特朗普政府在最新备忘录中扩大移民和海关执法局拘留合法难民的权力

Trump administration expands ICE’s ability to detain legal refugees in latest memo

By Matthew Rehbein
1 hr 23 min ago
PUBLISHED Feb 19, 2026, 5:38 AM ET

Federal agents conduct immigration enforcement operations earlier this month in Minneapolis.

Ryan Murphy/AP/File

The Department of Homeland Security is broadening federal immigration authorities’ ability to detain legal refugees who have not yet obtained green cards, citing national security concerns and the need to ensure refugees undergo additional screening, according to a DHS memo obtained by CNN.

Immigration officers may “arrest and detain” refugees “who have failed to adjust” to lawful permanent resident status one year after being admitted to the US, according to the Wednesday memo, which was submitted by Justice Department attorneys as part of a federal court filing.

“When a refugee is admitted to the United States, the admission is conditional and subject to a mandatory review after one year,” the memo reads, noting refugees who are detained may remain in custody “for the duration of the inspection and examination process.”

The memo, issued by US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow and Acting US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons, rescinds previous government policy regarding refugees who have been in the country for one year.

Failure to obtain a green card after one year was not grounds for detention or removal from the US under previous policy, and refugees who were arrested had to either be released within 48 hours or the DHS was required to initiate removal proceedings.

“Refugees may be considered to have voluntarily returned to custody” by submitting application paperwork and appearing at scheduled appointments with immigration services, according to the new memo.

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Previous department policy “created a population of conditional refugees who had not been fully re-screened, with associated public safety and national security risks,” the memo says, and the new “detain-and-inspect requirement ensures that refugees are re-vetted after one year.”

Refugee resettlement groups promptly decried the new policy.

“This memo was done in secret, with zero coordination with the organizations that serve refugees,” said Beth Oppenheim, CEO of refugee agency HIAS. “This policy is a transparent effort to detain and potentially deport thousands of people who are legally present in this country, people the US government itself welcomed after years of extreme vetting,” she added.

The government court filing that included the DHS memo is part of a federal case in Minnesota in which a judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from targeting an estimated 5,600 lawful refugees in the state who are awaiting green cards. A hearing in that case is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

The International Refugee Assistance Project, one of the plaintiffs in the federal Minnesota case, says it is challenging the new refugee policy. CNN reached out to the group for comment.

CNN has reached out to DHS, USCIS and ICE for comment.

President Donald Trump has largely halted refugee admissions during his second term – with the narrow exception of White South Africans – amid his administration’s broader crackdown on illegal immigration. Last fall, the Trump administration set the number of annual refugee admissions at 7,500 – a fraction of what the US has historically allowed. In 2024, more than 100,000 refugees were admitted.

In November, the administration moved to reinterview some refugees admitted under President Joe Biden, and the killing of two National Guard members in Washington, DC, by an Afghan national that month prompted the administration to re-examine green cards issued to people from Afghanistan and 18 other countries “of concern.”