We need our grassroots supporters to take action today to speak out against a U.S. government policy that calls for the detention of refugees. For many years, our advocacy helped Global Refuge welcome new refugee neighbors to our communities by offering a warm hello, preparing homes, assisting with school enrollment, supporting English classes, and providing employment opportunities as they found safety and protection in the United States. Today, government policies are putting those same refugee neighbors at risk of detention and deportation.  

On February 18, 2026, the U.S. government issued a memo directing federal agents to arrest lawfully admitted refugees who have not yet obtained a green card (lawful permanent resident status) within one year of their arrival to the U.S. This option is not legally available to them, as refugees must be in the country for at least one year before applying for a green card. These refugees, including children and families who have already escaped violence and persecution and found lawful refuge in the U.S., could be detained, re-screened, and forced to relive the worst moments of their lives as the government reopens cases that have already been decided. 

This new policy could cause enormous harm: tearing families apart, costing people their jobs, re-traumatizing survivors of violence, and placing refugees in detention without guaranteed access to legal services—all this despite having followed the rules to be lawfully admitted into the safety of the U.S. 

And for what? Refugees are among the most thoroughly vetted people who enter the U.S. After their arrival, they continue to interact with the government regularly, through green card applications and family reunification petitions. There is no clear benefit to putting them through a re-vetting or re-interviewing process again, or to detain them during it.. 

Congress has the power—and the responsibility—to step in. 

We ask our advocates' to urge their Senators and Representative to speak out and demand changes to the newly announced USCIS detention policy.  

View our Action Alert here.