The president’s administration Donald Trump expanded the powers of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain admitted refugees legally in the United States who have not yet obtained permanent residence.
The change arises from a government memorandum dated February 18obtained by the American media CBS Newsand presented by federal lawyers in court.
The document turns the first year of stay into a mandatory review point and allows those who have not completed the registration process to be detained. green cardeven without prior indications of irregularities.
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Signed by the interim head of ICE, Todd Lyonsand by the director of Citizenship and Immigration Services, Joseph Edlowthe directive instructs refugees to appear for an interview to re-examine their status.
Trump authorizes ICE to locate and arrest legal refugees in the US
If they do not do so, it authorizes agents to locate, arrest and hold them in custody throughout the inspection, focused on determining possible fraud, serious background or risks to national security.
The measure overturns a historic policy that prohibited detaining a refugee solely for delaying in applying for residency and forced ICE to decide in 48 hours whether to release him or initiate deportation proceedings. Now, the Republican administration maintains that it applies the law “as written by Congress” and argues that, without this review, “fugitives” could circulate without supervision.
The guideline is part of a broader strategy to reexamine already granted legal statuses, such as Operation PARRIS in Minnesota —which consisted of reexamining thousands of files of already admitted refugees— or the suspension of applications for immigrants from countries classified as high risk.
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Organizations like the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) warn that these actions could lead to the arrest or expulsion of people who entered the country regularly after years of scrutiny.
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