A judge said she intends to temporarily block the administration’s termination of a parole program that allowed U.S. citizens and lawful residents to bring close relatives from seven countries to the United States.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A federal judge said Jan. 9 that she plans to issue a temporary restraining order preventing the Trump administration from ending the Family Reunification Parole program, a move that would affect thousands of immigrants from seven countries.
The dispute follows a December announcement by the Department of Homeland Security that it was terminating the parole program for immigrants from Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras, citing security concerns and inadequate vetting procedures, according to the agency’s public explanation of the decision. DHS said protections for individuals paroled under the program are set to expire Jan. 14.
The Family Reunification Parole program allows U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to bring certain foreign relatives to the United States temporarily while they wait abroad for immigrant visas, serving as an initial step toward permanent residency.
The decision to end the program prompted a lawsuit from immigrants who entered the United States under the initiative and now face the loss of legal status. Court records show the plaintiffs, represented by the Justice Action Center, are among roughly 15,000 individuals admitted through the program and are challenging DHS’s termination on procedural grounds.
During a hearing Jan. 9, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said the federal government has the authority to end the program but questioned whether DHS properly carried out the process. She expressed skepticism that publication of a notice in the Federal Register alone was sufficient to notify affected individuals of the impending termination.
“I understand why plaintiffs feel like they came here and made all these plans and were going to be here for a very long time,” Talwani said from the bench, adding that the court was dealing with individuals who attempted to comply with existing immigration rules. She indicated she would issue a temporary restraining order to block the termination but did not specify when the order would be released.
An emergency motion filed by the plaintiffs late last year states that without court intervention, approximately 10,000 parolees would lose their legal status on Jan. 14. The filing argues that participants were invited to apply for the program by the U.S. government after waiting abroad for visas, and that many have since obtained work authorization, secured employment, and enrolled their children in school.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in December that security gaps in the program allowed it to be exploited, creating what the agency described as an unacceptable risk. In a public statement, USCIS said parole was never intended to function as a broad pathway for admission and that ending the Family Reunification Parole programs was necessary to return parole authority to a case-by-case basis consistent with congressional intent and the administration’s immigration priorities.
The judge’s anticipated order would temporarily prevent DHS from enforcing the termination while the legal challenge proceeds.
Original article
Comments