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Americas United States | Commentary

Let Them Stay Update #5

By Yael Schacher | September 19, 2025

This is a monthly newsletter about humanitarian parole and policy changes impacting people who entered the United States on parole and their supporters. The newsletter includes updates on policy, litigation, and Congressional activity impacting parole, tells stories about people on parole and their communities, and shares resources and explainers. It is part of a campaign to oppose attacks on parole and immigration enforcement efforts against parolees because they imperil people in need of safety and deprive American cities and towns of beloved and valuable community members. 

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Latest on Litigation

Doe v. Noem is a case challenging the mass 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 September 12, the First Circuit Court of Appeals held that the administration’s early mass termination of CHNV parole was likely lawful. In its opinion, the court interpreted that the language of the parole statute and its legislative history do not require parole to be terminated on an individualized basis. The court did not think Secretary Noem needed to further consider the “urgent humanitarian reasons” motivating the CHNV program – and their continued relevance for CHNV beneficiaries. However, the court did recognize: 

“the risks of irreparable harm [that mass termination has wrought]… that parolees who lawfully arrived in this country were suddenly forced to choose between leaving in less than a month – a choice that potentially includes being separated from their families, communities, and lawful employment and returning to dangers in their home countries… or staying after the loss of their legal status, which means the risk of removal proceedings and detention, the loss of any work authorization, and potential effects on their eligibility for other forms of immigration relief in the future.”

The  September 12 decision means termination of parole and work authorization remains in effect for CHNV beneficiaries while litigation over the lawfulness of the CHNV parole termination continues at the district court. The September 12 decision does not affect the district court’s May 28, 2025, order, which requires the government to process the immigration benefits applications – including for asylum and green cards – for humanitarian parole beneficiaries. 

CHIRLA v. Noem is a case challenging the administration’s placement of people who entered through parole into expedited removal, a fast-track deportation process. 

Here’s where we are: 

On September 12, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied the government’s request to stay the district court’s order to protect people paroled into the United States from expedited removal. This ruling leaves in place the district court’s order, issued on August 1, which found that it was unlawful to place those who entered on humanitarian parole into expedited removal. This means that any person who entered on parole and is detained should insist that ICE cannot place them in expedited removal per the lower court’s decision. Please contact Hilary Li at JAC, if you hear of cases of ICE nonetheless pursuing expedited removal. 

Latest on Enforcement Policies 

Dismissals of cases and arrests by ICE at immigration courts have dropped off significantly (and these practices are being challenged in federal court in New York.)   But, on September 8, the Supreme Court ruled that immigration agents can stop, question, and demand papers from anyone they guess to be here illegally based on how they look, what language they speak, what work they do, or where they happen to be. This sanctions the ongoing violent, racialized immigration enforcement by masked agents in Massachusetts, Los Angeles, Washington DC, and Chicago that has led to arrests of, among others, people who arrived on parole and are seeking asylum and who are legal permanent residents and U.S. citizens. Communities have mobilized to protect their neighbors, including through alerts about the presence of immigration enforcement and through protests – in Washington DC, in upstate New York, and near the Midway Airport outside Chicago – to stop arrests. Congregations and communities are coming together to support families impacted by immigration arrests and organizing protests at ICE detention facilities. 

The administration’s effort to turn USCIS into an agency that hinders application processing and handles immigration enforcement is happening on many fronts, including: 

  • USCIS hampered the ability of Venezuelans to take advantage of a court order reinstating their TPS by making it impossible to re-register electronically through the USCIS website – a problem that was only fixed by bringing additional litigation.
  • A regulation giving USCIS officers not only the power to issue orders of expedited removal but to carry weapons and make arrests – including potentially arresting sponsors or supporters accompanying relatives to interviews and appointments – will go into effect on October 6. 
  • Forthcoming proposed regulations will limit eligibility for work authorization. This will come on top of the already lengthening adjudication times for work authorization applications, partly caused by USCIS’s eliminating efficiencies and adding dilatory and unnecessary vetting to their procedures. 

These changes at USCIS have had, and will have, important impacts on people who entered on parole. Though USCIS has been ordered to resume processing applications by parolees per the Doe v. Noem lawsuit, attorneys in that case have complained of lack of “meaningful action” on diversity visa applications. USCIS has told E-verify employers to check status reports that list revoked work permits, though some people who entered on humanitarian parole may be eligible to work based on other applications. 

People who have come in on parole should be aware of resources such as the Legal Pathways Learning Tool and others that may help them find alternative authority to work. A legal challenge – Sileiri Doe v. Noem – to the mass termination of parole and revocation of work permits for people who arrived through CBP One appointments is ongoing. 

Latest from Congress

On September 18, the Congresswoman Jayapal of the House Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement (House Judiciary Committee) hosted a shadow hearing titled “Kidnapped and Disappeared: Trump’s Assault Destroys U.S. Families and Communities.” Members highlighted how they have had to navigate information blackouts, instances when they have not been able to locate constituents across ICE detention facilities, the shortage of publicly available data, and limited responses from the administration. 

The hearing featured witnesses who testified about the traumatic arrest, detention, and deportation of loved ones and underscored the damage wrought on American communities and the economy by the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies. Witnesses also proposed solutions including the creation of legal pathways to citizenship, greater transparency to challenge indiscriminate enforcement practices, and amplifying constituents’ stories to help shape public understanding of the issue.

FY26 Appropriations Update: The House GOP leadership released bill text for a continuing resolution to keep the government open through November 21. Separately, Democrats released bill text for a proposal of their own to keep the government open through October 31. At the time of writing, Speaker Johnson is eyeing a vote on the GOP CR by September 19, and if passed, would then move to the Senate where Democrats have already come out in strong opposition to a stopgap bill. Relatedly, while the House had already released its Homeland Security funding bill and approved out of committee on June 24, the Senate is yet to release its version. 

Resources for Parolees

We’re updating resources for people with humanitarian parole in multiple languages every other 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:

“It immediately felt like family, like we were lifelong friends.” 

Sandra McAnany is a 58-year-old grandmother from Wisconsin who welcomed and supported 17 people—11 adults and six children through the CHNV humanitarian parole program. Sandra is one of the plaintiffs in the Doe v. Noem lawsuit to Let Them Stay. 

“We don’t know what the future is… but I want to be optimistic and hopeful that every person I sponsored will be able to stay here safely in the U.S. and continue to thrive.”Read more on Sandra’s story in Upworthy.Read more on Sandra’s story in Upworthy. 

In the Media:

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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