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Commentary

Let Them Stay Update #6

By Yael Schacher | October 17, 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: 

In late September, plaintiffs in the case presented Judge Talwani of the District Court of Massachusetts examples of USCIS refusing to adjudicate adjustment of status applications of people who arrived through U4U and CHNV. In response, DHS insisted that there is no “categorical hold” on adjudications and provided statistics on the number of parolee applications adjudicated, asserting that between May 28 and September 15, it had adjudicated over 52,000 applications filed by people who had arrived on U4U, CHNV, and family based parole programs, including over 4,300 adjustment applications. DHS clarified that many applications are, however, going through additional review, investigation, and vetting. On October 9, Judge Talwani of the District Court of Massachusetts denied the government’s request to stay litigation over the issue of application adjudication during the government shut down, noting that doing so would “further prolong the period during which class members’ future immigration status remains uncertain” and given that “the federal government will continue immigration enforcement during the government shutdown.” 

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: 

As we reported last month, 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  protecting 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 should insist that DHS cannot place them in expedited removal per the lower court’s decision. Here is a practice alert from the National Immigration Project of the Lawyer’s Guild explaining what to do should someone who entered through a port of entry on parole is nonetheless placed in expedited removal. 

Sileiri Doe et. al. v. DHS et. al. is a new class action lawsuit filed on August 11 challenging mass termination of parole and revocation of work authorization of people who waited for CBP One appointments and entered through land border ports of entry. 

Here’s where we are: 

In late September and early October, the two sides in the case presented opposing views of the mass termination. DHS claims “[t]he reasons why a person was granted parole can vary widely” and that people who came into the country using CBP One don’t constitute a harmed class. But lawyers for the parolees assert mass termination was done “in one stroke” to everyone who came to the U.S. through use of the CBP One app. The fact that DHS has discretion to terminate individual paroles does not make mass termination lawful, they argue. 

Latest on Enforcement Policies 

On October 3, the Supreme Court sanctioned the termination of Venezuela TPS, throwing over 300,000 Venezuelans out of status immediately and several hundred thousand more on November 7. Without TPS, Venezuelans can be arrested, detained, and deported. Congress must provide a solution for Venezuelans and many TPS holders from other countries who are integral members of U.S. communities and at risk of deportation to danger. You can support the National TPS Alliance’s push for legislative reform here. 

Two recently implemented policies attest to the Trump administration’s ongoing effort to make parole extremely expensive to attain and to starve out parolees who want to work to support their families. On October 16, the administration began charging a $1,000 fee to anyone granted parole or re-parole, which is in addition to a $580 application fee. These new fees were authorized by the reconciliation package that passed in July. And the Department of Transportation has published a rule that denies those with work permits based on parole status (or asylum applications, TPS status, and most other immigration statuses) eligibility for commercial vehicle licenses, shutting them out of the trucking industry. Several commercial truckers who came in on parole programs and through CBP One appointments have also recently been arrested at weigh stations and interior border patrol check points in Texas and Oklahoma. 

The major ongoing immigration enforcement campaigns in Washington DC and Chicago are arbitrary – indiscriminately targeting people who have been living in the cities for decades and those who have more recently arrived on humanitarian parole after entering with CBP One appointments at the border. This has led to increasing legal challenges and solidarity in opposition to the Trump administration’s detention and deportation agenda. 

For example, on August 15, a Venezuelan who entered at the border in 2024 with a CBP One appointment and has a pending asylum application was arrested while on his motorbike to do a DoorDash delivery in Washington, DC. Federal officials took him first to the ICE facility in Chantilly, Virginia and then to one in Caroline, where he has developed a rash and severe anxiety while he awaits his court hearing. He is part of a lawsuit brought on behalf of members of the organization CASA and others arrested in DC without a warrant and probable cause. Similarly, on September 9, a Venezuelan man who was paroled after entering in 2023 with a CBP One appointment was arrested during a raid outside the Home Depot on Cicero Avenue in Chicago, though he had documents in his backpack attesting to his temporary protected status. A federal judge has ruled such arbitrary, warrantless arrests violate a court settlement in northern Illinois and similar cases should be referred to NIJC here.  

Refugees International is keeping track and collecting stories of enforcement against people who arrived on parole, so please send Yael Schacher the data and accounts you have. In coming newsletters we will be taking stock of what extant data reveals about enforcement against humanitarian parolees. By elevating this data and the stories of people affected, we can contribute to the growing public backlash against the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda. New polling from the Refugee Advocacy Lab, Refugees International, and Data for Progress indicate that 59 percent of U.S. voters oppose the Trump administration deporting people who entered the U.S. legally on humanitarian status and are now living and working in U.S. communities. 

Latest from Congress

Amid the U.S. government shutdown, the Administration has markedly intensified immigration enforcement operations in major cities—most prominently in Chicago, as discussed above. Several members of Illinois’s Democratic congressional delegation have been denied access to conduct oversight visits at local ICE facilities, including in districts directly affected by enforcement activity. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, condemned what he described as an unprovoked and dangerous escalation of immigration enforcement in Chicago and across the country. According to Administration officials, plans are underway to further expand these operations, leveraging resources from the July reconciliation package, which allocated historic levels of funding to the Department of Homeland Security.

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

For Ukrainian families who fled Russian bombing and found refuge in the United States, their safety has been overshadowed by mounting legal uncertainty. Having arrived under temporary protection programs like humanitarian parole, their right to remain, work, and build a new life is now in jeopardy as these statuses face potential termination or non-renewal. 

Read and share Ukrainian parolee Mariia Yatsko’s personal reflections and call to action in a piece for the Atlanta Journal Constitution: I fled Ukraine and rebuilt my life in Georgia. Now my legal status is at risk.

Watch and share Mariia Yatsko and Yael Schacher in a feature on Ukrainians in Georgia from WSBTV Atlanta: Ukrainian families who fled to Georgia after Russia bombing worry legal status may be in limbo

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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