US appeals court blocks Trump's bid to end legal status for 400,000 migrants

A US federal appeals court rejected the Trump administration’s request to move forward with revoking temporary legal status for hundreds of thousands of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.

The 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston ruled on Monday that it would not pause a lower court’s decision that halted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from terminating a two-year humanitarian parole program created during the Biden administration. This program had allowed migrants from the four countries to live and work legally in the US.

The administration argued that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem had the authority to end the program outright, claiming that the court order forces the federal government to “retain hundreds of thousands of aliens in the country against its will.” However, the panel of three judges—all appointed by Democratic presidents—concluded that Noem “has not at this point made a ‘strong showing’ that her categorical termination of plaintiffs’ parole is likely to be sustained on appeal.”

Karen Tumlin, an attorney with the Justice Action Center, which led the legal challenge, welcomed the court’s ruling. She described the administration’s move as “reckless and illegal.”

The case stems from a March 25 announcement in the Federal Register, in which DHS declared its decision to end the humanitarian parole for nearly 400,000 migrants. The policy reversal prompted immediate legal challenges from immigration advocates, who argued that the change lacked individualized review and undermined protections previously granted.

On April 25, US District Judge Indira Talwani temporarily blocked the policy change, stating that DHS had made a legal misstep by assuming that allowing parole to run its course would prevent the government from fast-tracking deportations.

The Trump administration may now seek intervention from the US Supreme Court.