The U.S. Supreme Court has let President Trump’s administration carry on with its decision as planned to revoke the legal status of half a million migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela, and Nicaragua (CHNV) living and working in the U.S.
This ruling by the apex court, reversed a lower court order that temporarily halted the Trump administration from yanking away the Biden-granted protected status from CHNVs.
This simply means that beneficiaries of the humanitarian parole can now be targeted for expedited removal from the U.S.
DHS initially terminated the CHNV program in April
President Trump called for the end of humanitarian parole programs, including CHNV on his first day back in office by signing an executive order to that effect.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) subsequently moved to terminate them in March, cutting short the two-year parole grants. The administration said revoking the parole status would make it easier to place migrants in a fast-track deportation process called “expedited removal.”
Beneficiaries were given 30 days to leave the U.S. voluntarily, before DHS would begin to prioritize the arrest of migrants who had failed to apply for another immigration benefit, like asylum or a green card.
A U.S. District judge stopped its enforcement
A group of 23 individuals and a nonprofit organization filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts, challenging the termination of the CHNV parole program.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani found that the DHS could not terminate the grants of parole because federal law required parole to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and therefore blocked the Trump administration from moving forward with its plan to terminate the legal status of those migrants on April 24.
The Trump administration then appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, which declined to pause the district court’s order. The Justice Department proceeded to the Supreme Court by filing an emergency appeal.
Supreme Court grants appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court on May 30, 2025, lifted the April 14 temporary injunction blocking the DHS’s decision to terminate en masse humanitarian parole for CHNVs under the CHNV program.
In a 7–2 decision (with Justices Jackson and Sotomayor dissenting), the Court granted the federal government’s request to stay the district court’s injunction.
The court put on hold Boston-based U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani’s order halting the administration’s move to end the immigration “parole” granted to 500,000 of these migrants by Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden, thereby exposing many of them to rapid removal, while the case plays out in lower courts. However, the Supreme Court’s decision was unsigned and did not provide reasoning.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson while dissenting wrote, “The outcome undervalues the devastating consequences of allowing the government to precipitously upend the lives and livelihoods of nearly half a million noncitizens while their legal claims are pending.”
DHS makes new press release
Following this victory at the Supreme Court, the Department of Homeland Security’s March 25th Federal Register Notice ending CHNV parole is now in full effect, and can now once again begin removing migrants who received humanitarian parole under the CHNV program.
DHS has issued a new press release of termination of the CHNV Parole Program and has begun sending new termination notices to migrants paroled into the U.S. under the CHNV program. This is because the previous notices were to take effect on April 24, 2025.
The notice in the form of emails will be sent to the email addresses provided by the migrants. They will also receive notification in their myUSCIS account.
These notices will inform migrants that both their parole is terminated, and their parole-based employment authorization is revoked – effective immediately.
DHS is now encouraging migrants residing in the U.S. who have not obtained lawful status to remain in the country to leave immediately by self-deporting with the CBP Home Mobile App. If they do so, they will receive travel assistance and a $1,000 exit bonus upon arrival in their home country.
You may be allowed to remain in the U.S…
If you have since coming into the U.S. obtained a lawful immigration status, you may not be required to depart the country.
For instance:
- If you have a pending immigration application such as asylum, that application remains valid and you can continue with it. Even though your application is pending, you are not required to leave the U.S. if you have already applied for asylum.
- You are also not required to leave the U.S. if you have another status such as Temporary Protected Status or a green card.
- If you have a work permit that is not based on parole, that work permit also remains valid and you can remain in the U.S.
- If you have a case in immigration court, your case is still active until the judge makes a decision. You are not required to leave the U.S. until the judge makes a decision.
You should know that termination of parole only affects your parole, and any work authorization based on parole, not other applications or petitions you have pending or statuses you have obtained.
Nevertheless, if you do not already have another pending immigration application, you may want to consider applying before your parole ends, if you are eligible. Some people with parole could be eligible for asylum, TPS, or other options.
However, submitting a new immigration application can be a complicated decision at this time that depends entirely on your specific circumstances.
If you wish to speak to an immigration lawyer about your options, we at The Law Office of Anne Z. Sedki can help you. Contact us on +15169636672 or fill out this form to schedule a consultation.