Trump’s Refugee Community Veto Shot Down in Court

President Trump’s attempt to give local governments a veto over having refugees resettled in their communities was rejected by a federal appeals court Friday, with the judges upholding a lower court that found the policy likely illegal.

Mr. Trump had signed an executive order in 2019 to create the veto, saying communities that can’t or don’t want to bear a burden from refugees should be allowed to block them.

But the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said immigration law doesn’t envision such a veto power, and the president can’t grant states, cities and counties one on his own.

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“This ruling is a rebuke to those who would hold xenophobia as the core tenet of U.S. policy on resettlement, but it also lets the world’s most vulnerable know that our country remains a place of welcome,” said the Rev. John L. McCullough, president of Church World Service, one of the groups that sued.

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Nearly every governor and dozens of local communities affirmatively said they would accept refugees, rejecting the need for a veto.

The only governor who said he would flex the veto was Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

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