Trump Administration Requests Supreme Court to Cancel Temporary Status for 530,000 Immigrants
Officials indicate that the program covers nationals from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Haiti.
Attorneys for the Trump administration have filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking to eliminate the temporary immigration status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan, Cuban, Haitian, and Nicaraguan nationals residing in the United States.
In an emergency petition submitted Thursday, U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer articulated the government’s request for the nine justices to impose a stay on a federal judge’s ruling that suspended the government’s decision to end immigration parole granted to Venezuelan, Cuban, Haitian, and Nicaraguan individuals under the Biden administration.
The filing from the Department of Justice, led by Sauer, contends that the lower court’s order has disrupted “critical immigration policies designed to deter illegal entry,” essentially reversing “democratically approved policies that were significant in the November election” and facilitated President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
The new petition from the Trump administration asserts that courts lack jurisdiction to overturn the revocations of immigration statuses made by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
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“By doing this, the district court engaged in a review that Congress explicitly prohibited—unnecessarily disrupting essential immigration policies designed to deter illegal entry, undermining core Executive Branch powers, and reversing democratically endorsed policies that were influential in the November election,” Department of Justice lawyers asserted.
The petition states that only the Constitution and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 authorize Noem and other executive branches, “not the courts,” with the responsibility of determining whether it serves the public interest to allow up to 532,000 aliens, who were never admitted, were paroled en masse, and have not undergone inspection, to stay in the country.
Since assuming office, the Trump administration has filed multiple emergency petitions with the U.S. Supreme Court, asserting that lower court judges are overstepping their authority over the executive branch, in breach of the Constitution’s separation of powers clause.
Trump called for the termination of these programs in an executive order signed on January 20, his first day back in office. The Department of Homeland Security acted to end the programs in March, including the abrupt termination of the two-year parole grants for approximately 400,000 individuals.
The administration has indicated in court documents that revoking the parole status would facilitate a quicker process for placing foreign nationals into expedited removal.
The plaintiffs, a coalition of individuals granted parole along with their sponsors, have sued administration officials, claiming that the government violated federal laws regulating agency actions. Judge Talwani noted in April that the legal framework for such parole did not permit a blanket termination of the program; rather, it necessitated a review on a case-by-case basis.
Reuters contributed to this report.
