A Massachusetts federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke the legal status and work permits of hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela who arrived in the United States under the CHNV humanitarian parole process. Many immigrant advocacy organizations see the decision as a victory for due process and humanitarian protection.
“Hundreds of thousands of our community members and neighbors are now able to breathe a sigh of relief to knowing that the Trump administration’s attempts to delegitimize, criminalize and render them undocumented…have been thwarted for now,” said Guerline Jozef, executive director and founder of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, who filed the case last month along with the Justice Action Center and Human Rights First.
The judge also granted class certification to all individuals who received parole through the CHNV program and remain in the U.S. unless they opt out of the class to seek relief through separate litigation. The class certification allows the case to move forward as a group lawsuit, rather than requiring each person to file individually. It ensures that all eligible parolees are represented under the same legal challenge and benefit from any outcome the court decides.
The case, Svitlana Doe v. Noem, challenged the Trump administration’s move to end multiple humanitarian parole programs, including Uniting for Ukraine, Operation Allies Welcome, Family Reunification Parole and the CHNV parole program. The plaintiffs also disputed the administration’s order to USCIS, which halted pending applications under these programs.
The CHNV program allowed eligible citizens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to live in the U.S. for two years. Since its launch in January 2023, it has allowed 532,000 immigrants from the four nations to benefit from humanitarian relief and seek a work permit in the U.S. for the duration of their stay.
Also Read: End of CHNV Parole: What Migrants Need To Know
While the two-year duration of parole varied depending on when a beneficiary entered the U.S., DHS Secretary Kristi Noem issued a notice on March 25 stating that parolees had 30 days from March 25 to leave the country if they did not have another legal basis to remain, such as applying for asylum, Temporary Protected Status or a marriage-based visa.
“We hope that the judge will rule in favor of the other communities that are included in the lawsuit,” Jozef said. “But we also want to highlight and clarify for the CHNV parolees that this does not afford a renewal of CHNV parole. It only allows them to continue the course of their parole.”
