August 18, 2025
 Last updated: Monday, August 18, 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: The Trump administration’s indefinite refugee ban remains in place, as reporting has revealed more about conversations within the White House regarding the future of the refugee admissions program.  
An August 18 Reuters report revealed the Trump administration is discussing setting a new refugee admissions target for the coming fiscal year at 40,000. The report noted the administration continues to intend to prioritize white South Africans for resettlement, while also resettling some Afghan refugees and potentially others, including Ukrainians. Deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said of the report, “refugee admission caps will be determined next month, and any numbers discussed at this point are pure speculation.”
A refugee admissions ceiling of 40,000 for 2026 would be the lowest since the first Trump administration and would be far lower than any admissions target set by any President not named Trump since the refugee program started 45 years ago. The ongoing decision to prioritize new Afrikaner cases comes even as over 120,000 refugees remain stranded in the backlog – including tens of thousands of African refugees who fled violence and persecution in the Congo, Sudan, Somalia, and elsewhere and have been conditionally approved for resettlement after years of vetting and screening. 
Meanwhile, CWS and others continue to fight for the safe resettlement of all those who remain stranded in the refugee pipeline through the Pacito v. Trump case. Oral arguments are scheduled for September 19 in Pasadena, and we continue to wait on a decision from the Ninth Circuit on whether a compliance framework requiring the review and potential resettlement of approximately 14,000 refugees can move forward as the case proceeds. 
Starting with D.C., Trump administration tries to force local police in “sanctuary cities” to do federal immigration enforcement. As part of its broader, unprecedented efforts to conduct a federal takeover of the nation’s capital over the weekend, Attorney General Pam Bondi sent letters to “dozens” of cities warning them that they would be prosecuted and defunded if they did not “cooperate” with ICE enforcement, detention, and deportation efforts.
There is no formal definition of a “sanctuary” city or policy. However, for decades, cities, counties and states around the country have chosen to limit the extent to which their local law enforcement are required to work with and do the work of federal immigration enforcement agencies. Courts have repeatedly upheld that these policies are protected by the Constitution under the Tenth Amendment. When local police are compelled to do the work of ICE, studies show negative impacts to willingness to report violence, public health, school attendance, and family stability. 
Administration to add additional scrutiny to citizenship applications. According to an August 16 report, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) told officers last Friday to add additional factors to determine whether individuals applying for U.S. citizenship have “a good moral character.” The criteria has long been satisfied by a review of whether there is evidence of serious criminal misconduct or disqualifying behavior otherwise outlined in immigration law – but the new policy requires “a holistic assessment of the [applicant’s] behavior, adherence to social norms, and positive contributions that demonstrate good moral character.” Former USCIS official Doug Rand said the policy is designed to find more reasons to deny applications and scare people off from applying for citizenship.  
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin defends ICE detention of Afghan teen on 4th anniversary of the fall of Kabul. Governor Youngkin (R-VA) said ICE has “every authority” to detain a 19-year-old Afghan in Henrico, Virginia whose family had entered under Special Immigrant Visas due to their support for the U.S. military in Afghanistan. The boy was detained after pleading guilty to minor traffic violations. The governor’s comments came as so many around the country marked 4 years since the U.S. military’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and the fall of Kabul to the Taliban. See CWS’ statement here.
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.
Find more stories of impact here.
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