The federal court in Minnesota issued a temporary restraining order blocking ICE and DHS from arresting and detaining refugees who were lawfully admitted and are awaiting green cards, ordering immediate releases of those currently held and limiting enforcement actions while the case moves forward.
This week a federal judge in Minnesota put a stop to a sweeping enforcement operation that targeted refugees who have not yet adjusted to lawful permanent resident status. The operation, known in Minnesota as “Operation PARRIS,” led to arrests and detentions of individuals who were admitted through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. The court’s order suspends arrests and requires release of those detained while the matter proceeds toward a preliminary injunction hearing.
Judge John Tunheim issued the temporary restraining order after plaintiffs argued the operation swept up people who had already been through intense vetting and were merely waiting on their green cards. The putative class is described in the order as:
All individuals with refugee status who are residing in the state of Minnesota, who have not yet adjusted to lawful permanent resident status, and have not been charged with any ground for removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
The order also says those currently detained must be released, and it limits how DHS and ICE can carry out reverification steps in Minnesota.
The administration framed the effort as a reinspecting and integrity-checking mission to reexamine refugee cases via new background checks and verification. Tunheim acknowledged that USCIS can continue statutory reinspections to adjust status, but insisted those processes proceed without arresting or detaining refugees. That restriction is temporary, until full briefing and argument on a motion for a preliminary injunction occur.
The judge’s opinion runs roughly 32 pages and walks through the case chronology and the facts relating to several named plaintiffs. Tunheim emphasized that the order does not bar DHS from enforcing immigration laws more broadly, but it does bar the particular tactics used to detain vetted refugees in Minnesota without warrants or clear cause. In his words:
It is important to note that this Order does not affect USCIS’s responsibility to conduct reinspections to adjust refugees’ status to lawful permanent resident. In Minnesota, USCIS may continue this statutory process but without arresting and detaining refugees. The Order also does not impact DHS’s lawful enforcement of immigration laws. This Order is temporary until the Court has had the opportunity to have full briefing and argument on a motion for a preliminary injunction.
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. They are not committing crimes on our streets, nor did they illegally cross the border. 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. 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.
From a Republican viewpoint, enforcing immigration law matters because national sovereignty and security depend on it, but enforcement must be precise, lawful, and respectful of due process. Broad, surprise sweeps that detain people who passed vetting and were legally admitted risk undermining public confidence and the moral authority of enforcement agencies. Courts exist to check executive overreach and to make sure enforcement actions fit the law and Constitution.
Plaintiffs pressed that refugees targeted by the operation had already endured rigorous background checks and posed no removal grounds, yet were subjected to arrests and detentions that felt punitive and chaotic. The legal claim hinges on procedural protections and on whether the government’s method of carrying out reinspections crossed constitutional lines. The TRO suggests the court sees serious questions worth full briefing.
The stakes are practical as well as legal. Refugee admissions are a tool of U.S. foreign policy and humanitarian response, and treating those admitted as potential criminal suspects without cause can damage that program and America’s standing. At the same time, the government insists it must be able to verify statuses and protect national security. The judge tried to thread that needle by allowing reinspections to continue absent detentions.
There’s no public final decision yet on whether the administration will appeal the restraining order to the circuit court or pursue other legal avenues. While the TRO is temporary, it signals the judiciary’s willingness to police the line between lawful enforcement and unnecessary, disruptive detention. For now, refugees in Minnesota who fit the class are protected from arrest and detention under this order while the case moves forward in court.
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