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“Operation PARRIS” in MN violates U.S. invitation to refugees, terrorizes innocent families
Contact: Lauren Rasmussen, media@wr.org, 802.310.4255
BALTIMORE, Md. – This weekend, federal immigration agents detained dozens of lawfully present refugees in Minnesota, including children. The agents, some dressed in plain clothes, lured refugees out of their homes where they were transported to holding facilities and then, in many cases, out of the state. Individuals who have followed every rule and submitted their Green Card applications, as allowed and required one year after resettlement, are now detained and fear being returned to situations of persecution. World Relief categorically condemns the aggressive tactics ICE agents are using to ensnare rule-following refugees, calling for the release of all lawfully present detainees not charged with any crime and the cessation of what the Department of Homeland Security has called Operation Post-Admission Refugee Reverification and Integrity Strengthening (Operation PARRIS).
“This is a five-alarm fire. These are not the ‘worst of the worst;’ these are innocent children and families who fled the worst wars and persecution imaginable, who were invited by the American people to become Americans under the terms of American law,” commented Myal Greene, president and CEO of World Relief, which in partnership with local affiliate Arrive Ministries resettled several families that were detained over the weekend. “This shameful and unpatriotic operation preys on our basest fears and manipulates the truth. Enough. ICE must be held accountable, and this operation must cease.”
The refugees detained in recent days, like all individuals admitted through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, were admitted under the lawful authority of the Refugee Act of 1980, a bill passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate. Before the U.S. government extends an invitation to resettle in the U.S., they must undergo rigorous examination abroad by the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies to prove that they have a well-founded fear of persecution due to their race, religion, political opinion, nationality or membership with a particular group. About 30 percent of refugees resettled in fiscal year 2024 were Christian refugees from the 50 countries where Christians face the most severe religious persecution, while other refugees have been persecuted as members of other minority faiths, on account of their race, because of their affiliation with the U.S. military or because of peaceful opposition to authoritarian political regimes.
One year after arrival, refugees are allowed by law to obtain their Lawful Permanent Resident status, often known as “Green Cards.” Many, if not most, of those detained over the weekend had already submitted their applications for Lawful Permanent Resident status. Nevertheless, ICE officers arrived at their homes, in some cases entering under false pretenses. Others were detained in stores or other public places.
In November, a memo from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services halted in-process Green Card adjudication for those resettled as refugees between January 2021 and February 2025. The memo also announced that refugees who arrived during the Biden administration would be subjected to interviews to re-prove their fear of persecution, violating the promise the U.S. made to those refugees to be a haven of safety. In December, Operation PARRIS launched in Minnesota, reportedly targeting the 5,600 refugees in Minnesota who had not yet been granted Green Cards, and these detentions seem to be a part of this operation.
“We lament the suffering and recurring trauma of our immigrant neighbors, including many refugees who have fled violence or persecution and have followed every rule,” commented Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals. “These are not the nefarious criminals that we should deport. These are families with children whom our country initially welcomed. As evangelicals, we believe every person bears God’s image and deserves safety, dignity and fair treatment.”
Matthew Soerens, vice president of advocacy and policy at World Relief, added: “When the U.S. rounded up Japanese-Americans, the church remained largely silent. When the U.S. turned away Jews fleeing the Holocaust, the church remained largely silent. But when hundreds of thousands fled Vietnam and other parts of Asia in the 1970s and 1980s, the church stepped up and led the movement to welcome, and evangelical and other Christian churches have played a central role in the refugee resettlement process ever since. We are at a crossroads. The persecuted church is among us, and our government is rounding them up. The church cannot remain silent.”
World Relief calls on the administration and on lawmakers to suspend Operation PARRIS and initiate a thorough, independent investigation of immigration enforcement, ensuring that enforcement is appropriately focused on those convicted of serious criminal offenses, not on lawfully present individuals not alleged to have committed any crime. World Relief has consistently called for immigration policy that respects the rule of law and the God-given dignity of every person.
World Relief is also calling on Christians to add their voices to the thousands who have already voiced opposition to this push to re-litigate refugees’ legal status by joining this sign-on letter to President Trump and Members of Congress.
World Relief is appealing to churches and individuals, many of whom generously stepped into the gap when the U.S. government withdrew funding for recently arrived refugees roughly one year ago, to provide financial support to provide immigration legal services and other support to refugees and other vulnerable immigrants now at risk. To give, visit worldrelief.org/give.