Government appeals temporary restraining order prohibiting the detention of Minnesota refugees

Susan Du, Star Tribune on Feb 4, 2026

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The Trump administration is asking a judge to lift his temporary restraining order prohibiting the arrest and detention of Minnesota’s refugees. Last week, U.S. District Judge John Tunheim prohibited the federal government from detaining any refugees who don’t have a green card and ordered the release of dozens of lawfully admitted refugees detained under Operation PARRIS. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security launched the initiative to reexamine thousands of refugee cases in Minnesota.

Brantley Mayers, with the Justice Department, argued the temporary restraining order should be lifted because federal law requires that refugees who have not gotten their green cards after one year be returned to federal custody.

He said arresting Minnesota’s 5,600 new refugees without permanent resident status was the only way to effectively return them to government custody. The government is only detaining refugees until they’re verified, Mayers said, and has released some 20 refugees since the operation began on Jan. 9.

Tunheim appeared skeptical of the government’s arguments, pointing out that officials could have given refugees notice to appear for a check-in, and then detained them if they failed to respond.

“Is it your position that every prior administration violated the law for 45 years?” Tunheim asked Mayers, urging him to explain the Trump administration’s arguments.

Mayers acknowledged that the Trump administration was doing things differently.

E. Michelle Drake, a lawyer representing Minnesota refugees in their class action lawsuit against Operation PARRIS, argued that many detainees promptly applied for green cards to become lawful permanent residents and had no ability to influence the speed of that process. Drake said several were handcuffed after appearing at scheduled check-ins. She said there’s no provision in federal law that gives the government authority to do blanket re-vetting of refugees as they have in Minnesota.

Tunheim took the matter under advisement.

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