Washington, DC – The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the Trump Administration’s bid to terminate a parole program for nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV), dealing a major blow to a policy widely regarded as both humane and effective for border management.
The decision, which lifts an injunction blocking the program’s dismantling, could subject roughly 500,000 individuals to potential removal. In a sharp dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson criticized the ruling, stating the Court had “botched this.”
Ben Johnson, Executive Director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), condemned the move, warning of dire humanitarian consequences.
“Forcing people back to countries plagued by violence, dictatorship, and instability—when a legal alternative exists—is unconscionable,” Johnson said. “The conditions in Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua that justified this program have not improved.”
Johnson noted that the government failed to present any national security or foreign policy rationale for abruptly ending parole grants while litigation remains pending. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) retains authority to revoke parole on an individual basis, he argued, making the mass termination unnecessary at this stage.
Quoting Jackson’s dissent, Johnson warned of “devastating consequences” as the government “precipitously upend[s] the lives and livelihoods of nearly half a million noncitizens” before courts rule on the program’s legality.
“The Supreme Court got this wrong,” Johnson said. “The human cost will be staggering.”
The decision leaves thousands in limbo, with advocates bracing for widespread upheaval in communities where CHNV parolees have built lives. Legal challenges to the program’s termination are expected to continue.
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