July 14, 2025
Last updated: Thursday, July 17, 2025
This resource provides daily updates from the CWS policy team in your inbox on the latest policy changes; the morning’s headlines on key issues impacting refugees and immigrants; and updated tools to take action. Subscribe now to receive daily updates on the latest developments and ways to support impacted communities.
The Latest: By Monday, July 21, the Trump administration must identify and begin contacting refugees whom the judge in the Pacito case has deemed “review eligible.” By July 28, thousands of refugees who had flights booked to the U.S. that were canceled after December 1, 2024 must be notified that their case is eligible for review. Shortly thereafter, Resettlement Support Centers will issue a standardized survey to eligible refugees to better determine their reliance interests as their cases go before the court-appointed third party neutral arbiter.
See CWS’ statement on the most recent ruling here, and an explainer on the major components of the new framework for considering refugees here.
Senate narrowly passes “rescissions” package clawing back $9 billion in federal funding, including for humanitarian assistance programs. If passed, the bill will revoke certain funds for accounts such as the Migration and Refugee Assistance account – which funds the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and overseas support for refugees – and the International Disaster Assistance account – which funds humanitarian aid, including for those who have been internally displaced overseas. It remains unclear which specific programs would be cut as a result of the package. The bill now returns to the House for consideration, where it faces a statutory deadline of July 18 to pass into law.
ACLU challenges decision to limit Head Start eligibility as agencies cut off undocumented immigrants and many humanitarian arrivals from essential programs. On July 15, the ACLU announced that it is challenging the administration’s decision to exclude many immigrant families from participation in the Head Start program.
On July 10, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a change in its interpretation of the term “federal public benefit” that renders many newcomers – including undocumented people, Temporary Protected Status recipients, survivors of trafficking, children seeking asylum or protection from torture, certain humanitarian parolees, and other humanitarian arrivals – ineligible for Head Start and a range of other programs and services designed to support communities’ health and flourishing. The initial list of services that HHS intends to restrict includes mental health support and assistance for people facing homelessness. The new guidance acknowledges that the nonprofits that administer these programs have not previously been required to verify individuals’ immigration statuses, but provides no suggestions on how organizations should implement verification requirements.
The Departments of Agriculture, Education, Labor, and Justice also have issued orders regarding federal public benefits eligibility in recent weeks, though the HHS guidance is likely to have the most sweeping effects on communities’ access to services.
Many humanitarian arrivals are also set to face restrictions in accessing SNAP, Medicaid, Medicare, and Affordable Care Act benefits as a result of the multibillion dollar reconciliation bill that Congress recently passed – with the SNAP restrictions going into effect first.
Landlords subject to “immigration enforcement subpoenas” seeking tenants’ personal data. Federal officials are issuing subpoenas demanding that landlords turn over their tenants’ personal information including leases, rental applications, and forwarding addresses. It remains unclear how many subpoenas the administration has sent to landlords, but the requests seem to be issued without a judge’s signature. One subpoena obtained by the Associated Press threatens contempt of court charges should the landlord refuse to share tenant information. However, for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to have the legal right to enforce the subpoenas, it would have to obtain a judge’s signature. Attorneys for property managers and landlords have advised that it is legal to ignore the requests.
New polling shows Americans’ rising support for immigrants. A Gallup poll published on July 11 shows that a record 79% of U.S. adults say immigration is good for the country. As the administration’s mass deportation efforts continue, just 35% of American adults say they approve of the Trump administration’s handling of immigration. The polling marks a significant turn in public opinion toward welcoming policies, including a pathway to citizenship for undocumented people.
Afghans face deportation from Iran as tensions rise. The Iranian government is forcibly expelling nearly 20,000 Afghans a day in an immigration crackdown fueled by rising xenophobia. Over 1.4 million Afghans seeking refuge in Iran have fled the country or been deported to Afghanistan since January, including many who were born in Iran or have lived there for decades. The expulsion campaign has grown more fervent as tensions between Iran and Israel have escalated. The Iranian government and state media have claimed without evidence that the U.S. and Israel recruited Afghans to aid their militaries and perpetrate attacks against civilians. Iranian security forces have raided communities and workplaces and detained Afghans in overcrowded facilities before deporting them to squalid camps on Afghanistan’s western border. The sudden forced migration threatens to destabilize Afghanistan, where conditions remain precarious, particularly for girls and women.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is facing litigation regarding its attempt to terminate Temporary Protected Status for 11,700 Afghans living in the United States. A federal judge in Maryland stayed the termination through July 21.
Doaa is a single mom with three children who have been forcibly displaced and are currently living as refugees in Cairo, Egypt. She was referred to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program because of her status as a refugee and because she has family already living in New Jersey. She and her children went through the lengthy vetting and screening process and finally had their travel booked to the U.S. – but her flight was among those cancelled by Trump’s indefinite refugee admissions ban. The children are 19, 15, and 13. The case file shows the family as: “Survivors of Violence and Torture.”
The Sung family are refugees from Myanmar who were split up as they fled for safe harbor. Part of the family has been resettled in Texas, and they have been waiting for years as the rest of the family goes through the resettlement process. The flight was scheduled for early February, and the family here bought a four-bedroom home just to accommodate them. Their flight was cancelled at the last minute.
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