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Litigation Update

IINE Joins Federal Lawsuit to Stop Unlawful Arrest and Detention of Refugees

The International Institute of New England has joined six refugee plaintiffs and Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts in filing a federal lawsuit to block a sweeping new Department of Homeland Security policy that orders the warrantless arrest and potentially indefinite detention of lawfully admitted refugees.

Represented by Democracy Forward and the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), the lawsuit challenges the Trump‑Vance administration’s “Refugee Detention Policy,” part of “Operation PARRIS,” which targets refugees who have lived in the United States for at least one year—even though they remain in lawful status and have committed no crime or immigration violation.

Federal law requires refugees to apply for permanent residency only after at least one year in the U.S., and refugee status does not expire. Yet the administration is freezing Green Card adjudications and then claiming that refugees without completed applications must be arrested on day 366. This unprecedented directive reverses more than 45 years of practice and violates constitutional protections. Refugees—who often endure a legal application process that spans years to come here, and who our nation admits promising safety—should not have to live in fear.

The policy has already resulted in arrests and family separations. Without court intervention, tens of thousands of refugees remain at risk simply because the government has created an impossible situation in which compliance is unattainable.

IINE is prepared to support every impacted client with legal representation. We are proud to stand alongside our partners in this critical fight to uphold the values of welcome, humanity, and the rule of law.

Read the full press release here. 

Help protect refugees

Litigation is not our standard method of advocacy, but when the federal government directly targets refugees—resilient, hardworking community members who escaped persecution and were promised safety by our nation—we must stand up and speak out.”

– Jeff Thielman, IINE President and CEO

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