Overview of Current Litigation Challenging Operation PARRIS and the Indiscriminate Arrest, Detention, and Revetting of Refugees
The Trump administration has launched a sweeping campaign targeting refugees admitted through the U.S. resettlement program, sparking legal challenges.
On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order (refugee ban EO) indefinitely halting entry through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), and just days after, the Departments of State, Homeland Security, and Health & Human Services suspended all processing and refugee-related funding. Following a pattern of unlawful actions, the FY 2026 Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions was published on October 31, 2025, setting an admissions goal of 7,500, prioritizing the resettlement of Afrikaners from South Africa (and others facing “unjust discrimination”), and re-affirming the broader suspension of the U.S. resettlement program. To date, Afrikaners have represented more than 99.9% of all USRAP arrivals this fiscal year.
On November 24, 2025, reports surfaced that USCIS had ordered a sweeping “review and re-interview” of all refugees who entered via the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program under the Biden administration – approximately 233,000 people and including refugees who hadn’t yet – and already had – received green cards.
On January 9, 2026, DHS formally announced the launch of Operation PARRIS with an “initial focus” on 5,600 resettled refugees in Minnesota who have refugee status, had been in the United States for at least one year, and had not yet received their green cards. What followed was a series of indiscriminate arrests and detention of refugee adults, children, and families in DHS facilities in Minnesota and other states like Texas.
Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit challenging Operation PARRIS on January 23, 2026, and court rulings blocked the administration from further arrests and detention of refugees pursuant to Operation PARRIS. Court intervention does not stop the administration from calling refugees in for “inspection” or re-interviews.
Any refugee adjustment interviews should be assumed to be re-vetting interviews to revisit the original claim. We recommend that refugees file for their adjustment of status (green cards) as soon as they are eligible.
Since then, we have seen two DHS memos — one lifting the adjudicative hold for immigration benefits applications for refugees “processed” under Operation PARRIS and another (“February 18th Memo”) that argued if a refugee does not submit an application for lawful permanent resident status and appeared for an interview after one year in the United States, they could be detained for an unspecified amount of time.
Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit on February 27, 2026, seeking to end DHS’s illegal policy of arresting and detaining refugees. On March 23, 2026, the court blocked the Trump administration’s nationwide detention of refugees.
Jean A v. Noem
IRAP is counsel in a lawsuit representing a group of refugees who seek to bring the case as a class action on behalf of themselves and similarly situated refugees across the country. The plaintiffs are seeking to end DHS’s illegal policy of arresting and detaining lawfully present refugees. Democracy Forward Foundation is co-counsel in this lawsuit.
Click here for updates on the case status and more information.
U.H.A. v. Bondi
IRAP is counsel in a lawsuit representing a group of refugees who seek to bring the case as a class action on behalf of themselves and similarly situated refugees in Minnesota. The plaintiffs are seeking to end DHS’s illegal policy of arresting and detaining lawfully present refugees.
Click here for updates on the case status and more information.
Pacito v. Trump
IRAP filed a class action lawsuit representing a group of individual plaintiffs (on behalf of all similarly situated refugees and family members) and several refugee resettlement agencies seeking to have the refugee ban EO and agency suspensions declared illegal and their implementation halted, and to restore vital funding to the USRAP.
Click here for updates on the case status and more information.
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