Thousands of refugees are vulnerable to ICE detention
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Refugees who haven't yet received green cards can be arrested and detained by ICE, according to a new policy memo ICE and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services filed in court.
Why it matters: Refugees are the most intensely vetted of all immigrants for entry to the U.S. but are targets in the Trump administration's campaign against alleged immigration fraud.
The big picture: Refugees are required to adjust their status with the Homeland Security Department after being in the country for one year, and at that point apply for a green card.
- The memo, dated Feb. 18, states that people who don't yet have their green cards should now be detained by ICE while their status is reviewed.
- There were more than 96,500 pending adjustment applications at USCIS as of last October, according to a report to Congress.
- The application processing takes an additional 12 months for most refugee-to-green card cases, according to USCIS's tracker.
The intrigue: USCIS Director Joseph Edlow issued another memo in November pausing case decisions on refugees' applications.
- The November memo also says that the agency plans to review and possibly re-interview all of the refugees were entered the country under former President Biden. This is roughly 200,000 people.
Between the lines: Refugees who haven't gotten a green card yet are an easy target for ICE to arrest because Homeland Security already has their personal information.
Zoom in: Roughly 5,600 refugees without green cards in Minnesota have been targeted for arrest and re-vetting under Operation PARRIS, which stands for Post-Admission Refugee Reverification and Integrity Strengthening.
Zoom out: A lawsuit challenging the detention policy in Minnesota argues that people are being arrested and sent to detention centers out of state, far from their families and potential legal support.
- The Feb. 18 policy memo, filed by the government in this case, reveals that this operation isn't limited to Minneapolis, which has been the center of immigration enforcement in 2026.
- A second memo filed in the case shows the policy has been in effect since December after rescinding a 2010 directive that said refugees who failed to apply for green cards by the deadline could only be detained for 48 hours for inspection.
- The Law Dork Substack first reported on the memos.
What they're saying: "This policy realignment is intended to ensure complete post-admission vetting of refugees, strengthen screening integrity, and reinforce DHS's commitment to faithfully executing statutory requirements in support of public safety and national security," the memo says.
- "Once again the media is sensationalizing long established immigration law... The alternative would be to allow fugitive aliens to run rampant through our country with zero oversight. We refuse to let that happen," a USCIS spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
The other side: Detaining refugees "flies in the face of 46 years of practice since the Refugee Act, and is a totally contorted reading of the statute," said Laurie Ball Cooper, vice president of U.S. legal programs at the International Refugee Assistance Project and an attorney in the Minnesota case.
- "This memo is part of a broad and concerted effort to strip refugees of their legal status and render them deportable. This government will clearly stop at nothing to terrorize refugee communities, and really all immigrants, while trampling over our constitutional rights," she said.
