Pacito v. Trump

About the case

Pacito challenges the suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and related processing and funding decisions. The March 5, 2026 Ninth Circuit opinion largely upheld the admissions suspension and overseas processing restrictions, while preserving preliminary relief for domestic resettlement services owed to already admitted refugees. The August 3 district-court order, ECF 218, grants the parties' stipulated scheduling motion and replaces fixed discovery and trial dates with a contingent schedule. Its triggering Order Date is the later of the ruling on defendants' pending protective-order motion, ECF 188, or defendants' answer to the first amended complaint. Trial begins 306 days after that date. The verified order does not itself establish when both triggering events occurred. The district court denied the government’s protective-order motion on August 4, allowing extra-record discovery. Defendants moved August 21 to stay discovery until resolution of their dismissal motion and an answer to the amended complaint, and replied September 4. No ruling on the new stay motion or dismissal appears in the public feed read; no answer or calendar trial date was verified.

Relief

The plaintiffs seek to unwind Executive Order 14163's refugee-admissions shutdown, restore unlawful funding cuts, and preserve refugee processing, family reunification, and post-arrival services.

What's next

Rulings on dismissal and the August 21 discovery-stay request; verify an answer to the amended complaint before calculating ECF 218 deadlines. The original protective-order motion was denied August 4.