A coalition of refugees and immigrant rights groups has sued the Trump administration to stop it from continuing to arrest and detain certain lawfully resettled refugees.
The action targets the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s new “Refugee Detention Policy” authorizing the warrantless arrest and detention of refugees who have not attained permanent residency after one year in the country.
The lawsuit filed Feb. 27 in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts also accuses DHS, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and Immigration and Customs Enforcement of refusing in some cases to process Green Card applications from refugees guaranteed permanent residency as part of the resettlement process.
Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants crowd into the Herat Kabul Internet cafe to apply for the SIV program on August 8, 2021, in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Biden administration expanded refugee eligibility for Afghans as the Taliban escalated violence in the war-torn country. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
“The administration is systematically implementing policies that are hostile to refugees, with the end goal of terminating their refugee status and expelling refugees en masse,” according to the lawsuit.
The litigation was filed by Democracy Forward and the International Refugee Assistance Project on behalf of six lawfully resettled refugees, Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts and the International Institute of New England.
They contend that “Operation Post-Admission Refugee Reverification and Integrity Strengthening,” also known as Operation PARRIS, raised false claims of fraud in the cases of least 5,600 refugees in Minnesota. Those individuals have been targeted for detention, revetting and possible deportation.
Refugees are led through Dulles International Airport after being evacuated from Kabul following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan on Aug. 31. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“Although Operation PARRIS has primarily targeted Minnesota, multiple statements and memoranda from DHS, ICE and USCIS officials make clear that the endgame of DHS’ actions is to use these baseless detentions and coercive interviews as fishing expeditions to trigger a mass termination of refugee status and to render refugees vulnerable to removal nationwide,” the suit contends.
The policy violates the Refugee Act of 1980 and breaks promises made to refugees who passed extensive background checks to be resettled, the lawsuit adds.
“I fled death threats and waited nearly a decade to resettle as a refugee in the United States.”
U.S. law requires refugees to apply for permanent residency after a minimum of one year since arriving in the country. But it does not authorize the detention or deportation due to failure to apply for the status.
The policy potentially affects refugees who have not had time to complete Green Card applications and medical examinations and as many as 100,000 with pending applications USCIS has refused to process, according to the suit. “The policy flouts fundamental constitutional principles, namely the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on warrantless seizure and the Fifth Amendment’s guarantees of Due Process and Equal Protection.”
A plaintiff identified as Mona C said the policy is terrifying to refugees who escaped persecution, passed background checks and waited years for resettlement.
“I fled death threats and waited nearly a decade to resettle as a refugee in the United States. My family has worked hard to restart our lives, but now I am worried that ICE might arrest me. Who will take care of my children if I am arrested and detained? We came to the U.S. to live in peace and safety, not to relive the horrors of our past.”
Skye Perryman
The Constitution does not authorize the federal government to jail refugees or anyone else without due process, Democracy Forward President Skye Perryman said.
“For more than four decades, the United States has honored its commitment to refugees by providing safety, stability and a lawful path forward. This policy betrays that promise — it attempts to transform a routine administrative process into a tool for mass arrest and detention of people who followed the law, were thoroughly vetted, and were admitted into our country to rebuild their lives here.”
The lawsuit followed an action filed in federal court in Minnesota also seeking to halt Operation PARRIS in part because it subjects resettled refugees to the “terrifying ordeal” of warrantless arrest and detention before being flown to holding facilities in Texas.
In response, U.S. District Judge John Tunheim in Minneapolis ordered a temporary block on the policy Jan. 28, then issued a preliminary injunction extending his earlier order Feb. 27.
“This court will not allow federal authorities to use a new and erroneous statutory interpretation to terrorize refugees who immigrated to this country under the promise that they would be welcomed and allowed to live in peace, far from the persecution they fled,” Tunheim said in his 66-page opinion.
“We promised them the hope that one day they could achieve the American Dream. The government’s new policy breaks that promise — without congressional authorization — and raises serious constitutional concerns. The new policy turns the refugees’ American Dream into a dystopian nightmare.”
DHS and USCIS issued a statement calling Tunheim’s latest order “yet another lawless and activist order from a federal judge” and that their policy will be “vindicated in court,” CBS News reported.
Related articles:
Refugee advocates warn Trump is targeting well-vetted people