The Trump administration has arrested or questioned dozens of refugees in Minnesota, with more detentions likely nationwide, according to attorneys and advocates. In response, a federal judge ordered a temporary halt to the arrest and detention of refugees in Minnesota and extended the order, calling the policy a 'dystopian nightmare'. The court ruled that 8 U.S.C. § 1159(a) does not give DHS officials the power to arrest and detain refugees with no limits on the length of detention, according to the judge. Judge Tunheim stated, 'The government's position contradicts the plain meaning of § 1159(a) and contravenes forty-five years of agency practice.' The government has not yet appealed the judge's ruling, according to a source familiar with the matter. A refugee named D. Doe was arrested at his home on January 11, 2026, after being tricked by a man who claimed to have hit his car, according to court documents.
A group of refugees in other states filed a lawsuit to block new DHS policies that could lead to detention of tens of thousands of refugees, according to multiple reports. Refugee advocates have said tens of thousands of refugees could face arrest nationally, according to advocates. The government argued in a February 18 memo that it could indefinitely detain any refugees in the US who have not yet received green cards, according to the memo. The legal challenges highlight the nationwide implications of the administration's immigration policies.
Emergency lawsuits from immigrants seeking release from detention have declined in recent weeks as the Trump administration pulled back slightly from aggressive immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, according to multiple reports. The administration announced in February it was drawing down its Minnesota operation and moved to oust Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, according to reports. Nationwide immigration arrests in February were about 11 percent fewer than previous months but still nearly four times higher than under the Biden administration, according to a New York Times analysis. The Trump administration instructed ICE to cut back on arrests inside courthouses and to no longer enter homes without a warrant, according to two Homeland Security officials. A federal judge ruled that ICE must release a Minneapolis asylum seeker who was unlawfully detained for 50 days, noting he was not properly detained and agents lacked a warrant, according to the judge.
The Trump administration is deporting a significant number of parents without asking if they have children or allowing them to decide whether to bring their children, in apparent violation of its own policies, according to a report by the Women's Refugee Commission and Physicians for Human Rights. Immigration judges who were fired or forced out say the Trump administration pressured them to order deportations or risk losing their jobs, according to more than a dozen federal judges. The Justice Department fired the acting head of the immigration court system and three other top officials on Trump's first day in office, according to multiple reports. More than 100 immigration judges have left their posts since Trump took office, according to The Independent.
The Trump administration quietly abandoned more than 23,000 criminal cases within the first six months of his presidency, including 11,000 in Bondi's first month, according to a ProPublica analysis. Federal prosecutors launched 32,000 new immigration-related cases, nearly triple the amount under Biden, according to a ProPublica investigation. The surge in prosecutions and case abandonment reflects the administration's shifting priorities.
A federal judge overturned the Trump administration's ban on gender-affirming care for children, criticizing RFK Jr.'s 'wanton disregard' for the law, according to the judge. The judge barred the administration from implementing similar policies to restrict gender-affirming care nationally by withholding funding, according to multiple reports. A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore legal status for tens of thousands of immigrants who used the CBP One app to enter the U.S. legally, according to the judge.
The Trump administration implemented new emergency rules allowing farms to hire more H-2A workers and pay lower wages, according to multiple reports. These policy shifts, combined with the court rulings, create a complex legal landscape for immigration enforcement. The full extent of arrests and deportations remains unclear, as does the administration's next steps in appealing the Minnesota ruling.