Global Refuge Denounces DHS Plan to Arrest and Detain Lawfully Admitted Refugees

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 19, 2026

Baltimore, MD — Global Refuge unequivocally condemns the Department of Homeland Security’s new directive authorizing the arrest and detention of lawfully admitted refugees who have not yet adjusted to lawful permanent resident status, also known as a green card, within one year of arrival.

“This unprecedented policy weaponizes a routine administrative milestone as a pretext for detention,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of Global Refuge. “These are families the United States government already screened more rigorously than any other category of immigrant. Only after years of background checks, biometric screenings, and in-person interviews were they invited to rebuild their lives here. To now subject them to arrest and open-ended detention is a stunning betrayal of both our legal commitments and our moral compass.”

The administration’s memo relies on a novel reinterpretation of statutory language to justify what prior administrations — including the first Trump administration — never claimed authority to do. It replaces longstanding guidance that limited detention with an expansive and vague power to maintain custody for an indefinite duration. At the same time, DHS has halted green card processing for refugee populations, placing thousands in bureaucratic limbo.

“Detaining refugees for failing to complete a process the government itself has delayed is indefensible,” added Vignarajah.

The memo’s references to “insufficient vetting” offer no transparency, no data, and no evidence of systemic fraud. Existing law already provides tools to investigate legitimate security or criminal concerns on an individualized basis.

“This is not targeted law enforcement. It is a broad attempt to redefine refugee status as conditional and revocable at will,” Vignarajah continued. “You do not welcome families fleeing war and persecution under one set of rules and then move the goalposts after they arrive.”

Global Refuge calls on DHS to immediately rescind this guidance and on Congress to conduct urgent oversight. We will continue to stand alongside refugee families and to defend the legal protections that Congress enacted nearly half a century ago to ensure that refuge in America is not conditional, political, or fleeting.

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About Global Refuge:
Global Refuge, formerly Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, is the largest faith-based nonprofit dedicated exclusively to serving refugee children and families. For 85 years, we have welcomed those seeking refuge, upholding a legacy of compassion and grace for people in crisis. We walk alongside individuals, families, and children as they begin their new lives in the United States through our work in refugee resettlement, economic empowerment and employment, and family unification for unaccompanied children. Since our founding in 1939, we have served over 800,000 people from around the globe.