A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from revoking temporary legal status for hundreds of thousands of Nicaraguans, Venezuelans, Cubans and Haitians who were initially granted parole.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said on Thursday the Department of Homeland Security incorrectly read the law when it made a decision to end a two-year parole given to them by the Biden administration.
Talwani, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, said the revocation of temporary legal status would open up around 450,000 individuals to an expedited deportation process.
“What you’re prioritizing is not people coming over the border but the people who followed the rules,” Talwani said.
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Justice Department lawyer Brian Ward argued during a Thursday hearing that parole programs were always discretionary.
“The nub of the problem here is that the secretary, in cutting short the parole period afforded to these individuals, has to have a reasoned decision,” Talwani said, according to Time magazine. “There was a deal and now that deal has been undercut.”
Immigration advocacy groups initially sued the Trump administration for its plan to end the parole program which began under the Biden administration.
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The Trump administration attempted to revoke the temporary legal status of migrants from the four countries on March 25.
They flew to the United States after submitting their application under a Biden-era policy that was closed by Trump when he took office for a second time.
The program let migrants and their immediate family members fly to the United States as long as they had sponsors in America, then they would be placed on parole for two years.
Fox News’ Landon Mion and Reuters contributed to this report.
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