A federal judge ruled the Trump administration cannot end a Biden-era program that allowed migrants from four specific countries to enter the U.S. and work legally.
More than a half-million Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans were granted entrance into the country under then-President Joe Biden's humanitarian parole program, the Miami Herald reported.
Judge Indira Talwani, from the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, said Monday the paroled migrants can stay in the U.S. while they pursue immigration benefits.
Talwani's ruling means Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem cannot revoke the migrants' parole status as part of an administration plan to end the program on April 24.
"While [Trump administration officials] are correct that the Secretary's discretion in this area is broad, their conclusion that the Secretary's actions are wholly shielded from judicial review is incorrect," Talwani, a then-President Barack Obama appointee, wrote in a 41-page order filed in Boston federal court.
Talwani added that while her role in reviewing the DHS's revocation order is "limited," she has the authority to stay the secretary's "termination" of parole because "it revokes, without case-by-case review, previously granted parole and work authorizations for individuals currently in the United States."
Late last month, the administration moved to end the program that allowed applicants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to fly to the U.S. and quickly secure work authorization, provided they passed security checks and had a financial sponsor, The New York Times reported.
The migrants were allowed to stay for up to two years, which could be renewed.
The order applies to about 532,000 people from the four countries who came to the United States since October 2022.
In her ruling, Talwani said the migrants would "be forced to choose between two injurious options: continue following the law and leave the country on their own, or await removal proceedings," the Times reported.
The judge had said Thursday she would issue a stay on DHS' decision last month to end the legal status of 532,000 people from the four countries who took advantage of the program.
In a Federal Register notice, 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 Associated Press contributed to this story.
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