Advocacy organizations have filed a class action lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging that a trio of recent policy moves have left refugees in a state of legal uncertainty, blocking their path to permanent residency and making it easier for the government to strip their protected status.
The complaint, lodged Monday in federal court in Massachusetts, targets the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). It accuses the agencies of violating federal immigration law through what it describes as a coordinated assault on refugees who have already undergone extensive vetting and resettled in the United States.
“This lawsuit challenges these actions, which, taken together, keep refugees from obtaining lawful permanent residency—a status to which they are statutorily entitled—and place them at risk of termination of their refugee status with no meaningful opportunity to be heard,” the plaintiffs argue in the filing.
At the heart of the dispute is a November directive from the administration ordering immigration officers to reinterview all refugees admitted under the Biden administration. That order placed an indefinite hold on pending green card applications, effectively freezing the process for thousands of refugees.
The lawsuit dismisses the reinterview mandate as a “baseless fishing expedition,” pointing out that refugees are among the most thoroughly vetted immigrants entering the country. The administration has defended the move as a necessary security measure, but plaintiffs say it has no legal grounding.
Earlier this month, DHS also implemented a rule that shortens the window for refugees to appeal a proposed termination of their status from 30 days to 10 days. The agency cited the need to “restore integrity to the immigration system,” protect national security, and prevent fraud. But the lawsuit contends that the compressed timeline leaves refugees with insufficient time to mount a challenge, violating their constitutional right to due process.
“These actions are the latest in a systematic effort to implement policies that are hostile to refugees, with the end goal of terminating their refugee status and expelling refugees en masse,” wrote the plaintiffs’ attorneys.
The legal challenge is brought on behalf of several refugee advocacy groups and four individual refugees from Afghanistan, Colombia, Ethiopia, and Iraq, all of whom have pending applications for lawful permanent status. They are asking a federal judge to block the policies while the case proceeds, including an immediate halt to the shortened appeal rule.
“These are people who fled persecution, underwent years of rigorous vetting, and have built lives, families, and communities in the United States,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, one of the groups representing the plaintiffs, in a statement.
The lawsuit comes as the Trump administration has moved aggressively to shrink the U.S. refugee program since the president’s return to office. The administration has proposed a cap of 17,500 refugee admissions for the coming fiscal year under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, a figure the president has suggested should be reserved primarily for white South Africans. The move has drawn criticism from refugee advocates and some lawmakers, who see it as part of a broader effort to dismantle the program. Related coverage on the administration’s immigration stance can be found in Trump’s campaign trail rhetoric and White House messaging on policy priorities.
The Hill has reached out to USCIS for comment on the lawsuit.
