A federal judge has indicated she intends to temporarily halt the previous administration’s efforts to end a program offering temporary legal status to over 10,000 family members of U.S. citizens and green card holders.
Judge Indira Talwani stated at a hearing that she plans to issue a temporary restraining order. The case is related to broader actions to end temporary protections and comes after a judge ruled that some individuals from South Sudan could legally live and work in the U.S.
The program in question, Family Reunification Parole (FRP), affects individuals from Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras. Protections put in place during the Biden administration are scheduled to end by January 14. The Department of Homeland Security ended the protections last year.
The government argued that the Homeland Security Secretary has the authority to end any parole program, providing sufficient notice via publication in the federal registry. They also stated that ending the program was needed for national security, as those in the program hadn’t been properly vetted. Resources used for this program could be better used in other areas.
A government lawyer, Katie Rose Talley, told the court that parole can be ended at any time, and that the action was lawful.
Judge Talwani questioned if those affected received adequate written notification beyond the registry announcement.
The Supreme Court previously allowed the previous administration to remove temporary legal protections from many immigrants, potentially affecting nearly 1 million people. This included lifting a lower-court order protecting migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela and allowing the revocation of temporary status for Venezuelan migrants in another case.
