Homeland Security Memo Targets Refugees for Detention and Revetting

New policy could detain tens of thousands of recently arrived refugees who have not yet obtained green cards

Published on Feb. 24, 2026

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The Department of Homeland Security has issued a memo stating that federal immigration agents should arrest refugees who have not yet obtained a green card and detain them indefinitely for rescreening. This policy shift upends decades of protections for refugees and puts tens of thousands of people who entered the U.S. during the Biden administration at risk of detention and revetting.

Why it matters

The new policy represents a dramatic shift in how refugees are treated after they are legally permitted to enter the U.S. Refugee resettlement groups across the country see this as a precursor to an expected broader attack on the nation's half-century-old promise to offer safe harbor to the world's most persecuted. The policy could undermine the refugee resettlement system and put the lives of refugees in danger if they are deported back to the places they fled.

The details

The memo rescinds a 2010 policy that said failing to apply for permanent residency within a year is not a basis for detaining refugees. The new directive states that the law requires DHS to detain and subject those refugees to a new set of interviews while in detention. Immigration officers have already arrested dozens of resettled refugees in Minnesota as part of an enforcement surge, quickly transporting them to detention centers in Texas. Refugee advocates say many were released without their identity documents. The International Refugee Assistance Project is suing to block the new detention policy, arguing it is unlawful.

  • On January 30, a Minnesota federal judge temporarily blocked ICE from detaining 5,600 refugees in the state after several organizations sued.
  • The new DHS memo was filed in court one day before a scheduled hearing in the Minnesota case.

The players

Department of Homeland Security

The U.S. federal department responsible for public security, including immigration enforcement.

International Refugee Assistance Project

A non-profit organization that provides legal assistance and advocates for refugees.

Todd M. Lyons

Acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Joseph Edlow

Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Laurie Ball Cooper

Vice president for U.S. legal programs at the International Refugee Assistance Project.

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What they’re saying

“This memo, drafted in secret and without coordination with agencies working directly with refugees, represents an unprecedented and unnecessary breach of trust. We have both a moral and a legal obligation to demand that DHS immediately rescind this action.”

— Beth Oppenheim, Chief executive of HIAS (adn.com)

“This requires DHS to take the affirmative actions of locating, arresting, and taking the alien into custody.”

— Todd M. Lyons, Acting ICE director (adn.com)

“I am concerned that the Feb. 18 memo and the indiscriminate detention of refugees in Minnesota are the opening salvos in an attack on refugees resettled all over the United States.”

— Laurie Ball Cooper, Vice president for U.S. legal programs, International Refugee Assistance Project (adn.com)

What’s next

The judge in the Minnesota case will decide whether to declare the new refugee detention policy unlawful and prevent more refugees from being arrested.

The takeaway

This policy shift represents a dramatic escalation in the Trump administration's targeting of legal immigrants and refugees, upending decades of protections and putting tens of thousands of recently arrived refugees at risk of detention and revetting. It raises concerns that this could be the start of a broader attack on the U.S. refugee resettlement system and its commitment to offering safe haven to the world's most persecuted.