temporary restraining order<\/a> that he issued in January into a more permanent preliminary injunction while the case develops further.<\/p>\nThe order applies only in Minnesota. But the implications of a new national policy on refugees that the Department of Homeland Security announced Feb. 18 were a major part of the discussion at a hearing held by the judge the next day.<\/p>\n
\u201cMinnesota refugees can now live their lives without fear that their own government will snatch them off the street and imprison them far from loved ones,\u201d Kimberly Grano, an attorney with the International Refugee Assistance Project, told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration asserts it has the right to arrest potentially tens of thousands of refugees across the U.S. who entered the country legally but don\u2019t yet have green cards. A new Homeland Security memo interprets immigration law to say that refugees applying for green cards must return to federal custody one year after they were admitted to the U.S. so that their applications can be reviewed.<\/p>\n
The judge, however, expressed disbelief in a 66-page opinion.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis Court will not allow federal authorities to use a new and erroneous statutory interpretation to terrorize refugees who immigrated to this country under the promise that they would be welcomed and allowed to live in peace, far from the persecution they fled,\u201d Tunheim said.<\/p>\n
He said the U.S. decades ago promised refugees fleeing persecution that they could build a new life after rigorous background checks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe promised them the hope that one day they could achieve the American Dream,\u201d Tunheim said. \u201cThe Government\u2019s new policy breaks that promise \u2014 without congressional authorization \u2014 and raises serious constitutional concerns. The new policy turns the refugees\u2019 American Dream into a dystopian nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n
Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a statement Friday night that the ruling was \u201cyet another lawless and activist order from a federal judge\u201d and that the Trump administration expected to be \u201cvindicated in court.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUSCIS is committed to rooting out fraud and protecting the public safety and national security interests of the American people by screening and vetting aliens,\u201d the statement said. <\/p>\n
Justice Department attorney Brantley Mayers said during a court hearing last week that the government should have the right to arrest refugees one year after entering the U.S., but he also indicated that would not always happen. <\/p>\n
The judge noted that one refugee in the case, identified as D. Doe, was arrested in January after being told that someone had struck his car.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was immediately flown to Texas, where he was interrogated about his refugee status. He was kept in \u2018shackles and handcuffs\u2019 for sixteen hours. D. Doe was ultimately released on the streets of Texas, left to find his way back to Minnesota,\u201d Tunheim said.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
This story has been updated to correct that the Department of Homeland Security announced its new national policy on refugees on Feb. 18, not Feb. 19.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
White reported from Detroit. Associated Press reporter Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, contributed to this story.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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