A federal appeals court has denied a request by the Trump administration to move forward with revoking temporary legal protections for hundreds of thousands of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Boston, refused to stay a lower court ruling that stopped the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from ending a two-year humanitarian parole program created during President Joe Biden’s tenure.
The parole program allows certain migrants to live and work in the United States temporarily.
The Trump administration had sought to terminate the program as part of its broader push to tighten immigration controls and increase deportations, even for migrants who had been previously granted legal status.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem argued that she had the authority to end the parole en masse and claimed that a judge’s order was effectively forcing the government to retain hundreds of thousands of people in the country.
However, a three-judge panel—all appointed by Democratic presidents—rejected that argument, finding that Noem had not shown a strong likelihood of winning on appeal.
The panel noted that her effort to cancel parole on a categorical basis lacked sufficient legal justification at this stage.
Karen Tumlin, a lawyer with the Justice Action Center, which brought the case on behalf of migrant rights groups, praised the ruling, calling the administration’s approach “reckless and illegal.”
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While the Trump administration may still appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the court’s latest decision means that the Biden-era program remains in place for now.
“The Trump administration is committed to restoring the rule of law to our immigration system,” said DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin in a statement.
“No lawsuit, not this one or any other, is going to stop us from doing that.”
The legal challenge centers on a DHS decision announced on March 25 to end the two-year parole for approximately 400,000 migrants from four countries. Immigrant advocacy groups argued that the administration’s move violated legal requirements for individualized review and improperly revoked existing work authorizations.
On April 25, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani blocked the administration’s action, stating that DHS had relied on a flawed legal interpretation.
The judge said the department was wrong in believing that allowing the parole to expire naturally would prevent it from removing individuals quickly in the future.
She emphasized that ending parole in a blanket manner without reviewing each case was unlawful.
Source: Reuters/NAN
