{"id":2646287,"date":"2026-08-18T05:20:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T09:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-grills-doj-over-decision-to-end-refugee-status-for-rwandan-immigrants\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T05:25:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T09:25:22","slug":"court-grills-doj-over-decision-to-end-refugee-status-for-rwandan-immigrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-grills-doj-over-decision-to-end-refugee-status-for-rwandan-immigrants\/","title":{"rendered":"Court grills DOJ over decision to end refugee status for Rwandan immigrants"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcourt-grills-doj-over-decision-to-end-refugee-status-for-rwandan-immigrants%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2646287&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A federal appeals court questioned teh Justice Department&#8217;s claim that two Rwandan refugees cannot challenge the revocation of their refugee status in court. The hearing took place in the U.S. Court of appeals for the 10th circuit, which requested new arguments after the Supreme Court\u2019s June decision in Mullin v. Doe. That ruling limited courts&#8217; ability to review certain immigration decisions,and the DOJ argued it should guide the current case as well. However, the refugees&#8217; lawyers argued that the Mullin decision applies only to removal proceedings, not to the termination of refugee status, which they say is a final agency action not subject to judicial review in the same way. The panel questioned both sides, with some judges skeptical of the DOJ&#8217;s reliance on Mullin, and the court did not indicate when a decision might be made. the case centers on whether the refugees can legally challenge the termination of their refugee status in federal court.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A federal <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/appeals-courts\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"1537\">appeals court<\/a> grilled the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/department-of-justice\/\" data-type=\"post_tag\" data-id=\"438\">Justice Department<\/a> on Monday over its assertion that two Rwandan nationals may not challenge the revocation of their refugee status in court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit heard arguments brought by both the DOJ and the lawyers for the two Rwandan refugees. The panel requested a new oral argument session after the Supreme Court\u2019s June ruling in <em>Mullin v. Doe<\/em>. In the <em>Mullin<\/em> case, the high court ruled that federal immigration law barred courts from reviewing the decision by the Trump administration to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mayorkas-building-bureaucratic-bridge-to-import-more-ukrainian-migrants\/\" title=\"Mayorkas Building Bureaucratic Bridge to Import More Ukrainian Migrants\">end temporary protected status<\/a> for various countries. After that decision, the DOJ asked the appeals court to reconsider its ruling in the case of the Rwandans, asserting that the <em>Mullin<\/em> decision provides a blueprint for how the 10th Circuit should act in this case.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/immigration\/4689892\/appeals-court-doj-trump-decision-refugee-status-rwandan-immigrants\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Appeals court grills DOJ over Trump\u2019s decision to end refugee status for Rwandan immigrants<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/4690689\/trump-doj-obama-judge-abrego-garcia-case\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Trump DOJ accuses Obama judge of \u2018Monday-morning quarterbacking\u2019 in bid to revive Abrego Garcia case<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/immigration\/4690010\/tom-homan-fires-back-abolish-ice-democrats-fentanyl-trafficking-151000-kids-found\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Tom Homan fires back at \u2018abolish ICE\u2019 Democrats: Fentanyl, trafficking, and 151,000 children found<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are looking at an act where Congress has throughout insulated certain discretionary decisions by the executive in the immigration context, and specifically in clause 1, Congress insulated judicial review over certain judgments and any other decision or action,\u201d DOJ lawyer Aneesa Ahmed told the panel, relating the <em>Mullin<\/em> ruling to the case at hand.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Multiple judges pushed back on Ahmed\u2019s assertion that the <em>Mullin<\/em> ruling proves their case, sparring over the specific language of federal immigration law and whether it offers an avenue for review in federal courts. Ahmed emphasized that, at the conclusion of removal proceedings in immigration court, the two refugees could ultimately raise any legal challenges in a petition for review to a federal circuit court.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The DOJ requested that the appeals court affirm the district court\u2019s ruling tossing out the challenge by the refugees, after the panel had previously sided with the refugees earlier this year prior to the Supreme Court\u2019s <em>Mullin<\/em> ruling.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Daniel Black, a lawyer for the two refugees, urged the appeals court to allow the legal challenge to proceed, claiming that <em>Mullin<\/em> dealt with a different part of immigration law and that the judicial review bar does not apply in this case to the two Rwandan refugees.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe termination of refugee status is discrete, final agency action that strips a vested status, and this Court has already held that it does not arise from removal proceedings,\u201d lawyers for the refugees said in a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/storage.courtlistener.com\/recap\/gov.uscourts.ca10.88592\/gov.uscourts.ca10.88592.80.0.pdf\">filing<\/a> ahead of Monday\u2019s hearing. \u201cNo petition for review can reach it: the immigration courts do not review USCIS refugee-status terminations, and 8 U.S.C. \u00a7 1252(b)(4)(A) confines any petition for review to \u2018the administrative record on which the order of removal is based\u2019 \u2014 a record which the refugee termination never enters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBecause no other adequate remedy exists in a court, the [Administrative Procedure Act] supplies review in the only forum the statute leaves open: the District Court,\u201d the refugees\u2019 filing continued.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/supreme-court\/4686089\/female-only-spa-washington-supreme-court\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"4686089\">FEMALE-ONLY SPA ASKS SUPREME COURT TO LET THEM BAN \u2018SWINGING D***S\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The appeals court panel also appeared skeptical of Black\u2019s arguments, peppering him with sharp questions over the scope of the <em>Mullin<\/em> ruling and how it relates to this part of immigration law.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 10th Circuit panel included U.S. Circuit Judges Timothy Tymkovich, an appointee of former President George W. Bush; Gregory Phillips, an appointee of former President Barack Obama; and Carolyn McHugh, an Obama appointee. The appeals court, which oversees federal courts in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming, did not indicate how it would rule or offer a timeline for when a ruling would come.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-25\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>10th Circuit questions DOJ on Rwandan refugees&#8217; legal challenge<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2638,"featured_media":2646288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20238803264413.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[7076,4901,5523,84305],"class_list":["post-2646287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-doj","tag-justice","tag-refugees","tag-rwandan-immigrants"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20238803264413.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2638"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2646287"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2646291,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646287\/revisions\/2646291"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2646288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2646287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2646287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2646287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}