A federal judge on Monday blocked U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration from enforcing a new policy that would subject thousands of refugees to arrest and detention if after a year in the United States they had yet to obtain green cards.

U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns in Boston acted at the request of six refugees and two advocacy groups who argued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s new policy was an unlawful departure from decades of practice.

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(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Editing by Franklin Paul)