Judge weighs lawsuit on Trump move to revoke legal status for a half-million migrants

Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald on Mar 24, 2025

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A federal judge overseeing a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s decision to revoke the legal status of more than 500,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who were paroled into the U.S. under a Biden administration program heard arguments Monday and scheduled another hearing in two weeks.

Attorneys representing the migrants in the case, which is being heard in Boston, expressed optimism that U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani might issue a temporary protective order before the next hearing, noting that she appeared troubled by the government’s arguments.

The administration seeks to end the CHNV parole program — named for the initials of the affected nationalities — asserting that migrants without a legal basis to remain in the U.S. must leave within 30 days of the program’s termination. A Federal Register notice by the Department of Homeland Security revoking the program will be published Tuesday.

Esther Sung, legal director for the Plaintiff Justice Action Center, said the judge appeared concerned about the treatment of migrants affected by the policy shift.

“The judge engaged with both sides and didn’t indicate how she intends to rule, but she did seem troubled by some of the government’s arguments — particularly regarding how it was treating individuals who lawfully entered through CHNV and other parole programs,” Sung said.

“She acknowledged the possibility of granting temporary relief,” Sung added. The judge has scheduled another hearing for April 7.

The administration’s legal team argued that the CHNV program does not align with its current policy objectives, and asserted that the Trump administration has executive authority to reshape immigration policy.

While agreeing that policy shifts are within an administration’s rights, the judge questioned whether it justified indefinitely suspending the processing of applications by people who came to the U.S. under the program. Some of the migrants have attempted to obtain another immigration status, such as political asylum, Temporary Protected States and permanent residency, but the administration has said those processes are on pause.

President Joe Biden established the CHNV “humanitarian parole” program in January 2023 in an effort to stem the flow of undocumented immigration to the U.S.-Mexico border. It allowed people from the four countries to come to the U.S. for two years if they had a sponsor in the United States, passed a background check and bought a plane ticket. The program allowed a maximum of 30,000 people a month to come to the U.S. More than 500,000 people came to the U.S. under the program.

The attorneys representing the four groups argue that ending the CHNV program is not only legally flawed but also inhumane, as it effectively cuts off pathways to asylum and permanent residency for thousands of vulnerable individuals.

The judge is likely to determine at the next hearing whether the court will stop the administration from revoking the program while the case proceeds.

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