Washington DC - The nonprofit in charge of Texas' refugee resettlement programs has sued the Trump administration for "unlawfully" withholding more than $36 million in grants.

Catholic Charities Fort Worth (CCFW), which has led refugee resettlement in the Lone Star State since 2017, said the withholding of funds has resulted in layoffs and office closures, harming thousands of people in need of support after fleeing their home countries.

The lawsuit – filed Monday in the federal district court in Washington DC – directly names Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the US Department of Health and Human Services.

The complaint follows President Donald Trump's moves earlier this year to halt refugee admissions to the US and freeze all federal grant payments.

A federal judge later ordered the administration to restore federal funding for grants, while another blocked the president's order targeting refugee admissions as the case plays out in court.

"While the federal government rescinded that attempt, and many entities have received their federal funding in the weeks since the attempted funding freeze, CCFW has not been able to draw down any funds – and has not received any indication why its funds remain frozen," the lawsuit reads.

Noting the organization has attempted to access funds 14 times since late January, the complaint continued: "Defendants have persisted in unlawfully preventing CCFW from obtaining over $36 million under its open grant agreements – an amount owing that continues to mount with the services CCFW continues to provide, unfunded, with each passing day."

"Defendants’ unlawful behavior, in defiance of the Constitutional authority of Articles I and III co-equal branches of government, results in real-world harm not only to CCFW but also to the more than 100,000 individuals and families to whom CCFW and its partner agencies provide essential, Congressionally-mandated services."