Dozens of screened refugees in Minnesota arrested, relocated to Texas detention centers

The arrests, mainly involving Somali refugees, including children, followed a Trump administration announcement last Friday that it would reexamine thousands of refugee cases through new background checks.

The review focused on refugees who have entered the US but have not yet obtained green cards.

However, the announcement by US Citizenship and Immigration Services did not state that refugees would be arrested or transferred to immigrant detention facilities.

Michele Garnett McKenzie, executive director of the Advocates for Human Rights in Minneapolis, said the number of detainees had reached at least 100, with most being transferred to detention facilities in Texas.

The detained refugees entered the US legally through the Refugee Program, after undergoing extensive overseas vetting and meeting strict persecution criteria.

Although they are required to apply for green cards within a year, sometimes delayed due to cost and bureaucracy, they had not previously faced arrest or deportation threats.

In November, Trump turned his attention to refugees in Minnesota, a Democratic-leaning state home to the country’s largest Somali community, after reports alleged that some had improperly claimed millions of dollars in funding for social services that were never delivered.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration also moved to end Temporary Protected Status for a small number of Somalis who entered the US without prior refugee protection.