US Judge Blocks Trump Administration From Detaining Thousands of Refugees

A federal judge on Monday blocked U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration from enforcing a new ‌policy that would subject thousands of refugees to arrest and detention if after a year in the United States they had yet to obtain green cards.

U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns in Boston acted at the request of six refugees ​and two advocacy groups who argued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s policy was an unlawful ​departure from decades of practice.

The plaintiffs alleged the policy exposed over 100,000 lawfully ⁠admitted refugees whose adjustments of immigration status applications are pending before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ​to potential detention.

Steven Bressler, a lawyer for the plaintiffs at the liberal legal group Democracy Forward, said ​in a statement the “ruling affirms that the government cannot manipulate the law to justify the mass arrest and detention of people.”

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The policy was adopted as part ​of “Operation PARRIS,” a program announced in January that DHS billed as “a sweeping initiative” to reexamine thousands of ​refugee cases.

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