that the Trump Administration has ignored its own January memorandum to resume federal grant payments, as well two federal court orders that mandated the release of federal dollars.
Neither the health department nor the Administration for Children and Families, the health department division that oversees the reimbursement-authorizing Office of Refugee Resettlement, immediately responded to a request for comment from the American-Statesman.
Along with running its own services, the Texas Office for Refugees is in charge of reimbursing refugee service providers across Texas. Locally, the cut-off has led providers to cease services and furlough staff, the Statesman has previously reported.
'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,' CCFW CEO Michael Iglio and Jeff Demers, State Refugee Coordinator at the Texas Office of Refugees, said in a written statement to the Statesman. 'Despite four attempts in January to secure payment—followed by ten additional requests over the next four weeks—HHS has unlawfully continued withholding the financial support allocated under existing grant agreements.'
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Catholic Charities Fort Worth sues feds over prolonged funding pause
