Feds launch operation targeting Minnesota refugees for potential deportation amid fraud investigation

By Fox News · Fox News

EXCLUSIVE: The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is deploying personnel on site in Minnesota to reexamine the legal refugee population, which includes Somalis, and search for cases, potentially leading to deportations. Operation Post-Admission Refugee Reverification and Integrity Strengthening (PARRIS) was launched in mid-December to reexamine Minnesota’s roughly 5,600 refugees from countries of concern listed in President Donald Trump ’s travel ban proclamations. "Minnesota is ground zero for the war on fraud. USCIS’ show of force in Minnesota demonstrates that USCIS will not stand idly by as the US immigration system is weaponized by those seeking to defraud the American people," USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser told Fox News Digital. "American citizens first, always." The 39 countries listed in the president’s travel ban include Somalia, Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, Sudan, Yemen, Iran and others. ICE BLASTS HILTON AFTER EMAILS ALLEGEDLY SHOW HOTEL REFUSING ROOMS TO IMMIGRATION AGENTS USCIS, which operates within the Department of Homeland Security, intends to redo background checks, reinterview refugees and verify the merits of each refugee claim to determine whether an individual should be referred to ICE. Should the agency identify a national security or public safety issue or find that a refugee has committed immigration fraud, deportation proceedings will be initiated. On Wednesday, ICE said that agents were targeted by rioters in "an act of domestic violence" and that "an ICE officer, fearing for his life… fired defensive shots" that ultimately killed the perpetrator. "This is the direct consequence of constant attacks and demonization of our officers by sanctuary politicians who fuel and encourage rampant assaults on our law enforcement, who are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them and an 8,000% increase in death threats," a spokesperson from DHS said. Sources at USCIS tell Fox News Digital that Operation PARRIS has been in the works fo…