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Commentary

Let Them Stay Update #1: June 5, 2025

By Yael Schacher | June 5, 2025

This is a monthly newsletter about humanitarian parole and policy changes impacting people who entered the U.S. on parole and their supporters. The newsletter will include updates on policy, litigation, and Congressional activity impacting parole, tell stories about people on parole and their communities, and share resources and explainers. 

We hope this newsletter will be helpful to organizations and the public eager to understand the importance of parole as a humanitarian legal pathway and what is at stake in the Trump administration’s attack on parole. The attack on parole is part of a broader attack on immigrants as people in need of humanitarian protection and as integral members of American communities. Many people who enter on parole unite with U.S. relatives. Most people who enter on humanitarian parole apply quickly for work permits and fill critical labor needs. Many apply for other humanitarian statuses, such as temporary protected status and asylum, or to adjust status to permanent residency. The Trump administration is trying to end all of these humanitarian pathways and protections and to pull the rug out from under people with parole – upending their employment, separating them from families, disappearing them to harm in detention and through deportation. 

This newsletter is part of a campaign to oppose these efforts because they imperil people in need of safety and deprive American cities and towns of beloved and valuable community members. 

→ Click here to access our constituent take action and toolkit to Let Them Stay.

Background 

In two of its day-one executive orders, the Trump administration directed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to end categorical parole programs (including the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela (CHNV) program, end parole through use of CBP One, and limit grants of parole generally. Between January and May 2025, DHS issued memos, directives, and notices that implemented these orders but that also went further. DHS not only stopped adjudicating new parole applications for people abroad through categorical programs, it also stopped adjudicating immigration applications from people who already had been paroled into the United States through certain parole programs. It terminated en masse the parole of everyone who arrived through the CHNV parole program and indiscriminately sent parole termination notices to those who entered through land border ports of entry with CBP One appointments. It also directed Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Officers to place certain people with parole into expedited removal rather than allow them to pursue applications for protection. As discussed further below, recent Supreme Court decisions leave many who entered on parole bereft of legal status and subject to detention and removal. Arrests of people who entered on parole have begun – including at immigration courts – and will only be supercharged should Congress pass a reconciliation funding bill that gives DHS billions of dollars for enforcement. 

Latest on Litigation

Doe v. Noem is a case challenging the termination of the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela (CHNV) parole processes and the halting of adjudications of immigration applications for parolees who entered on CHNV and other parole programs including Uniting for Ukraine (U4U) and family reunification parole.

Here’s where we are: 

  • On April 14, a federal court judge in Massachusetts stayed the en masse terminations of parole and associated work authorizations for those who entered through the CHNV program so that their individual paroles remained valid. On May 30, the Supreme Court granted the government’s request to block the district court’s order, allowing the terminations to go into effect and greenlighting deportation of hundreds of thousands of people who came in through CHNV. As Justice Jackson wrote in her dissent (joined by Justice Sotomayor), the decision “undervalues the 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.”
  • On May 28, the federal court judge in Massachusetts ruled that USCIS must lift the halt on adjudication of immigration applications (for re-parole, work authorizations, Temporary Protected Status, asylum, visas, or adjustment of status to permanent residence) by anyone who entered through parole programs. The judge also certified a class of people to benefit from the decision. In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling on May 30, the Trump administration asked that the court dismiss this decision. Among other arguments, the administration claims that sponsors of parolees have no standing to sue – denying the harm that termination of parole will have on them. The government also claims that the risk of removal for parolees is attenuated – which seems particularly strange given DHS’s announcement after the Supreme Court decision that it plans to begin removing CHNV nationals immediately. 

CHIRLA v. Noem is a case challenging the administration’s memo from January and directive from February to place people who entered through parole into expedited removal, a fast-track deportation process that does not allow for a full hearing in immigration court. Instead, those who fear return to their home countries must insist on being given credible fear interviews, which are difficult to pass at the current heightened standard – especially with limited access to attorneys and time to gather evidence.

