A federal judge has temporarily stopped the Trump administration from ending a legal status program. This program would have taken away the authorization for over 10,000 immigrants to live and work in the United States next week. The judge found that the government failed to provide the necessary notice required by law.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a temporary restraining order that extends “family reunification parole” protections for immigrants whose status was set to expire on Wednesday, Jan. 14. This came after the Department of Homeland Security decided in December to terminate the program.
The Boston-based Talwani stated that immigration officials did not properly notify those who would lose their parole as required. She noted that simply publishing the termination notice in the Federal Register did not fulfill that obligation, according to reports on the ruling.
“I have a group of people here who are trying to follow the law, and I’m saying to you that we, America, also need to follow the law,” Talwani told a Justice Department lawyer during a hearing on Friday, according to Reuters.
The case concerns family reunification parole programs for migrants from seven countries: Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras. These programs allow certain relatives of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to enter the United States and stay with family while their immigrant visa petitions are processed.
In December, the administration announced it would end the programs effective Jan. 14, claiming they were not in line with its immigration policies and raised concerns about vetting and program management. The affected migrants are part of around 15,000 who entered through the family reunification parole processes, as reported by Reuters.
Immigrant advocates contested the termination as they argued that the government was abruptly changing the rules for individuals who used a lawful pathway and built lives in the United States under the program’s terms. Lawyers for the plaintiffs noted that about 30% of those affected are children. They argued that the cutoff would separate families and disrupt schooling and employment.
Justice Department attorney Katie Rose Talley claimed that the Department of Homeland Security has wide discretion to terminate parole grants. “There’s nothing unlawful about that,” she said, according to Reuters. DHS also asserted that it provided sufficient public notice of the change, the Associated Press reported.
The dispute revolves around how the government must inform people about the end of a benefit that gives temporary lawful presence and work authorization. The termination notice was published in the Federal Register on Dec. 15, and DHS planned for the programs to end on Jan. 14. Talwani pointed out that the government had not demonstrated that it fulfilled the requirement to notify individuals directly about the termination of their parole and work authorization.
This ruling is part of ongoing court battles regarding the Trump administration’s attempts to roll back immigration programs established or expanded under President Joe Biden. The administration has aimed to end or limit various parole initiatives that allowed foreign nationals to temporarily live and work in the United States while seeking longer-term status.
Talwani has overseen related cases in the past, including challenges to earlier efforts to revoke parole for larger groups of migrants. Sometimes, higher courts have allowed the administration to proceed while those lawsuits are ongoing.
The temporary restraining order keeps the family reunification parole protections active for now as the case progresses, but the battle is far from over.
