ICE Memorandum of February 18, 2026: What Changes for Refugees and How to Reduce the Risk of Detention

Who is required to start the green card process after one year in the United States as a refugee? What happens if they do not? Who may be sent to detention for re-inspection, and who will not? Who could lose their status and face removal? And why does the government want to tighten enforcement?

On February 18, 2026, ICE published a memorandum stating its intention to detain certain categories of refugees who fail to begin the process of adjusting to permanent resident status within the required timeframe. Below is a breakdown of who this new policy affects, who may be at risk, and what steps should be taken in advance.

Who This Policy Applies To

The change applies only to “refugees” in the terminology of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), meaning individuals who received refugee status outside the United States and entered the country through the refugee resettlement program under INA §207. These are people who arrived in the United States already recognized as refugees through the formal resettlement process.

Most likely, this policy does not apply to people who received or are trying to obtain “asylum” inside the United States under INA §208. This includes individuals who entered the country on a visa and later requested protection, crossed the border and applied for asylum, presented themselves at a port of entry seeking protection, or entered through programs such as U4U, CBP One, or similar mechanisms.

In simple terms, these are people who did not obtain refugee status before arriving in the United States. For now, the memorandum does not apply to them.

The reason lies in the wording of the law.

Why Refugees and Asylees Are Treated Differently

If a person requests protection after already being inside the United States, INA §209(b) applies. That provision uses the phrase may adjust. This means the person has the right to apply for permanent resident status after one year but is not legally required to do so. The statute also does not require mandatory detention or inspection after that one-year period.

By contrast, INA §209(a), which applies to individuals admitted as refugees, states that a refugee must apply for adjustment to lawful permanent resident status after one year in the United States. If the person does not initiate that process, they are supposed to report to DHS or be brought there for re-inspection.

How This Worked in Practice Before the Memorandum

Formally, the law has always required refugees admitted through the resettlement program to file Form I-485 after their first year in the United States. That requirement itself is not new.

In practice, however, the government rarely enforced it. Many refugees lived in the United States for years without applying for a green card, and the failure to file the form did not automatically trigger penalties.

There were many reasons for delayed filing. Some individuals had immigration or criminal issues that did not cancel their refugee status but made them ineligible for permanent residence. Others simply postponed filing because of financial constraints, lack of information, or ordinary procrastination.

There was also an internal ICE directive, often referred to as the Chaparro memorandum, stating that failure to apply alone was not grounds for detention. If a person was detained, authorities had 48 hours to either issue formal immigration charges and begin removal proceedings or release the person.

As a result, the one-year re-screening requirement was rarely carried out unless the refugee voluntarily appeared for review.

What Is Changing Now

In essence, the government has decided to start enforcing the existing statute more strictly. Under the new approach, a refugee must begin the adjustment process after one year in the United States.

If the application is not filed and the person does not undergo voluntary inspection, the government may initiate the process on its own.

ICE may locate the individual, detain them, and transfer them to a detention facility for mandatory inspection. The refugee may remain in custody for as long as necessary to complete that review. The previous 48-hour limitation does not apply in this context.

After the inspection, two outcomes are possible. The government may process the adjustment to permanent resident status, or, if disqualifying issues are discovered, it may begin removal proceedings in immigration court.

In this interpretation, the statutory phrase shall apply is treated as a strict legal obligation.

Why the Government Says This Is Necessary

The official explanation from DHS generally focuses on national security and immigration enforcement. According to that position, a one-year review allows authorities to identify fraud, correct errors from the initial screening process, and detect risks that may not have been discovered at the time of entry.

The review is also meant to confirm that the refugee does not pose a threat and still qualifies for permanent resident status. In practice, it also forces the individual to explain why the adjustment process was not started earlier.

There may be other motivations as well. One possibility is that the memorandum serves to justify arrests that had already begun before the policy was formally explained. Because the rule had rarely been enforced in the past, many detained refugees challenged their detention in federal court through habeas petitions.

The memorandum may therefore function as an attempt to retroactively legitimize a new enforcement practice.

Another factor may be a broader trend in recent months to identify formal legal grounds for detaining larger numbers of non-citizens. Various groups have been affected by similar enforcement initiatives, including individuals admitted on parole, people with TPS, and asylum seekers who have waited years for interviews.

The idea that large numbers of refugees who failed to file Form I-485 after one year pose a significant national security risk is questionable, although individual cases involving serious criminal conduct can certainly exist.

What Refugees Should Do

If there are no legal barriers, the most straightforward way to reduce risk is to start the adjustment process on time. For refugees admitted through the resettlement program, this stage is usually relatively simple and primarily involves filing the appropriate forms and gathering standard documentation.

If there are complications preventing the filing of the application, it is usually better to address them sooner rather than later. While a person remains free, it is easier to collect documents, obtain legal advice, and prepare a strategy.

If the issue is ignored until detention or an unexpected encounter with law enforcement occurs, the risk of prolonged detention increases, and the ability to prepare a defense becomes more limited.

In the best-case scenario, delay simply results in unnecessary costs and lost time. In the worst case, it may lead to extended detention and the start of removal proceedings, where the outcome will depend on the specific facts of the case.

Key Takeaway

This memorandum targets a relatively narrow group: refugees who entered the United States through the resettlement program as refugees under INA §207. For many other categories of immigrants, including most asylum seekers inside the United States, the policy does not directly apply.

However, for those who are affected, the basic strategy is clear: do not postpone the adjustment process and avoid putting yourself in a situation where the government initiates the review through detention.

Note: The full text of the memorandum and links to the relevant statutes are typically included in the video description. A future discussion will address the concept of pretermit in the context of asylum applications.

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February 28, 2026
Alexander A. Krasnyanskiy, Esq,