Under new DHS memo, refugees lawfully admitted into the U.S. could be arrested, detained by ICE

A new memo issued by the Department of Homeland Security grants ICE permission to arrest and detain refugees already legally permitted into the U.S. if they haven't yet obtained a green card.

The document comes from Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow and directs refugees to return to federal custody a year after arriving in the U.S. for re-vetting.

Tucson immigration attorney Mo Goldman says refugees already spend years waiting and being vetted before getting to come to the U.S.

“So to now say that we’re going to arrest and detain individuals for revetting puts a chilling effect on the entire process,” he said.

Becoming a lawful permanent resident is another process done once refugees arrive in the U.S., and Goldman says it can be delayed for a lot of different reasons.

Under the new memo, refugees who are still in the process of obtaining that status are subject to detention and arrest, and the agency maintains it can hold them for the duration of the revetting process.

Goldman says he doesn’t believe the change will impact his refugee clients directly.

“Indirectly, I think it does make people very afraid or fearful that they could be targeted,” he said.

Goldman says that fear could cause refugees to delay pursuing U.S. citizenship or other immigration changes. More than 2,300 refugees were resettled in Arizona last year, according to state data.

The number of refugees being resettled is already on the decline. Last year, almost 2,400 people were resettled in Arizona, according to state data, down from more than 9,000 in 2024.

Earlier this year, a federal just ruled to temporarily block the Trump administration from detaining refugees in Minnesota, after rights groups filed suit over a series of arrests in the state.