Judge Blocks DHS From Limiting Parole for Some Immigrants

The government must undertake a case-by-case review in order to revoke parole, the judge said.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Washington on March 25, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cannot at this time end a program that granted protection against deportation for hundreds of thousands of immigrants, a federal judge ruled on April 14.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said that the agency cannot revoke parole and work authorization that was granted to noncitizens under the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela program during President Joe Biden’s term.

“If their parole status is allowed to lapse, Plaintiffs will be faced with two unfavorable options: continue following the law and leave the country on their own, or await removal proceedings,” Talwani said in the 41-page decision.

“If Plaintiffs leave the country on their own, they will face dangers in their native countries, as set forth in their affidavits. For some Plaintiffs, leaving will also cause family separation.”

The judge wrote that “if, in the alternative, Plaintiffs remain in the United States and await removal proceedings, they may be subject to arrest and detention, they will no longer be authorized to work legally in this country and their opportunities to seek any adjustment of status will evaporate.”

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem had announced in March that the department would be ending the program and would revoke the legal status of more than 530,000 immigrants. President Donald Trump had ordered the action.

“Parolees without a lawful basis to remain in the United States following this termination of the CHNV parole programs must depart the United States before their parole termination date,” Noem wrote at the time.

People who had received the parole were sent notices informing them that their parole would end soon.

“You should depart the United States now, but no later than the date of the termination of your parole. Failure to timely depart may have adverse immigration consequences,” the notice stated.

The program was launched by Biden in 2022 for Venezuelans and later expanded to natives of the other three countries. Officials at the time said the program enabled the legal entry of immigrants who were determined to provide a benefit for the United States while addressing how humanitarian problems in the countries had led to higher levels of migration.

Natives of the countries sued DHS this year, arguing in a filing in support of a motion for an emergency stay that the looming en masse revocation of parole violated the legal requirement that each parole case be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

“Defendants have previously argued that the statute ‘only imposes requirements on granting parole’ and ‘imposes no limits ... on denying’ or terminating parole, but the Secretary’s decision to change the expiration date of all valid grants of CHNV parole to April 24, 2025 was neither a denial nor a termination per se, but rather an en masse alteration of the conditions under which all those individuals were paroled, contrary to the statute,” lawyers for the immigrants told the court.

Government officials said in response that Noem’s decision complies with the law, which says parole can be terminated “when the purposes of such parole shall, in the opinion of the Secretary of Homeland Security, have been served.”

Talwani said that the law lets the DHS secretary issue parole based on his or her discretion and does not let the secretary “categorically truncate these grants of parole en masse and without individual review.”

The termination of parole “is hereby stayed pending further court order insofar as it revokes, without case-by-case review, the previously granted parole and work authorization issued to noncitizens paroled into the United States pursuant to parole programs for noncitizens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela  ... prior to the noncitizen’s originally stated parole end date,” the judge said in the order.

Karen Tumlin, founder and director of Justice Action Center, which advocates for immigrants, said in a statement that the ruling “is a significant step toward justice for not only the hundreds of thousands of people who entered the U.S. through this important process, but for the American sponsors who welcomed them to their homes and communities.”

A DHS spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email that the parole programs under the Biden administration “unleashed over 530,000 poorly vetted aliens into America, fueling crime and stealing jobs—forcing our agents in the field to ignore rampant fraud.” 

“While this ruling delays justice and undermines the integrity of our immigration system, Secretary Noem will use every legal option at the Department’s disposal to end this chaos, prioritizing the safety of Americans.”

This article has been updated with the latest response from DHS.