Trump Can’t Revoke Legal Status of Migrants From Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, Judge Rules

The Trump administration can’t immediately revoke the deportation protections and work permits of hundreds of thousands of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who entered the U.S. legally under a Biden-era program, a federal judge ruled Monday.

U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani blocked the Trump administration from moving forward with its plan to terminate the legal status of those migrants on April 24. The administration had warned those affected by its announcement that they would need to self deport by that date or face arrest and deportation by federal immigration agents.

But Talwani suspended the deportation warnings the government had sent and prohibited officials from revoking the legal protection, known as immigration parole, that the Biden administration granted to more than half a million Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.

Talwani said those mass parole terminations could not happen without each case being reviewed.

The “early termination, without any case-by-case justification, of legal status for noncitizens who have complied with DHS programs and entered the country lawfully undermines the rule of law,” wrote Talwani, who sits on the federal district court in Boston.

Monday’s ruling is a significant reprieve for those who arrived under a policy the Biden administration argued promoted legal immigration and dissuaded migrants from crossing the southern border unlawfully.

Under that program, known as CHNV, a total of 532,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela were allowed to fly to the U.S. after securing a sponsorship from U.S.-based individuals. Upon entry, they were granted immigration parole and allowed to work in the U.S. lawfully for two years.

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Last month, the Department of Homeland Security said it would give CHNV beneficiaries 30 days to leave the U.S. voluntarily, or it would seek their arrest and removal from the country. Officials said they would prioritize the arrest of migrants who had failed to apply for another immigration benefit, like asylum or a green card.

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