A federal judge in Boston said Thursday she will issue an order to block a Trump administration initiative that revokes the temporary legal status of more than half a million Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said she will issue a stay on the Department of Homeland Security's decision last month to end the legal status of 532,000 people from the four countries who took advantage of a humanitarian parole program expanded during the Biden administration, multiple media outlets reported.
In a Federal Register notice published last month, DHS said the temporary legal status for those from the four countries would expire April 24. The notice by DHS built on President Donald Trump's mission to end legal pathways for those who are in the U.S. illegally.
The push to help migrants from the four countries was part of a lawsuit filed last month by several people and a nonprofit in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts in an effort to protect nationals from Ukraine, Afghanistan, and other countries who are in the U.S.
In a hearing Thursday, Talwani, a Barack Obama appointee, repeatedly questioned the government's assertion for ending the program — namely, that it has the power to do so and that it was no longer serving its purpose. She argued that those in the program who are here legally now face an option of "fleeing the country" or staying and "risk losing everything."
"The nub of the problem here is that the secretary, in cutting short the parole period afforded to these individuals, has to have a reasoned decision," she said, adding that the explanation for ending the program was "based on an incorrect reading of the law. … There was a deal and now that deal has been undercut."
Attorneys for the Trump administration argued the plaintiffs lacked standing and the move by DHS affecting migrants from the four countries did not violate the Administrative Procedure Act. They also said the plaintiffs wouldn't be able to demonstrate that termination of the program was unlawful.
Newsmax reached out to the White House, Department of Justice, and DHS for comment.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.