Catholic Charities Fort Worth has dropped its lawsuit against the Trump administration over $47 million in refugee funding the federal government initially withheld from the organization.
Ted Waters, an attorney for Catholic Charities, told The Texas Newsroom late Tuesday that the case against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is over.
鈥淩ight now, the refugee resettlement program seems to be working pretty good, so we didn鈥檛 want to overstay our welcome at the courts,鈥� he said.
In March, Catholic Charities sued HHS and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. demanding they 鈥渦n-freeze鈥� the money. The nonprofit houses the , which manages the distribution of those federal dollars to organizations that work with refugees. It鈥檚 a program the state of Texas was responsible for until it withdrew from the program in 2016.
A federal judge ordered the government to release the $47 million to Catholic Charities in mid-March, but the case wasn鈥檛 dismissed then.
The Trump administration鈥檚 delay in releasing funds to Texas forced more than two dozen refugee organizations to cut staff and services. The money helps refugees from countries like Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Ukraine with job training, English-language classes and programs for seniors and children.
The Texas Newsroom reached out to Catholic Charities Fort Worth and HHS but did not immediately hear back.
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