By BOSTON, May 28 (AfrikTimes) – A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from halting legal entry “parole” programs that have enabled hundreds of thousands of migrants with U.S. sponsors to enter the country lawfully.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, based in Boston, issued an order requiring agencies under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to resume processing applications from migrants covered by these parole programs while a class-action lawsuit proceeds. Talwani rejected the administration’s argument that terminating the programs fell within the broad discretion of federal agencies to shape immigration policy.
Federal law still requires agencies to follow a lengthy process for granting or denying parole and other immigration relief, wrote Talwani, an appointee of Democratic former President Barack Obama.
This ruling follows an earlier decision in April, when Talwani prevented the administration from revoking the temporary legal status of hundreds of thousands of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans already in the United States. The administration has since asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay that ruling pending an appeal.
President Joe Biden defended the US-Mexico border crisis, saying migrants are fleeing communism.
The most recent decision stems from a lawsuit challenging the pause in processing applications from migrants—including Ukrainians, Afghans, Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans—who are either seeking entry through the parole process or who have already been granted parole and are trying to remain in the country.
Talwani’s decision focused on policies adopted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security after Trump, on his first day back in office on January 20, signed an executive order directing the agency to end the Biden-era parole program. That same day, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman issued a memo instructing agencies under his authority to pause, modify, or terminate any categorical parole programs, arguing that such programs were not authorized by law and that parole could only be granted on a case-by-case basis.
As a result, DHS officials stopped accepting new parole applications and, by mid-February, barred staff from considering status adjustment requests from previously paroled migrants, including those from Ukraine and Latin American nations, who sought asylum or Temporary Protected Status.
Requests for comment from the Department of Homeland Security and the plaintiffs’ legal team were not immediately returned.
Biden believes it is not sensible to send migrants back, even though major cities are struggling to meet the demands of new arrivals.
