U.S. judge blocks Trump administration from detaining refugees in Minnesota

A U.S. judge halts Trump administration's refugee detentions in Minnesota, affirming their rights while reviewing immigration status.

A U.S. federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration on Wednesday (January 28, 2026) from detaining refugees in Minnesota awaiting permanent resident status and ordered the release of those in detention.

U.S. 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 U.S. 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 (January 28, 2026), U.S. 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," Judge 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."