Let’s get a quick win on this, please.
Catholic Charities Fort Worth is accusing the federal government of unlawfully withholding more than $36 million in refugee resettlement funds, leading to staff layoffs and program cuts across Texas.
The charity, which oversees the Texas Office for Refugees, filed a lawsuit March 3 against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to unfreeze federal grant funding allocated to Catholic Charities Fort Worth’s refugee resettlement program.
Catholic Charities Fort Worth has acted as the replacement agency for the state’s Office of Refugee Resettlement since October 2021. Texas withdrew from the nation’s refugee resettlement program in 2016, effectively leaving nonprofits to administer federal refugee funds.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is one of many submitted by refugee resettlement agencies and religious groups over federal funding changes. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Jan. 20 pausing the federal refugee program.
As part of the order, the White House sought to freeze all federal funding, including organizations that work with resettling refugees. A federal judge temporarily blocked the effort Jan. 25. The Trump administration rescinded the order Jan. 29 after outcry against the move that would have paused most federal grants and loans.
The lawsuit alleges that while “many entities have received their federal funding in the weeks since the attempted funding freeze,” Catholic Charities Fort Worth “has not been able to draw down any funds — and has not received any indication why its funds remain frozen.”
“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,” according to a joint statement from Catholic Charities CEO Michael Iglio and Jeff Demers, state refugee coordinator of the Texas Office for Refugees.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Catholic Charities Fort Worth officials say they have submitted 14 requests for funding since Jan. 29, totaling more than $36 million. The organization has not received “one dollar of those requests,” lawyers wrote.
“The consequences of this pause on federal funding have been devastating for (Catholic Charities Fort Worth) and the 100,000 individuals and families that it supports,” according to the March 3 filing.
Of the charity’s 29 partner agencies, 24 have had to lay off staff or furlough employees, leading to a 64% drop in staffing capacity in cities like Dallas and Houston. By the end of February 2025, nearly 750 partner agency staff had been laid off or furloughed as a result of the funding freeze, according to the lawsuit.
Over 10,000 individuals served by Catholic Charities Fort Worth agencies have been unable to receive cash assistance, “which has led to evictions from apartments, apartment occupancy dropping, and the potential that apartment complexes will not be able to operate and owners will have to sell and shut down operations,” according to the lawsuit.
See here for some background on the original funding freeze. We have seen in the context of the National Institutes of Health, getting the initial freeze unfrozen is no guarantee that funding will flow again, so that part of this isn’t surprising. That the continued freeze appears to be specific to one charitable organization is at least somewhat surprising, but given the recent harassment of Catholic Charities by the state, perhaps not so surprising. One doesn’t need to be a conspiracy theorist to suspect a connection – these guys don’t do “subtle”. I wish CCFW all the best. The Chron, the Trib, and the Houston Landing have more.
In case you were wondering, this is how things stand- https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/3/2307715/-A-perfect-summing-up-of-the-Trump-Russia-relationship-in-one-parade-float-from-Germany?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web