U.S. Federal Judge Richard Stearns, of the Massachusetts district, prohibited the U.S. government from applying a new immigration policy that would subject thousands of immigrants to detention if they did not obtain their Green Card after one year in U.S. territory. The impediment to the practice is temporary, until the lawsuit filed by six refugees in conjunction with two human rights organizations against the Trump administration comes to an end.

The lawsuit filed jointly by the groups Democracy Forward and International Refugee Assistance Project questions the legitimacy of the February 18 memorandum made by the heads of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) departments. In the aforementioned memorandum, the U.S. government service departments notify changes to their policy, which focuses on people who entered the United States legally and need to apply for a Green Card with USCIS. However, failure to comply with the measure does not imply detention or extradition, according to the 2010 ICE Guide.

The ICE policy change cited in the memorandum comes in conjunction with a series of measures adopted through Operation PARRIS (Operation Post-Admission Refugee Reverification and Integrity Strengthening). This operation targets immigrants already established in the state of Minnesota who have not yet applied for a Green Card or who are about to receive their licenses. USCIS has classified the operation as a "war on fraud" and has made it clear that the operation will involve processes such as reviewing Green Card applications, including criminal background checks, new interviews with candidates who have already been approved to receive a Green Card, and Merit Interviews, which will aim to understand behavioral issues and assess competencies.

Shortly after the new measures began in the state of Minnesota, cases of arrests and detentions increased, including cases of refugees residing in the state being transported mainly to Texas under the justification of conducting new interviews to obtain residency status. However, some refugees were simply released on the streets of Texas, without means of returning to Minnesota and, in some cases, without any documentation whatsoever.

The common points among the refugees in these cases are: they entered the United States between January 2021 and February 2025 and had not yet received a Green Card. What corroborates to the USCIS narrative that these refugees do not yet have permanent residency status is the department's own decision to halt the Green Card application process for refugees after a November 2025 memorandum issued by USCIS.

As of June of last year, USCIS had more than 67,000 pending permanent residency applications. The number contrasts sharply with the Trump administration's measures, such as suspending new asylum applications, cutting funding for refugee agencies, reducing staff, and consequently decreasing the State Department's (DOS) capacity for international assistance. Given the uncertainty, both legal experts and human rights advocates point to inconsistencies in the memos issued by different departments of the U.S. government. Judge Richard Stearns, responsible for the case, agrees that the practices of Operation PARRIS are illegal and based on a misinterpretation of the law.

Sources:

REUTERS. US judge blocks Trump administration from detaining thousands of refugees. March 23, 2026. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/world/us-judge-blocks-trump-administration-detaining-thousands-refugees-2026-03-23/. Accessed on Apr 6, 2026.

NOTUS. Federal judge blocks Trump administration refugee detention policy. March 23, 2026. Available at: https://www.notus.org/immigration/federal-judge-block-trump-administration-refugee-detention-policy. Accessed on Apr 6, 2026.

TOGETHER FORUM. Explainer: Operation PARRIS and refugee arrests and re-vetting. March 24, 2026. Available at: https://forumtogether.org/article/explainer-operation-parris-and-refugee-arrests-and-re-vetting/. Accessed on Apr 6, 2026.