A federal judge blocks Trump’s plan to detain refugees in Minnesota, ordering their immediate release and upholding their legal rights.
MINNEAPOLIS: A US federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from detaining refugees in Minnesota who are awaiting permanent resident status.
Judge John Tunheim ordered the immediate release of any refugees detained under the state’s status review programme.
The order allows authorities to continue reviewing the legal status of approximately 5,600 refugees in Minnesota who lack green cards.
However, it mandates that this must be done “without arresting and detaining refugees.”
“Refugees have a legal right to be in the United States, a right to work, a right to live peacefully,” Tunheim wrote in his order.
He emphasised their right not to be subjected to “the terror of being arrested and detained without warrants or cause.”
The judge stated that refugees awaiting status adjustment have undergone rigorous federal vetting and followed all rules.
“These individuals were admitted to the country, have followed the rules, and are waiting to have their status adjusted,” he wrote.
The ruling targets Operation PARRIS, a programme launched this month to re-examine refugee legal status.
It drew a swift rebuke from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who leads Trump’s immigration policy.
“The judicial sabotage of democracy is unending,” Miller wrote on social media platform X.
Trump has sent thousands of federal immigration agents to Minnesota as part of a broader crackdown.
This deployment has sparked outrage following two civilian deaths at the hands of officers.
In his order, Tunheim invoked America’s role as a haven for individual liberties.
“We abandon that ideal when we subject our neighbors to fear and chaos,” the judge concluded.
