Resettlement agency head says new Homeland Security operation ‘terrifying’ refugee families
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Minnesota has become the launch point for a new federal immigration enforcement initiative that refugee advocates say is already having a profound and alarming impact on families across the state.
The Department of Homeland Security has begun what it calls Operation PARRIS — short for Post-Admission Refugee Reverification and Integrity Strengthening. DHS says the operation is designed to re-examine refugee cases approved in recent years. But resettlement agencies say the rollout has included early-morning arrests, detentions, family separations and little to no explanation of what refugees are accused of or where they are being taken.
“It’s terrifying for people,” said Jane Graupman, executive director of the International Institute of Minnesota. “And I can’t say that enough.”
According to Graupman, Minnesota nonprofits received formal notice from DHS last Friday that the agency was launching the operation in the state.
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“What they say they’re doing is re-examining, re-interviewing refugees that have come to Minnesota in the last three years,” she said, “specifically refugees who have not yet changed their status to green card status, which is permanent status.”
MPR News contacted DHS for more information and did not immediately receive a response.
DHS has framed the effort as a fraud prevention and vetting initiative.
In a press release announcing the new operation, a DHS spokesperson said the action is based on “a recent investigation that uncovered widespread immigration fraud in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.”
But Graupman emphasized that refugees already undergo one of the most extensive screening processes of any group entering the United States.
“When [refugees] arrive in this country, they have been extremely vetted, more vetted than any population arriving in the United States,” she said, “including biometric screenings, Department of Homeland Security screenings, FBI screenings, on and on.”
Resettlement agencies initially assumed that any reverification would involve interviews at immigration offices. Instead, Graupman says the reality has been far more aggressive.
“We thought that they would maybe be interviewing people at immigration services and asking them some questions,” she said. “When, in fact, they are going to people's homes, surrounding their homes, drawing their guns and asking people to come out of the house.”
According to advocates, refugees are then arrested, briefly detained locally and transferred out of state — often within 24 hours.
“Arresting people and detaining them at Fort Snelling and then, within 24 hours, moving them to Texas,” Graupman said.
She said families are often left with no information.
“People don’t have word of where they are, what’s happening to them,” she said. “Family members come to us saying, ‘My son was taken this morning on his way to work, and we don’t know where he is.’”
Families calling in panic
Graupman said her organization has been inundated with calls and in-person visits from distraught families.
“Families are calling us. They’re coming here. They’re extremely upset,” she said. “They don’t understand what’s going on.”
She said refugees are reporting no access to legal representation, no explanation of the allegations against them and no clear process.
“The process of how they’re even doing all of this has never been laid out, not for the public, not for nonprofits working with clients,” Graupman said. “This is just completely unprecedented.”
She added that in nearly 40 years of refugee resettlement work, she has never seen anything like it.
‘They fled authoritarian regimes — and now this’
Many of the refugees impacted fled violence or persecution and spent years — sometimes decades — waiting in refugee camps before being approved to come to the U.S.
“These folks that are coming here have fled authoritarian regimes in their own countries,” Graupman said. “This country has gone through the lengthy process of saying that they meet the legal definition of a refugee.”
Now, she said, they are reliving trauma in the place they believed was safe.
Operation working at a swift pace
While advocates say it’s still early, they stress that the arrests are not isolated incidents.
“We’ve heard about many, many cases, just from our agency alone,” Graupman said. “And all the other agencies are hearing the same thing from their clients.”
She said the pace has been rapid since nonprofits were formally notified.
“It’s not one family or two families,” she said. “It’s happening at a very swift pace.”
Broader refugee population impacted
So far, advocates say no single nationality appears to be targeted.
“We don’t see a trend right now,” Graupman said. “We’re hearing about families from everywhere.”
The International Institute of Minnesota has helped resettle refugees from Afghanistan, Somalia, Ethiopia, the Congo, Burma, Venezuela and many other countries.
“What we’re seeing reflects the broader refugee population in Minnesota,” she said.
Graupman said the rapid transfers out of state have made legal representation extremely difficult.
Despite the crisis, the International Institute continues its core work — including job training and English classes — while shifting resources to emergency response.
“We're calling people and letting them know how to protect themselves,” Graupman said.
Getting the word out
Reaching newly arrived refugees has been challenging, particularly for those with limited English or limited access to news.
“People have such trust in the American system,” Graupman said. “I think they just don't believe it's going to happen. I think that's changing.”
Her organization is working to simplify information, translate materials and conduct outreach in multiple languages.