Here’s where we are: 

  • The plaintiffs CHIRLA, UndocuBlack, and CASA – whose members include people from Afghanistan, Haiti, Venezuela, and elsewhere who entered on parole –argue that the Immigration and Nationality Act precludes their placement in expedited removal, which would deprive them of their ability to pursue immigration applications, separate them from their families, and lead to their deportation to harm. 
  • The administration disagrees and asserts that people granted parole are “arriving aliens” who can be placed in expedited removal whenever their parole is terminated, regardless of how long they have lived in the United States. In a brief filed on May 30, the administration claims that those who have their parole terminated are not “entitled to protracted proceedings” to delay their “inevitable” removal, indicating a presumption that they lack meritorious claims for protection.  

The Latest on TPS: 

  • On May 19, in a one-paragraph ruling in Noem v. National TPS Alliance, the Supreme Court overturned a California district court’s ruling that Venezuelans under an October 2023 TPS designation could maintain their status until a final decision on the legality of the Trump administration’s termination of that designation.
    • Zoom In: The Supreme Court’s decision offers no rationale for stripping legal status and work permits from 350,000 Venezuelans. It is possible that some Venezuelans who received new notice from USCIS extending their work authorization and/or TPS under the January 17, 2025, extension might still be entitled to the rights provided by those notices while the litigation continues and that the District Court will ultimately rule that Venezuelans have TPS through October 2026. But for now, the Supreme Court’s decision has put hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans at risk of detention and deportation. 
  • The Trump administration’s termination of TPS for Haiti is still being litigated in California and New York federal courts and the termination of TPS for Afghanistan and Cameroon is being challenged in federal court in Maryland. 
  • The Trump administration’s terminations of TPS do not take dangerous country conditions into account and negatively misportray TPS holders, so many of whom live in mixed status families and are well integrated into the U.S. economy. 

Latest on Enforcement Policies 

Beginning in April, in accordance with the Trump administration’s executive orders and policy memos in opposition to parole, DHS sent out electronic notices en masse terminating parole and work permits associated with parole and demanding that parolees leave the country. DHS later claimed to have issued notices in error to Ukrainians who arrived through U4U and to Afghans paroled during Operations Allied Welcome (OAW) but continued to issue notices to people who entered through CHNV and to people who entered through land border ports of entry with CBP One appointments. The notices are not individualized and lack explanation; they simply say that those whose parole is terminated and do not leave the country will be subject to removal. They are also misleading because leaving the country may lead to absentia removal orders, abandonment of pending applications for relief, and bars on return. 

Since January and February, DHS memos have indicated that it intends to place people whose parole had been terminated into expedited removal. People who arrived through CBP One appointments at land border ports were generally issued a notice to appear in immigration court and then issued parole. In May, at immigration court hearings around the country, ICE attorneys increasingly asked judges to dismiss cases, so that they could use expedited removal, including for people with parole. Many individuals who arrived on CBP One have been subject to this policy – including a Venezuelan high schooler and asylum seeker who were arrested at immigration court in New York City and disappeared to far off detention centers. People paroled at the border have also begun to receive notices of dismissal of their affirmative asylum applications from USCIS. These notices say that the applicants have been placed in expedited removal and can request that ICE refer them for credible fear interviews.

By terminating court proceedings and placing asylum seekers into expedited removal, the administration is making it difficult, if not impossible, for people who were paroled to get a fair hearing or full interview about their asylum claims, which could lead to their removal to harm. The administration is also planning to use funds appropriated for refugee assistance abroad to return parolees to Haiti and Ukraine. 

Latest from Congress

Congressional Leadership: Several bipartisan members of Congress have expressed opposition to the termination of parole and enforcement against parolees, including arrests in immigration court. Instead, they have advocated for continued protections via letters to the Trump administration, and have introduced legislation that would secure additional temporary protected statuses or paths to permanent residence for parolee populations. Members have also expressed strong opposition to the termination of TPS for Haitians, Venezuelans, and Afghans. 

On Our Radar: Senate Republicans have introduced the Immigration Parole Reform Act, which would drastically limit the use of parole across future administrations. 

