A federal judge has issued a ruling that prevents the Trump administration from swiftly terminating the legal status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants originating from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Haiti.
District Judge Indira Talwani, presiding in Boston, delivered the order, marking a significant legal setback to the Trump administration’s accelerated efforts to implement mass deportations, particularly targeting individuals from Latin America.
In March, the administration announced its intention to revoke the legal protections afforded to approximately 532,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans who entered the United States under a “parole” program initially instituted by former President Joe Biden in October 2022.
“The court grants emergency relief staying the Termination of Parole Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans,” Judge Talwani stated in her ruling.
The parole program authorized a two-year entry into the United States for up to 30,000 migrants monthly from these four nations, each grappling with severe human rights challenges.
In her order, Judge Talwani determined that the Trump administration had relied on a flawed interpretation of immigration law. She clarified that expedited removal applies to non-citizens who enter the United States unlawfully, not to those who are authorized to be within the country, such as those admitted through the parole program.
The Trump administration’s revocation would have resulted in the loss of legal protection for these immigrants, effective April 24, a mere 30 days after the Department of Homeland Security published its order in the Federal Register.
President Trump has publicly pledged to deport “millions” of undocumented migrants during a potential second term, a promise central to his election campaign, which heavily emphasized the issue of illegal immigration.
Among his other immigration-related actions, he has invoked rarely used wartime legislation to transport hundreds of alleged members of a Venezuelan gang to El Salvador, where they are being detained.
