RCUSA Condemns “Operation PARRIS” and Administration’s Escalation of Harm and Enforcement Actions Targeting Refugees, Immigrants, and U.S. Citizens

Washington, DC—Refugee Council USA (RCUSA) denounces the Trump administration’s wrongful, punitive, and discriminatory detention of refugees and its threats to remove thousands of people from their communities and expel them from the United States. On January 9, in the context of escalating, chaotic enforcement actions by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Minnesota and across the country, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) formally announced Operation “Post-Admission Refugee Reverification and Integrity Strengthening” (PARRIS). Targeting already-vetted and resettled refugees who have fled violence and persecution and found safety and freedom in the United States, Operation PARRIS subjects such refugees to “intensive verification” and wasteful re-examination of their already-settled cases. Operation PARRIS has an “initial focus” on 5,600 resettled refugees in Minnesota who have refugee status and have not yet received their green cards. An estimated 100 recently-arrived refugees, including children, have already been arrested and detained, with some reportedly transferred out of the state to Texas without any due process or access to legal assistance. 

Operation PARRIS compounds the significant harm caused by DHS since the Trump administration’s escalation of immigration actions across the country. The horrific use of violence by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is not an aberration; it is part of a larger pattern of federal immigration officers terrorizing and even killing our neighbors, friends, and community members at schools, workplaces, homes, houses of worship, and in the streets. This includes the tragic killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent this past week. 

“The Trump administration will stop at nothing to destabilize and disrupt the diverse social fabric of our communities,” said John Slocum, Executive Director of Refugee Council USA. “DHS’s culture of impunity and collective punishment, Operation PARRIS, the escalation of force and ramping up of brutal immigration enforcement efforts, and tactics that terrorize neighborhoods in cities across the country – these are not good-faith immigration enforcement or public safety measures, but an assault on American society and democratic principles. It is unconscionable that refugees we’ve already welcomed – for whom this country has provided freedom, safety, opportunity, and a path to citizenship – could be abruptly taken from their communities and potentially sent back to places where their lives could be in danger. Time and again, this administration chooses to dehumanize, harm, terrorize, and endanger refugee, asylum-seeking, and immigrant communities, and their allies. We urge our elected leaders to forcibly denounce these sweeping attacks and to conduct oversight over the administration as it targets refugees and others who have come to this country seeking safety. We also call on Congress to hold DHS accountable for its abuses, reduce funding for these enforcement actions, and safeguard public resources that strengthen community safety.”

RCUSA also stands in solidarity with the Somali community in Minnesota, the focus of particularly vitriolic attacks by the Trump administration’s enforcement efforts – including the announced termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Somalia and the threat of denaturalization and deportation of people to countries where they face persecution.

Media contact: Jen Lee Reeves, jreeves@rcusa.org 

RCUSA is a diverse coalition advocating for just and humane laws and policies, and the promotion of dialogue and communication among government, civil society, and those who need protection and welcome. Individual RCUSA members do not all address all refugee-related issues, nor do all individual members approach common refugee-related issues identically.