A federal appeals court on Monday rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to terminate a temporary legal status program benefiting hundreds of thousands of migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, preserving protections granted under former President Joe Biden.
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston declined to stay an earlier ruling by District Judge Indira Talwani, which had blocked the Department of Homeland Security’s effort to abruptly end the two-year humanitarian parole program. Talwani ruled on April 25 that the administration’s action violated legal standards requiring individual case reviews and lacked a sound legal basis.
The Trump administration argued that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had full authority to rescind parole en masse, asserting the government should not be compelled to retain “hundreds of thousands of aliens” against its will. The appellate panel, composed of three judges appointed by Democratic presidents, disagreed, saying the administration had failed to demonstrate a strong chance of overturning the lower court’s injunction.
The decision is a major win for the Justice Action Center, which brought the lawsuit on behalf of the affected migrants. “The administration’s attempt to strip lawful protections from hundreds of thousands was reckless and illegal,” said Karen Tumlin, an attorney for the group.
Roughly 400,000 migrants were at risk of losing both parole status and work authorization under the administration’s March 25 policy change, part of Trump’s broader effort to reverse Biden-era immigration measures—including humanitarian entries for nationals from Ukraine and Afghanistan.
Despite the setback, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson defended the policy shift. “The Trump administration is committed to restoring the rule of law to our immigration system,” said spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin. “No lawsuit, not this one or any other, is going to stop us from doing that.”
The administration may now appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. For now, the ruling secures continued legal protections and work permits for the migrants as the legal battle proceeds.
