WASHINGTON: A U.S. federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked a Trump administration policy targeting thousands of lawful refugees in Minnesota, ruling that federal agents likely violated multiple federal statutes by arresting refugees for additional vetting without proper cause.
In a written order, U.S. District Judge John Tunheim in Minneapolis issued a temporary restraining order preventing federal agents from arresting lawful refugees who have not been charged with immigration violations.
The ruling applies to approximately 5,600 refugees in Minnesota who are awaiting permanent resident status, commonly known as green cards, according to the Reuters.
“At its best, America serves as a haven of individual liberties in a world too often full of tyranny and cruelty,” Tunheim wrote. “We abandon that ideal when we subject our neighbors to fear and chaos.”
The order will remain in effect until the court hears further legal arguments from civil rights organizations challenging the policy.
Judge Tunheim emphasized that the ruling does not prevent the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from conducting lawful reviews of refugee cases or enforcing immigration laws within legal boundaries.
The policy, part of “Operation PARRIS,” was announced earlier this month by DHS as a sweeping initiative to reexamine thousands of refugee cases through new background checks.
Beginning in December, the Trump administration deployed thousands of immigration agents to Minneapolis and Saint Paul, describing the operation as an effort to combat fraud and enforce immigration laws.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, a key architect of President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda, sharply criticized the ruling, calling it “judicial sabotage of democracy” in a post on social media platform X.
Judge Tunheim said the refugees affected by the order are already carefully vetted and “have a right not to be subjected to the terror of being arrested and detained without warrants or cause.”
Kimberly Grano, a lawyer with the International Refugee Assistance Project, welcomed the decision, saying the order establishes “desperately needed guardrails” on federal enforcement actions while the case proceeds.
