Judge Temporarily Halts ICE From Detaining Minnesota Refugees

A federal judge in Minnesota has temporarily halted the Trump Administration from arresting and detaining resettled refugees in the state, following a suit accusing federal immigration officers of “hunting” them down and transporting them to a detention facility in Texas.

U.S. District Judge John Tunheim said federal immigration agencies can continue lawful immigration procedures in Minnesota. But they can no longer arrest or detain refugees who are seeking permanent legal status.

Judge Tunheim’s order also directs the Trump administration to release any detained refugees immediately and return them to their homes in Minnesota.

“It is also essential to emphasize that the refugees impacted by this Order are carefully and thoroughly vetted individuals who have been invited into the United States because of persecution in the countries from which they have come,” the judge said.

Earlier in January, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched “Operation PARRIS.” The initiative aimed to re-examine 5,600 “refugee cases through new background checks and intensive verification of refugee claims.”

Judge Tunheim’s ruling comes after the Minnesota-based organization Advocates for Human Rights and a group of attorneys filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of over 100 refugees who had resettled in Minnesota. According to lawyers representing the cases, some refugees have been sent to Texas and then suddenly released with no resources or aid to return home.

“Refugees have a legal right to be in the United States, a right to work, a right to live peacefully — and importantly, a right not to be subjected to the terror of being arrested and detained without warrants or cause in their homes or on their way to religious services or to buy groceries,” Tunheim wrote. “At its best, America serves as a haven of individual liberties in a world too often full of tyranny and cruelty. We abandon that ideal when we subject our neighbors to fear and chaos.”

“They are not committing crimes on our streets, nor did they illegally cross the border,” the judge added.

Judge Tunheim scheduled a hearing for the case on Feb. 19.