ICE Memo Orders Agents to Arrest Refugees Who Entered Legally but Lack Green Cards

A February 18, 2026 directive from acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and USCIS Director Joseph Edlow instructs ICE to detain refugees who were lawfully admitted to the United States but have not obtained lawful permanent resident status one year after admission. Under the memo, refugees may voluntarily return for re-screening interviews; if they do not, the directive says ICE must find, arrest and detain them. The policy reverses prior guidance barring detention based solely on a missed one-year adjustment deadline.

Refugees admitted through the resettlement program have already undergone extensive overseas vetting and hold lawful status; the one-year adjustment step is largely administrative and often delayed by processing backlogs rather than by the refugee. Making that lapse a basis for arrest converts a paperwork condition into a detention trigger for a lawfully present population.

Officials said they were implementing the law as Congress wrote it and that re-screening determines whether status was obtained fraudulently or individuals pose criminal or terrorism threats. Beth Oppenheim, chief executive of HIAS, called it a transparent effort to detain and potentially deport thousands of people who are legally present. Refugees sued Secretary Kristi Noem and other officials over the policy on February 27.