Posters of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, both US citizens fatally shot by immigration agents earlier this month, are seen during a candlelight vigil where 37-year-old Alex Pretti was last week, in Minneapolis, Minnesota,. AFP
President Donald Trump has sent thousands of federal immigration agents to the Democratic state as part of a sweeping crackdown that has sparked outrage over the deaths of two US citizens at the hands of officers.
Immigration authorities launched a program this month to re-examine the legal status of the approximately 5,600 refugees in Minnesota who have not yet been given green cards.
In his order Wednesday, US District Judge John Tunheim said that the Trump administration could continue to enforce immigration laws and review refugees' status, but that it must do so "without arresting and detaining refugees."
"Refugees have a legal right to be in the United States, a right to work, a right to live peacefully -- and importantly, a right not to be subjected to the terror of being arrested and detained without warrants or cause in their homes or on their way to religious services or to buy groceries," Tunheim wrote.
"At its best, America serves as a haven of individual liberties in a world too often full of tyranny and cruelty. We abandon that ideal when we subject our neighbors to fear and chaos."
The order drew a quick rebuke from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, a powerful figure who leads Trump's hardline immigration policy.
"The judicial sabotage of democracy is unending," Miller wrote on X.
Tunheim's order requires any refugee detained under the Minnesota status review, known as Operation PARRIS, to be "immediately released from custody."
Refugees awaiting their permanent resident status "have undergone rigorous background checks and vetting, been approved by multiple federal agencies for entry, been given permission to work, received support from the government, and been resettled in the United States," Tunheim wrote.
"These individuals were admitted to the country, have followed the rules, and are waiting to have their status adjusted to lawful permanent residents of the United States."
In a separate order Wednesday, another federal judge in Minnesota criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for failing to comply with court orders.
The judge, who had ordered acting ICE head Todd Lyons to appear for a hearing that was later cancelled, said ICE "has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence."
He had requested Lyons' appearance after the agency delayed orders to give a detainee a bond hearing or release him. The detainee was later released, and Lyons was not required to appear.
"ICE is not a law unto itself," the judge wrote.
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