SCOTUS Green Lights Trump Administration Revocation of Temporary Parole Status for 500,000+

By: Richard Hanus, Esq.

May 30, 2025

In recent years, the U.S. government, during the Biden Administration, granted more than 500,000 foreign nationals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela a temporary right to live and work in the U.S.  The measure, also known as the “CHNV Parole Program”, was based on compelling humanitarian and political factors at play in these nations, and applicants benefitting from this program were able to arrive and live safely in the U.S., with tens of thousands filling jobs across all sectors of U.S. society.  The Trump Administration however, decided to reverse course last March and strip these foreign nationals of their right to be in the U.S. and in recent days, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that the termination of this program can proceed and notwithstanding federal court challenges.

It is important to note that each of the foreign nationals impacted by the program termination had entered the U.S. legally, after a formal application process and background check, and with each applicant providing proof of a U.S. “sponsor” agreeing to support them during their stay.  Overall, the purpose of the CHNV Parole Program was to help address humanitarian urgencies at play in these four nations and deter illegal immigration of individuals from these nations desperate o enter through the U.S./Mexico border.

The Trump administration, consistent with its loud and harsh immigration policies and rhetoric, concluded that the humanitarian factors at the core of the CHNV program are no longer compelling enough to justify its continuation.  Further, the Trump administration, as set forth in court filings, asserts that the revocation of parole is firmly within its Executive Branch rights once it determines that the purposes of the parole program have been served.

The Supreme Court in a 7-2 decision, agreed with the Trump Administration, allowing for the parole revocations to go forward, and despite concerns cited by Justices Jackson and Sotomayor in their dissenting opinion, that their colleagues issued a “plainly botched” decision and one that would have “devastating consequences of allowing the Government to precipitously upend the lives and livelihoods of nearly half a million noncitizens while their legal claims are pending.”

Unless there is a change in position by the Trump administration, the 500,000 impacted individuals will be left to seeking other legal avenues of remaining the U.S.  Those options include requesting asylum for individuals fearing return to their home country due to persecution they face on account of their race, religion, political belief or social group. Others may have the option of seeking residence in the U.S. by way of a family based immigration application, e.g. via bona fide marriage to U.S. citizen

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