In the wake of two important executive orders from President Trump this year regarding refugees, Governor Ivey has pulled the plug on a lawsuit filed by her predecessor, Robert Bentley. The suit challenged the federal government’s attempt to resettle refugees against without providing key information to the state.
The President filed one executive order in January and another in March, both aimed at temporarily block immigration from certain Muslim-majority countries like Syria. After hitting roadblocks in federal court with both orders, Trump has now proposed a 25 percent cut in funds for refugee resettlement.
According to an Associated Press report, Ivey’s general counsel, Bryan Taylor, says that the Governor withdrew the lawsuit with confidence that President Trump is addressing the matter on the federal level. “Governor Ivey welcomes the Trump administration’s change in policy to involve the states in the refugee resettlement process,” Taylor said. “Those concerns have now been addressed, and the litigation is ended.”
In January of 2016, former Governor Robert Bentley announced the State of Alabama had filed a suit against the federal government for failing to comply with the Refugee Act of 1980. The law specifically requires the federal government to consult with states before placing refugees within their borders, though the Bentley administration claimed no such consultation had occurred. The lawsuit charged that the U.S government agencies named as defendants failed to provide the state with sufficient information about the refugees who have settled or will be settled in Alabama. The suit was later tossed out by a federal judge.
According to a recent report from the U.S. State Department, only 46 refugees have arrived in Alabama between October 2016 and April of this year.
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