Refugees sue to end green card freeze and a 10-day deadline to fight losing status

A proposed class action says the administration has frozen green card requests from tens of thousands of refugees and cut their time to contest losing status from 30 days to 10. A judge has not yet ruled.

By the National Desk · Tuesday, October 27, 2026, 9:05 AM ET · 2 min read

Every quote in this story (2) was matched word for word against its source. How we work

Six refugee organizations and four individual refugees filed a proposed class action Monday against the Trump administration. They filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. They want to stop policies that have frozen green card applications for thousands of refugees already living in the United States ¹.

A green card gives lawful permanent residence. The suit challenges three Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) policies. They are an indefinite hold on some refugees' applications, a program to re-vet refugees admitted under President Biden, and a new rule cutting the time to answer a notice that could end refugee status from 30 days to 10 ¹.

What the lawsuit says

The plaintiffs argue the policies violate federal immigration and administrative law and the Constitution's due-process protections. They also asked for emergency relief, including an immediate pause of the 10-day rule. They say at least one refugee has already received a termination notice under it ¹.

A November 21, 2025, USCIS memo put on hold green card applications from refugees admitted between January 20, 2021, and February 20, 2025. It cited national security and public safety concerns. The plaintiffs say the agency has not backed up broader concerns about refugees admitted in that period ¹.

From Channel GOPTrump on the Alaska ballot and the DOJ suitDonald Trump · 214 plays · captioned, with the source named

The plaintiffs ask the court to certify a nationwide class of refugees who had not received green cards as of October 14, 2026. They say the group numbers in the tens of thousands. The court has not yet certified the class ¹.

**Skye Perryman**, president and CEO, Democracy Forward¹

The numbers

DHS has estimated that about 113,000 refugees have pending green card applications, according to the plaintiffs' filings. USCIS data cited in the complaint show it decided 121 refugee applications from January to March this year, against 17,569 in the same period of 2025. The 121 figure includes cases outside the group covered by the hold ¹.

DHS issued the 10-day rule on October 14. It said the change would "restore integrity to the immigration system, mitigate risks to national security and public safety, and prevent fraud and exploitation." The rule took effect at once, with a 30-day public comment period. DHS estimates about 186,000 refugee cases could be subject to it ¹.

The plaintiffs say 10 days may not be enough to find a lawyer, interpreters and records. They note that the median USCIS processing time for a simple Freedom of Information Act records request was 27 days in 2025 ¹.

What happens next

The court must decide whether to grant emergency relief and whether to certify the class. Newsweek said it contacted USCIS and DHS for comment, and the report did not include a response ¹.

This is not the first such fight in Massachusetts. In February, six refugees and two resettlement agencies sued over a DHS directive allowing arrests of refugees who lacked green cards after a year in the country. Democracy Forward and the International Refugee Assistance Project represented them ². Newsweek reports that a Massachusetts federal court stayed a later nationwide refugee detention policy in March ¹.

All Americans should be concerned about this lawless push to imprison people who have done nothing wrong.

Ghita Schwarz, International Refugee Assistance Project, said of the earlier detention policy in March²

That matters because these are people the government already admitted after screening. The pattern is a rule change, a freeze, then a shorter deadline. Courts will now decide whether that is allowed.

The Record

Nov 21, 2025USCIS memo puts green card applications from refugees admitted Jan. 20, 2021, to Feb. 20, 2025, on hold ¹.
Feb 27, 2026Refugees and two resettlement agencies sue in Massachusetts over a DHS refugee detention directive ².
Oct 14, 2026DHS issues an interim rule cutting the response time on refugee termination notices from 30 days to 10 ¹.
Oct 26, 2026Six organizations and four refugees file a proposed class action seeking to block the three policies ¹.

Sources

Newsweek, “Refugee Green Card 'Freezing' Hit With Class Action Lawsuit” (2026-10-27). newsweek.com/refugee-green-card-freezing-hit-with-class-acti
GBH News via NHPR, “Massachusetts refugees and resettlement agencies sue Trump admin over new detention policy” (2026-03-02). nhpr.org/new-england-news/2026-03-02/massachusetts-refugees-

Found an error? Tell the newsroom. Corrections are noted at the top of the story.

Georgia man charged over alleged Molotov cocktail attack on Atlanta ICE building

Federal prosecutors say Inique Hinton, 31, threw a firebomb at the downtown Atlanta building that houses ICE offices and an immigration court. The charges are allegations, and he has not been convicted.

Oct 24, 2:17 AM ET

Immigration

Full Fifth Circuit upholds Trump policy denying bond hearings to unlawful entrants

The full appeals court reversed its own three-judge panel and ruled that immigrants who entered unlawfully have no constitutional right to a bond hearing. The ruling lets the government hold people, including long-time U.S. residents, with no judge reviewing the detention.

Oct 23, 9:23 PM ET