Case 2:17-cv-00178-JLR Document 82 Filed 12/13/17 Page 1 of 3

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THE HONORABLE JAMES L. ROBART

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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JOHN DOES, et al.,

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CASE NO. C17-0178JLR
Plaintiffs,

v.
DONALD TRUMP, et al.,

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Defendants.

SUPPLEMENTAL DECLARATION OF
MINDY BERKOWITZ IN SUPPORT OF
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR
PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION
(RELATING TO CASE NO. C17-1707JLR)

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JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE, et al.,
Plaintiffs,

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CASE NO. C17-1707JLR

v.
DONALD TRUMP, et al.,
Defendants.

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Supplemental Declaration of Mindy Berkowitz

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I, Mindy Berkowitz, declares as follows:
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I am the Executive Director of Jewish Family Services of Silicon Valley (“JFS

SV”). This declaration supplements my prior declaration in this case, signed November 9, 2017
(Dkt. No. 51), and is based on my personal knowledge and data that the organization maintains

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SUPPLEMENTAL BERKOWITZ
DECLARATION
NO. C17-1707-JLR– 1
137858906.2

Perkins Coie LLP

1201 Third Avenue, Suite 4900
Seattle, WA 98101-3099
Phone: 206.359.8000
Fax: 206.359.9000

 Case 2:17-cv-00178-JLR Document 82 Filed 12/13/17 Page 2 of 3

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in its ordinary course of business. If called as a witness, I could and would competently testify

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thereto.

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2.

Contrary to the government’s statements in its brief, Refugee Ban 3.0 directly

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impedes JFS SV’s mission by reducing the expected overall number of refugees that the United

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States will welcome in FY2018. The executive orders suspending USRAP have greatly reduced

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the overall number of refugees coming into the country—disproportionately affecting Muslim

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refugees. We expect Refugee Ban 3.0 will have this same effect. Between July 1 and October 1,

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JFS SV resettled only 17% of the refugees we expected to resettle based on prior years’

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experience. As explained in my prior declaration, this change reduces JFS SV’s funding and in

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turn affects how we execute our mission of welcoming and resettling refugees from all religious

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denominations.

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3.

JFS SV cannot, as the government suggests, quickly shift from resettling refugees

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from SAO countries to resettling refugees from countries not impacted by Refugee Ban 3.0. As

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a refugee resettlement agency, JFS SV does its best to be culturally competent. We hire staff

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who reflect the cultures, languages, and countries from which our clients have fled. Recently,

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most of JFS SV’s clients are from the SAO countries, and our staff’s cultural make-up represents

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that. For example, JFS SV employs an Arabic translator and three of its staff members were

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born in Iran. JFS SV has also spent time and resources developing relationships with community

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organizations made up of people from the SAO countries so our clients will have a supportive

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network when they arrive in the United States.

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4.

Refugee Ban 3.0 puts this carefully cultivated infrastructure—as well as the jobs

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of JFS SV’s staff members—at risk. If, as the government suggests, Refugee Ban 3.0 changes

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JFS SV’s client make-up such that it is primarily resettling refugees from outside of the SAO

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countries, JFS SV will have to redesign programs, build new community relationships, and

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replace staff. The impact of these changes will be financial (redesigning programs costs money),

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emotional (firing staff takes an emotional toll), and long-lasting (rebuilding community goodwill
SUPPLEMENTAL BERKOWITZ
DECLARATION
NO. C17-1707-JLR – 2
137858906.2

Perkins Coie LLP

1201 Third Avenue, Suite 4900
Seattle, WA 98101-3099
Phone: 206.359.8000
Fax: 206.359.9000

 

Case Document 82 Filed 12/13/17 Page 3 of 3

takes time). JFS prior investments in organizational infrastructure will be lost and will
require JFS SV to deploy its resources towards redesign and reorganization.

5. Refugee Ban 3.0 has directly impacted JFS clients. FS SV currently has 28
individuals assured for resettlement. All 28 of these individuals were Ready for Departure (that
is, assured by FS SV and working with IOM to book travel arrangements) when Refugee Ban
3.0 went into effect. In addition, we have more than 200 individuals in the resettlement pipeline
waiting to come to the US.

6. Additionally, JFS-SV has clients from SAO countries waiting in travel
waystations?such as Austria and Turkey??for permission to come to the United States. These
individuals ?ed their home countries; they cannot return for fear of persecution and/or death.
And Refugee Ban 3.0 prevents these individuals from seeking safety in the United States, as they
were promised. JFS-SV has a religious and moral obligation to these clients that Refugee Ban

3.0 is preventing it from ful?lling.

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States that the foregoing is

true and correct.

Executed this day of December, 2017, at 405 6ftf6??alifornia

(g 
WfBerko?tzr/

 

SUPPLEMENTAL BERKOWITZ 1201 T?eiikigs Coie 4900
1r venue, uite
ggc?f??bboiR 3 Seattle, WA 98101-3099
Phone: 206.359.8000

1378589062 Fax: 206.3 59.9000