Judge Blocks Trump Administration from Ending Protections for Over 530,000 Migrants

A federal judge has halted the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke the legal status and work permits of over 530,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who entered the US under a controversial program established during former President Joe Biden’s term, Fox News reports.

Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee, issued a stay on Monday, preventing the Trump administration from automatically terminating the parole and work authorization granted under the CHNV (Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela) humanitarian parole program. Her ruling mandates that each migrant’s case be reviewed individually.

“The Termination of Parole Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans… 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,” Judge Talwani wrote in her order.

The CHNV program, launched in 2022 and expanded in 2023 by President Biden through his executive parole authority, allowed migrants from these four countries, along with their immediate family members, to fly into the U.S. if they had American sponsors. The program granted them a temporary immigration status known as parole, allowing them to remain in the country for two years.

The Biden administration had defended CHNV as a strategy to reduce illegal border crossings and improve the vetting process for individuals entering the US amid a surge in migration.

However, the program faced criticism and was temporarily paused after reports of widespread fraud. Several recipients were also reportedly arrested for serious crimes, including multiple child rapes.

The Trump administration, citing these concerns, had announced in March that the roughly 532,000 migrants under the CHNV program would have their humanitarian parole and work permits canceled on April 24, giving them a one-month window to leave the country.

Officials from the Department of Homeland Security and the Trump administration argue that Judge Talwani’s ruling effectively prevents President Trump from utilizing the same executive authority that former President Biden used to establish the program in the first place