Refugee Detention a ‘Dystopian Nightmare,’ Minnesota Judge Says

The Department of Homeland Security’s policy of arresting and detaining refugees that were lawfully admitted to the US is flatly contradicted by the statute the administration says gives it such authority, a federal judge said Friday.

Citing the promise to refugees upon admission to the US that they would be allowed to live in peace and achieve the American dream, Judge John R. Tunheim of the District of Minnesota wrote, “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.”

He granted a class of Minnesota refugees’ motion for a preliminary injunction, forbidding the government from implementing its policy.

DHS and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced last month that they were reexamining the cases of refugees in the US, specifically 5,600 in Minnesota who hadn’t yet been granted green cards.

To be admitted to the US as a refugee requires an extensive process, which the judge outlined in his order. After one year, the refugee must resubmit to DHS to apply for a green card. Tunheim noted that the statute says that refugees who meet the statutory requirements are entitled to permanent resident status.

The US began arresting and detaining refugees who had passed 366 days in the US but not yet received green cards, despite longstanding guidance from Immigration and Customs Enforcement that failure to obtain a green card is not grounds for removal or detention of refugees.

ICE rescinded that guidance in December. In a Feb. 18 memo, ICE said that if a refugee doesn’t voluntarily submit to DHS after one year, “DHS will return the individual to custody.”

The new policy resulted in numerous arrests, including the arrest of a girl on her way to high school. Tunheim wrote in his order that she was forced to share a hotel room overnight with two ICE agents after being told that her entire family would be arrested and detained if they arrived to pick her up from custody. She was ultimately released to her lawyer.

Previously, Tunheim issued a temporary restraining order in the case and ordered all refugees being held in detention to be released.

The case is U.H.A v Bondi, D. Minn., No. 26-00417, preliminary injunction 2/27/26