The Trump administration has implemented new policies that expand the authority of federal immigration agencies to detain refugees who have not yet obtained lawful permanent resident (LPR) status, commonly known as a green card, within one year of their admission to the U.S. These changes are part of a broader administrative reshaping of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), shifting its operational focus toward enforcement.
USCIS Shifts Focus Towards Enforcement
USCIS, historically responsible for administering lawful immigration processes, has undergone significant administrative modifications under the Trump administration. Joseph Edlow, Director of USCIS, stated during his Senate confirmation that "at its core, USCIS must be an immigration enforcement agency."
Changes implemented by the administration to align USCIS with an enforcement focus include:
- Encouraging early retirements, with over 1,300 employees accepting early resignation offers.
- Terminating collective bargaining agreements with employee unions.
- Reducing programs designed to facilitate legal migration.
- Introducing new job postings for roles such as "homeland defenders," emphasizing fraud prevention and a preference for candidates with law enforcement backgrounds. USCIS reported receiving approximately 35,000 applications and extending "hundreds" of job offers for these positions.
- Establishing "special agents" with law enforcement authority, including the ability to carry firearms, investigate, arrest, and prosecute immigration cases. These functions were previously handled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
These internal changes have coincided with reports of low employee morale, according to Michael Knowles, executive vice president of the union representing USCIS employees. He cited the termination of the union contract and limited communication from leadership as contributing factors. Immigration attorneys, such as Eric Welsh in California, have also noted increased apprehension among clients regarding the application process for legal status. Julia Gelatt, associate director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute, characterized these adjustments as a departure from previous decades' approaches to immigration.
New Policy: Refugee Detention and Review
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memo, issued on February 18 by USCIS Director Joseph Edlow and Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, authorizes federal immigration officers to arrest and detain refugees who have not adjusted to LPR status one year after their admission to the U.S.
Key aspects of this policy include:
- Conditional Admission: A refugee's admission is now deemed conditional and subject to mandatory review after one year.
- Arrest and Detention Authority: Immigration officers are authorized to "arrest and detain" individuals who do not voluntarily return to government custody for re-screening and case review at the one-year mark. Non-compliance may result in ICE locating, arresting, and detaining them.
- Extended Custody: Detained refugees may remain in custody throughout the inspection and examination process.
- Rescinded Previous Guidelines: The policy rescinds previous government guidelines under which failure to obtain a green card after one year was not grounds for detention or removal. Previously, arrested refugees typically had to be released within 48 hours or face removal proceedings based on other valid grounds.
DHS stated the policy aims to address "public safety and national security risks" associated with conditional refugees who had not been fully re-screened. Officials indicated that the review process is intended to determine if refugee status was obtained fraudulently or if individuals pose national security or public safety threats due to potential ties to terrorism or criminal histories. Refugees found to raise such concerns may have their legal status revoked and face deportation proceedings.
Broader Immigration Policy Changes
In addition to the refugee detention policy, the Trump administration has implemented several other modifications to immigration processes:
Refugee Admissions Cap
The administration capped refugee admissions for the current fiscal year at 7,500, the lowest level since the modern refugee program began in the 1980s. Policy memos also emphasized prioritizing refugees demonstrating ease of assimilation, specifically mentioning white Afrikaners from South Africa as a target demographic.
Application Processing Halts and Reviews
Following an incident in late November where an Afghan national was charged with shooting two National Guard members, the administration halted the processing of green card and citizenship applications from nationals of 19 countries, including Afghanistan. Retroactive reviews of previously approved applications were also ordered. USCIS subsequently ceased processing various immigration applications, including those for asylum, and established a new vetting center to conduct interviews and re-review approved immigration applications.
Citizenship and Public Benefits
A longer, more rigorous citizenship test was introduced. A rule was also advanced that permits officers to consider an immigrant's legal use of public benefits, such as food stamps and healthcare, as a factor for denying status.
Arrests at Interviews
Reports have indicated arrests and detentions following routine USCIS interviews.
Legal Challenges and Advocacy Responses
The DHS memo on refugee detention was submitted as part of a federal court filing in Minnesota, where a judge had temporarily blocked the administration from targeting approximately 5,600 lawful refugees in the state awaiting green cards.
District Court Judge John Tunheim, presiding over a class-action lawsuit related to "Operation PARRIS" (post-admission refugee reverification and integrity strengthening), previously ordered the release of over 100 individuals detained by ICE, stating:
"Refugees have a legal right to be in the United States, a right to work, a right to live peacefully."
The DHS memo appears to conflict with Judge Tunheim’s order, citing "incomplete" existing guidance as the basis for its actions.
Refugee resettlement organizations have widely criticized the new detention policy.
- Beth Oppenheim, CEO of HIAS, stated the memo was developed without coordination and described it as an effort to detain and potentially deport individuals legally present in the U.S.
- Laurie Ball Cooper, Vice President of U.S. Legal Programs at the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), characterized it as part of a broader effort to impact refugees' legal status and immigrants' constitutional rights.
- Myal Greene, president and chief executive of World Relief, a Christian humanitarian organization, described the policy as an "unprecedented reversal of decades-long interpretation of refugee law," stating it undermines trust and demonstrates a low value of human life.
Advocacy groups have highlighted significant challenges refugees face in adjusting status quickly, attributing them to the complex immigration system, USCIS backlogs, and recent funding cuts to support organizations.