Meanwhile, the reconciliation bill passed by the House of Representatives on May 22 includes several provisions that would affect parole populations. The legislation would increase the fee (up to $1,000) for parole without availability of a waiver. It would also impose a $1,000 fee for applications for asylum and significantly increase the fee for work authorization for parolees and mandate renewal (and payment of a fee) every six months. Several provisions of the bill would also end access to programs previously available to parolees including federal student aid, Affordable Care Act coverage, and Medicare. The bill’s enormous and consequential increase in funding for detention and deportation will allow for a ramp up in enforcement against people on parole across the country. The reconciliation bill now heads to the Senate for deliberation. To ultimately pass the full package, both chambers must approve the final text with a simple majority vote. 

Resources for Parolees

We’re updating resources for people with humanitarian parole in multiple languages each week. The English version of our explainer has been updated as of June 3. Spanish, Haitian Kreyol, Ukrainian, and Russian versions will be available next week. 

Need this resource in another language? Or is there another language you can help translate this resource into? Contact Yael Schacher yschacher@refugeesinternational.org. 

Story Spotlight: A Nicaraguan Family’s Story 

The CHNV program has been crucial to many families across the United States, including one  Nicaraguan family in Washington state. The family has a long history of political activism in Nicaragua, spanning back to the 1980s and including recent protests that began in 2018. Gabriela Doe, sponsor to some of her relatives through the CHNV program, is a U.S. citizen who came to the United States over 30 years ago. Through the program, she sponsored cousins whose university studies, work, and home lives were upended by political repression and targeting of their family in Nicaragua. They are now living and working in Georgia with their father (her uncle), who was interrogated and beaten by the Nicaraguan government for his activism. For Gabriela’s cousins, who are applying for asylum and are well integrated into the life of the community in Gainesville, the program has been a lifeline and an opportunity to rebuild their lives. Gabriela explains what the program has meant to her in her declaration in the Doe v. Noem case: 

“Because our family name is prominently known by the Nicaraguan police and government as being against the government, continuing to live in Nicaragua was just no longer a safe option for my cousins. I offered to sponsor my cousins through CHNV in 2023. Being able to sponsor them was not only vital for their well-being and safety, but it was also important for me, as someone who believes in the importance of family. I have a special relationship with my cousins, as they supported me greatly when my father became sick with cancer and eventually passed away in June 2023, which was an extremely difficult time for me. My father was the eldest of his nine siblings, and he was known for always taking care of and supporting his family however he could. As it happens, I am the eldest cousin of 27 cousins in our family, so supporting my family and cousins by sponsoring them under the CHNV parole processes not only reflects an important personal value of mine but is also a way for me to continue my father’s legacy of supporting the family.”

The Supreme Court decision in the CHNV case pulls the rug out from under this family and so many others. Several faith groups, labor unions, and county and city governments submitted briefs supporting parolees who they sponsored, who they work with, who are valuable members of their communities.

  • In the words of Boston City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune: “Protecting the Humanitarian Parole Program is about uplifting our neighbors, defending human dignity and decency, and recognizing that our city’s strength is our diversity. We thrive on the contributions of every resident, no exceptions, full stop.”

In the Media

  • Washington Post: Fearing deportation, a beloved music teacher gives a final lesson
  • The Eagle Press: Facing an Uncertain Return
  • WHQR: Ukrainians in Wilmington are uncertain about their future
  • CNN: Ukrainians who fled war and the US communities that welcomed them fear they may be uprooted under Trump
  • NBC Meet the Press/NBC News: Thousands of Haitians are in legal limbo as Trump revokes humanitarian parole, Yamiche Alcindor profiles one family in Texas
  • Dayton Daily News: DeWine: Ohio employers concerned about Haitian immigrants losing legal status
  • Wall Street Journal: Only Two Companies Make Parachutes for U.S. Troops. Deportations Would Crush One.
  • The Star Tribune: Don’t dim America’s ‘beacon of hope’

Partner Resources

Have a story, update, or resource you want included in next month’s Let Them Stay Update? Contact Yael Schacher yschacher@refugeesinternational.org. 

Share this newsletter with your network. Want to subscribe? Contact Eliza Leal at eleal@refugeesinternational.org. 

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