Federal Judge Blocks DHS Policy to Reconsider Legal Status for Minnesota Refugees

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked a Trump administration policy initiative to reconsider the legal status of the roughly 5,600 lawful refugees living in Minnesota. In a court order, Minneapolis-based U.S. District Judge John Tunheim temporarily granted a class action request to block the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy initiative dubbed “Operation Post-Admission Refugee Reverification and Integrity Strengthening,” or “Operation PARRIS.” That operation was announced by DHS earlier this month, with DHS characterizing it as “a sweeping initiative reexamining thousands of refugee cases through new background checks.” Under the law, a lawfully-admitted refugee must undergo an additional process to gain lawful permanent resident status in the United States. The DHS operation, according to the court order, concerns those refugees who have not yet become lawful permanent residents....